PROJECT: Hat Boxes for Evangeline

When I was in AC Moore yesterday buying more balsa to finish the attic walls I saw a display of these mini boxes that are the perfect size to be hat boxes for Evangeline.  They were only 99 cents each so I bought 3 and thought I'd give it a go.  In addition to doll collecting I am also an avid paper crafter.  Altered books are my favorite thing to do so I have a stash of "stuff" to pull out for a project like this.  Still, all you really need are the boxes, some scrapbook papers to cover them with, some trim, and you're good to go.  But here's what I gathered together to make these:

1. paper mache boxes
2. vintage-themed stickers
3. ribbon of all widths and colors
4. scrapbook papers
5. German Scrap (that's the gold stuff in the upper part of this stash.  Google it and you can find many online resources.  It's excellent trim for this kind of thing
6. other assorted embellishments

To start I gave the boxes each a heavy coat of white gloss spray paint.  In this case I had to paint the boxes because they were brown but even if you find white boxes I would spray them with white glossy paint because you really want that glossy layer on the  bottom.  As you can see in the picture I didn't bother with the inside of the lids or the bottoms of the boxes but I did spray paint the inside of the boxes.

Next cut your scrapbook papers, or ribbon, to the width of the box.  For my boxes I chose to use pink paper for the pink box, and ribbon for the red and black & white boxes.  Adhere the strips to the box.  I used a Xyron machine because it's way easier but you could use glue or double-sided tape.  In the picture below you can see the strip of pink paper after I cranked it through the Xyron machine.

Then cut paper to fit the top of the box.  It's easiest if you put the lid to the box on the paper and trace around it and then cut it out.  Trim as necessary to get a nice edge.  Adhere to the top of the box.

The first box I did was a pink box:

I followed the instructions above and then added some ribbon trim to the lid.  I used glue in this case because the  lace-like ribbon would not do well in the Xyron machine.  I used a power drill to quickly and cleanly drill holes in the sides of the box and then inserted an 8 inch piece of pink silk ribbon into each hole and tied knots inside the box.

The second box I did was a black and white box.

I happened to have a gingham ribbon that was the exact width of the box so I decided to try that out.  It worked very well.  I ran the ribbon through the Xyron machine (this one was okay to put through a xyron machine because it's flat, the lacy one above was too textured) and then adhered it to the side of the box.  I would not recommend using a ribbon that is larger than the width of the box because you can't really trim the ribbon or it will fray.  I then decorated the lid with vintage-looking rub-ons, I drilled holes in the side and ran black ribbon through each hold and I glued some black trim to the lid of the box.  I think this one came out awesome, much better than the pink one.

The last box I did (for today, anyway) was a red and gold one:

For this one I really wanted to use a piece of crushed red velvet ribbon that I saved from a christmas present but it didn't look good against the white so I spray painted the box gold.  I ran the red ribbon through the Xyron machine, adhered it to the box, added some gold German Scrap the rim of the lid along with a gold charm to the center of the lid.  For now I used a carpenters nail to make a handle for the box, I spray painted nail black, but as soon as I find something better I will switch it out.

This was a really fun and inexpensive rainy day project and now I have some great hat boxes for EG's attic.  I will definitely be making more of these.  Here's a look at all 3, with a brown one in the back to give a before and after:

At the top of this post you can see a pic of Evangeline reclining on her chaise, admiring her new hats that Mortimer sent her.