Gosh, another year passed! These days I share tutorials over on Facebook, Instagram and my YouTube channel but this is something of a throwback one so I'm going 'old school'. First shown back in 2019 this is my take on a tiny vintage travel trunk using a couple of Eileen Hull Designs Scoreboards Dies.
This vintage style travel trunk opens to reveal sectioned drawers and pockets all ready to hold everything the seasoned traveller could require on a long trip abroad.
The set of three drawers are cut using matboard and Eileen's Stacking Drawers Die. The outer 'sleeve' wraps around easily as all the pieces are pre-scored by the die. When assembling the drawers I found it worked best to put the bottom pieces on the inside for a better fit.
The outer trunk is cut using matboard and Eileen Hull's Treasure Box Die. The pieces are also pre-scored and easy to assemble and you'll see this time I put the bottom pieces on the outside.
You'll see from the photo above how the assembled bare matboard drawers fit together inside the box with room to spare for the inclusion of handles or pulls if required.
Paint each of the drawer pieces in a colour that will contrast with the outside of the trunk, then blend a little permanent brown ink along each of the edges.
To prevent the painted surfaces sticking to each other and make the drawers easier to slide in and out I suggest rubbing a plain wax candle over the edges.
Cover the box in a faux leather fabric or cardstock - having done this after cutting my pieces I can highly recommend applying your choice of finish, be it fabric or patterned paper, to both sides of your matboard before cutting the pieces with the die.
Above you can see how the drawers sleeves fit snuggly in place inside the decorated box. I chose to use glue on the edges of the sleeves to ensure they were firmly secured in place.
Add more fabric or cardstock to the outside of the drawers. Again I would suggest you add your choice of fabric or patterned paper to the matboard before cutting these pieces to make assembly much easier and quicker.
Cover the edges in strips of metallic tape or cardstock, embossed with an industrial finish if you prefer. A touch of brown permanent ink will help dull down the shine for that vintage look.
To finish the travel trunk cut hinges using the Treasure Box Die and use a cut-down belt to hold the box closed. Add a pocket to the inside of the box lid to hold travel documentation - Eileen has designed options for this as part of her Thinlits Dies range.
I decorated the top of the box with a filigree metal piece and some stone fragments as a way of ensuring the belt remained in place. You could skip this or add your own choice of decoration - for example a piece of costume jewellery?
Here are a couple of close ups to show you those details.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing how this tiny vintage travel trunk came together. The dies are all still available over in Eileen's Etsy Store HERE.
Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx
