Seasons > Valentine’s Day > Home Decorations > Valentine Centerpieces > 3 Ways to Make a Treasure Chest
Corrugated Cardboard Sheet
Download the pattern and glue together to use as a pattern. If you can’t get a piece of corrugated cardboard big enough, you can piece together smaller pieces, or you can use poster board instead of corrugated cardboard. You could line the inside with hot pink wrapping paper if you like--just cut to the same size and glue to the inside. Cut along the bold lines, fold along the dotted lines, then glue the 2 ends where indicated. Gently bend the top to make the lid have a domed effect.
If you want the lid to stay open to show off all the “jewels,” you may need to prop it open--in the photo above, there is a foam heart glued to a pencil or plastic drinking straw in the same color as the box on the far right side of the box.
You will need both parts to make the treasure chest:
Shoebox Treasure Chest
Use a shoebox that has the lid fastened to the box, or tape the lid to the box on one long side. You will need to cut the lid on the corners of the edge that has been taped, or you won’t be able to open the treasure chest.
To make the lid rounded, cut 3 cardboard boxes, such as cereal or cracker boxes to form the dome on top of the shoe box lid. (see photos below). If you don’t have those, cut 4-5 cardboard half circles to fit the narrow width of the lid. Glue one on each end, and 2 or 3 in the middle.
Cover these half circles with a strip of brown paper or poster board. Cut a strip to fit the long width of the lid, and glue it to the front of the lid, over the tops of the half circles, and down the back of the box.
Another option to make the lid rounded, is to find a cylindrical oatmeal box that is the same diameter as a shoe box, and glue half of the oatmeal cylinder to the shoe box top. Of course, no one said a treasure chest had to have a rounded top--you can just decorate the shoe box to look like an old wooden trunk with a flat top.
You can cover the whole thing in brown paper (cut up brown paper bags) or corrugated cardboard. Paint or stain it, or leave it as is. The more details you add to it, the more realistic it looks--leather or rope handles on the ends, a metal clasp in the front, strips around the box or on the corners (originally used to strengthen the boxes, but just decorative in this case.)
Wooden Treasure Chest
This wooden chest was a child’s woodworking project that I helped my son make when he was in elementary school. All the pieces were precut, so it was really easy to put together.
To make your own without a kit is fairly simple if you have some basic wood working skills and tools--a hammer and nails, saw, screw drive and screws, and wood glue. Since the chest can be any size, it is pretty limiting to give you measurements. Basically you need 5 boards that are about twice as long as they are wide, and 10 narrow strips the same length as the rest of the boards to make the domed top.
Use 4 boards to make the box or bottom portion--cut one board in half for the ends. Nail or glue them together with the ends resting on top of the bottom board, and the front and back boards glued or nailed to the sides of the bottom and end boards.
To make the lid, cut the last board in half to form the ends of the lid, then trim them to form a shape that looks like an angular half circle. Glue 4 of the narrow strips to the front of the 2 end pieces, and two strips to the top, and glue 4 strips to the back.
Once the glue has dried, screw 2 hinges to the back of the box and lid. Screw a metal clasp to the front of the box and lid.
Optional--fasten leather or rope handles to the ends. Nail or screw the leather strips, or drill 2 holes for each rope handle. Push the ends of the rope through the holes and tie knots on the inside.
end view of box with lid
Seasons > Valentine’s Day > Home Decorations > Valentine Centerpieces > 3 Ways to Make a Treasure Chest
I made these about twice as tall as they should have been--the whole domed lid should only be about half the height of the bottom of the treasure chest.
