Upcycling An Old Cigar Box

If you are like me, than you enjoy finding new ways to reuse old items.  A friend of mine gave me this cool cigar box that he had lying around his garage.  So I figured I would make my niece a neat little toy box she could put doll clothing or jewelry in.
What I used for this craft:
exacto knife & cutting board
ruler
marker for marking measurements
glue gun
3 sheets of felt I purchased from Walmart for less than $3
Lace that I also purchased from Walmart for $1
and a mirror I picked up at a flea market for $1
an old gift card to level out the pieces once glued

First I started with the lid.  I measured what I needed and made my cuts with an exacto knife. I loved the black and white pattern, it gives this soon to be toy box an elegant touch.  For the bottom I wanted a bright color that would give a nice contrast in color. For this I went with red.  I fitted the felt into the base and made a few incisions so I could compare my measurements to make sure they were aligned.  At this point I was just cutting out what I needed, no glue was used until all the pieces had been cut. Instead of using another piece of felt, I decided to line the interior walls with both the black and white on the longer sides of the box, and used the remaining red felt for the shorter sides.

My assistant was of no help. (pre-glue)

I decided not to paint the edges of the box, out of personal preference...and well, sheer laziness.  Painting the trim would have looked nice too. If I would have done that, this is the stage where I would paint.  Just before gluing everything in place. 
Since I decided to forgo painting, I went straight in to gluing.  (Now that my "assistant" was finally off my supplies)
I glued the lid piece first, then the side pieces, and the bottom piece last. I used an old gift card to make sure the glue applied evenly so there were no bumpy areas after it had set.
To give the box a more finished looked, I placed black lace along the edges of the base.  The final touch was adding the small mirror which I glued to the lid. 


Ta-da!   A super cute toy box for less than $5, that was fun and easy to make. The best part? Turning something old that would have ended up in the trash, into something new a child could play with.  Maybe this will be the new home for the *Altoid tin doll I made her. 


*In one of my next posts I'll show how I made the Altoid tin dolls.