Make a Treasure Box!
If received one of our treasure box kits, you have everything you need. If you didn't, you'll need the following items to begin:
Decoupage is a craft technique of gluing paper decorations to a hard surface. By looking at a finished project, you would think this craft technique would be complicated, but it isn't.
If you can cut and paste, you already know most of the techniques involved.
To get started with decoupage, you cut out pictures and glue them onto an object. The next step is to cover the object and pictures with a few coats of glue or “decoupage medium” to protect it.
8. Let the decoupage medium dry. If you are using pictures on thicker paper, such as photos or greeting cards, they can take longer to dry.
9. Watch for bubbles as your pictures dry. If one forms, use a pin or utility knife to pop it and then use your fingers to smooth it down.
10. Once the medium is dry, coat your item thoroughly with another layer of the decoupage medium. Let this dry.
11. Continue to add coats of the medium until you get the desired results. You will want to keep adding layers until the edges of the pictures are all smooth.
Let your project dry completely before it's ready to use, display, or be given away as a gift.
- wooden cigar box or another type of sturdy box (not of corrugated cardboard)
- a white glue-and-water mixture (decoupage medium)
- a brush
- paper that is decorative and images that all have a central theme, such as
- the work of a woman scientist and her field of science (as we included in the kits we gave out)
- trees in your city (for some important species of Cambridge, Mass. trees, see here.
- animals in your city (for species documented in Cambridge, see here.
- the kind of science that interests you
Decoupage is a craft technique of gluing paper decorations to a hard surface. By looking at a finished project, you would think this craft technique would be complicated, but it isn't.
If you can cut and paste, you already know most of the techniques involved.
To get started with decoupage, you cut out pictures and glue them onto an object. The next step is to cover the object and pictures with a few coats of glue or “decoupage medium” to protect it.
- Make sure the item you're decoupaging is clean, removing any dust or dirt. It must also be dry.
- Glue colored or patterned paper with a very light coat of glue all over every surface of the box to form a base for your pictures. This is optional. If you like the color of the box, you can skip this step.
- Cut out the pictures you are going to use.
- Before you add glue, arrange the pictures onto the item you are decoupaging until you like the way they look. The pictures can be in any placement you like and can also overlap.
- Working in a small section at a time, remove the pictures and apply a generous layer of decoupage medium onto the item you are decoupaging. Make sure you completely cover any area the picture will touch. If you prefer, you can spread the medium onto the back of the picture.
- Stick the picture on the decoupage medium. Use your finger to gently push down the picture (for a large picture, start from the center and work your way out) and push out any wrinkles and excess medium. You can also use a bone folder or brayer to do this.
8. Let the decoupage medium dry. If you are using pictures on thicker paper, such as photos or greeting cards, they can take longer to dry.
9. Watch for bubbles as your pictures dry. If one forms, use a pin or utility knife to pop it and then use your fingers to smooth it down.
10. Once the medium is dry, coat your item thoroughly with another layer of the decoupage medium. Let this dry.
11. Continue to add coats of the medium until you get the desired results. You will want to keep adding layers until the edges of the pictures are all smooth.
Let your project dry completely before it's ready to use, display, or be given away as a gift.