Tea Storage Box

by Belle Jaeger

4 Materials

$17

2 Hours

Easy

I found this bamboo tea storage box at Tuesday Mornings for under $12 the other day. I’d been wanting one since I’m addicted to tea and I have quite the assortment and no place to put them. I decided to get creative with it since it was a blank slate.

I bought this for under $12.

Before painting, I lightly sanded the entire exterior of the box for a smooth painting surface.

I applied one coat of the ligther color (mocha) paint and allowed it to dry. Once dry, I applied a coat of the darker (raw umber) color. While that’s drying, paint the wooden candle cup pieces in the same dark color.

After all this is dry, blend the two colors (the lighter and darker) and give one sweep on the lid part only for a variation look. (You can certainly leave like this but I wanted some dimension to mine.). I touched up the corners and some center areas with the antique medium to give it more character. Allow this to dry completely.

In the meantime, I got the scrapbook paper and tore it into two big pieces and then burned the edges to give it a worn-old look, to it. (See photos)

Use the Mod Podge to cover the backside of both paper pieces but one at a time. Apply to the center of the top of the lid. Apply a sweep of mod lodge on the paper you just applied. Then repeat with the other piece. Allow to seal and dry completely before the next step. (If you notice any areas on the paper that didn’t completely adhere, sweep with more Mod Podge.

Other supplies I used were small pieces of glass (you can find in scrapbook department) and a cross (jewelry find)

After all of this is dried off, coat the entire box with the polyurethane coating gloss. Make sure to wipe off access around the edges so the box won’t seal permanently. I left the lid up so dry so it wouldn’t stick.

Once this is dry you are ready to glue your accent pieces on the top.