Lunch box makeover for a little girl...

My daughter called me not too long ago and wanted to know if I would be willing to get out my Mod Podge and fancy up a tin lunch box for my granddaughter. I had done a similar, smaller lunch box for her a few years ago and packed it full of handmade doll clothes for her Fancy Nancy doll. My granddaughter is now in first grade and insists on using this little doll clothes "suitcase" to take her lunches to school. "If I buy a bigger plain metal lunch box, Mom," my daughter asked, "would you be willing to 'bling' it up for her?"

No hemming or hawing from me...of  course I'd be willing!  Besides, I hadn't done any Mod Podging in a long time and could use the practice. A final reason was that I knew it would be fun.

This is what I started with - a nice, shiny tin lunch box.

First I had to rough up the parts I wanted to cover so that they weren't so smooth and slick that they wouldn't hold the paper. I used some fine grit sandpaper and just went over all the necessary sections lightly. This only took a few minutes, after which I wiped it clean with a tack cloth.

Then I started applying my selected papers. First I cut the paper to size. Then I brushed on a thin layer of Mod Podge and applied the paper over that, smoothing with my fingers and sometimes using my brayer to try to get out all the bubbles. After it dried for about 15 minutes, I applied a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the paper.




As I applied each new layer of paper or embellishment, I brushed on a layer of Mod Podge under the embellishments and then over them as well as over the entire papered surface. On the front and back of the lunch box, there are at least seven layers of Mod Podge.

Here is the final result with some coordinating pieces of ribbon, lace and tulle added to the handle for "flair."  My paper rickrack was made with the envelope punch board. My granddaughter's initials were cut with my Cricut using the Nate's ABCs cartridge. Cut at 3/4", they perfectly matched the size of some rhinestone initials I had on hand.

Here's a little better look at all that "flair" on the handle.

This picture is a little dark, but the top, bottom and ends are covered with a coordinating paper and some more of the paper rickrack.

To help make it more durable, I sprayed all of the Mod Podged areas (after masking all the edges) with a finish spray by the same company. It will help to keep it from becoming tacky.

I hope my granddaughter likes her new, girly lunch box. I sure had fun making it!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl