RELIC BOX

MATERIALS

wood box

wood legs

gold metallic spray paint

assorted rubber stamps

black ink pad (StazOn)

assorted acrylic paints

paint brush

black Premo! clay

rolling pin

wax paper

clay blade

mica powders

roasting pans

binder clips

stamped tiles

manufactured tiles (optional)

charms

tacks

metallic gold paint

fine paintbrush

grout sticks

jewelry parts

seed beads

Spanish Copper Rub ‘n Buff

rag

tin snips

Weldbond glue

graphite pencil

I love boxes. They’re great gifts for all occasions, especially when they are personalized (with alphabet stamps) for the lucky person who receives one. Always be on the lookout for unique legs to give your boxes. With legs, the lowly box is literally elevated to an art form! The Relic Box is one of my favorites, as it combines a variety of elements and techniques all wrapped up in one small box. Remember: Think outside the box!

1 SPRAY AND STAMP BOX
Spray paint the interior of the box and the entire lid gold. Around the perimeter of the box, stamp the triangle stamp on the box using StazOn black ink. A different image can be stamped on each side. Leave the inside of the stamped image unpainted.

2 PAINT AREAS WHITE
Using a brush, paint the rim of the lid and the four legs white. You can leave the ball portion unpainted.

3 MEASURE BOX TOP
For this box, I know that I want to have a tile of text at the bottom, so I’m starting there. Condition and roll out some black Premo! clay to 1/8" (3mm) thickness. Use a clay blade to cut off one side. Lay the box on the clay and mark the width of the box on the clay.

4 CREATE TITLE
Stamp your word or phrase into the clay, using alphabet stamps or a word stamp. Rub some mica powder over the clay, and then trim the top off with the clay blade.

5 STACK CLAY
Next, to create a tile that is higher than the rest, stack two same-size pieces of clay and set a brass word charm on top of it. Then press two tacks into the holes of the charm to adhere the three pieces together.

6 LAY OUT TILE DESIGN
Stamp additional tiles with images and text, or use stamped tiles that you already have. To begin the design for the box, lay out the large elements first.

7 FILL IN THE GAPS
Glue those elements into place using Weldbond, and then fill in the rest of the lid with tiles that fit. Here I have used some black and white manufactured tiles in addition to my own stamped tiles. Lastly, for a narrow strip that is left, you can use a grout stick from your stash to fill in the space. (See Forming Metallic-Leaf Grout Sticks.) Mark where the grout stick needs to be trimmed.

8 TRIM THE GROUT STICK
Trim the stick with tin snips to fit.

9 ADD BLACK CHECKS
Glue the grout stick in place. Any remaining gaps can be filled in the same way or with jewelry glue and seed beads. (See FILL IN WITH GROUT STICKS). Paint black checks around the perimeter of the lid.

10 PAINT STRIPES ON LEGS
To paint stripes around the legs, hold the leg by the ball at the end, and rotate it as you hold the brush against the wood.

11 PAINT BOX
For the sides of the box, squeeze a bit of Quinacridone Gold, Raw Umber and black acrylic paints onto your paint palette. Paint some gold close to the stamped image.

12 RUB OFF EXCESS PAINT
Use a rag (or paper towel) to rub off the excess paint.

13 SHADE AROUND EDGES
Then mix equal parts of the gold and the Umber and just a teensy bit of black, and feather the paint from the edges of the box inward.

14 USE RUB ‘N BUFF ON EDGES
Paint black slashes around the top perimeter of the box. Use a rag to apply just a bit of copper Rub ’n Buff to the outer edges of the box. A little goes a long way.

15 SCRIBBLE AROUND STRIPES
With a graphite pencil, lightly scribble lines where the black stripes meet the white paint. Do this on all four legs and also for the black-and-white checks around the lid. This softens the look.

16 GLUE LEGS TO BOX
To glue the legs on the bottom of the box, set them in from the outside just a bit.