Butterfly Box

This fanciful keepsake box is a please-everyone gift, as delicate and graceful as the butterflies that alight atop it. A quick trip to the gift or craft store gives you everything you need – paint, silk butterflies, mini picket fence trim and a Walnut Hollow® shadow box. Fill with index cards and it becomes a recipe box on the kitchen counter, or set it on the dresser or desk to make a handy catchall for keys, hairpins or paper clips.
 

Here’s How:

1. Mask the box’s glass windows with paint tape and spray paint the wood trim a pale green. Let dry to the touch, then spray on a second coat. Remove the tape when dry.

2. Cut the picket fence trim into four pieces, each cut to fit inside one window of the box. Squeeze dots of hot glue onto the front of the picket panels, position them against the glass, and press gently into place.

3. Hot-glue two oversize silk butterflies to the top of the box.

4. To make a recipe box, divide six colors of blank index cards into categories – Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Meats, Sides, Desserts and Drinks – and place inside the box.

Great Gift Idea: Make it a magical first jewelry box for a sweet little sprite. Slip a piece of jewelry inside and watch hearts flutter with delight. Or hot-glue bunnies or chicks on top and fill with foil-covered chocolate eggs and jelly beans for a spring Easter basket box. Vary the look with caterpillars, bumblebees or frogs for a fun summer surprise.