Seaside Gift Boxes with Eileen Hull Designs

Two blog tutorials in one year? I'll need a lie down 😁! As I mentioned in the previous post 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 an idea for creating seaside inspired gift boxes using one of Eileen Hull Designs Scoreboards Dies. It's perfect for using up some of those special little shells and pebbles you may have brought back from a trip to the beach.

This one is mainly about how to achieve that weathered wood effect on matboard using paints, though you could just as easily use patterned paper glued onto the matboard to achieve a similar effect if you find that better. Just remember to cover both sides of the board.

For the painted version start with an uneven coat of a sand colour. Any matte acrylics will do for this project.

Use a more 'well used' paintbrush to drag some pale blue paint over the top.

Now go in with even less of a pale sage colour - you'll find using less paint each time gets you more natural, blended look.

Go gently with this next stage! Add a few delicate wisps of dark brown paint to suggest an uneven grain you get with weathered wood.

Finally use a white paint/gesso sparingly as your last coat to tie all those subtle colours together and add to that aged look. And remember to paint both sides of your matboard.

Painting (or paper) done, it's on to cutting your gift boxes. Eileen has cleverly designed the Stacking Drawers Scoreboards Die to do all the heavy lifting here - it cuts the draw sides, base and box wrap all in one pass, including all the scoring!

With everything painted/covered both sides and all the cutting and scoring done it's a simple matter of sticking together the drawer/base and doing the same for the box wrap as shown below. I would suggest gluing the rectangular base on the inside of the drawer to make it easier to slide inside the finished box wrap.

Finally I added some permanent brown ink to all the edges for that vintage look but that is purely a preference thing so you may want to leave this stage out.

Decorate the top of your box wrap with shells, pebbles, metal charms, die cut leaves, bits of burlap netting and even drops of molten gold embossing powder - again this totally down to preference and also which treasures you may have to hand. Don't forget to fill your boxes too with golden toffees, clotted cream fudge or other treats to bring a smile to the recipient's face.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how these seaside inspired gift boxes came together. The die is still available over in Eileen's Etsy Store HERE.

Thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Vintage Travel Trunk with Eileen Hull Designs

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.

So let's get started with making one.

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