Make It Easy

One Box, Two Ways

Make Keepsake Box Useful in Other Ways

A keepsake box is a wonderful way to save the bits and pieces of our favorite memories, whether they’re from the months spent dating that special someone, wedding memories or those precious little things that represent a new baby.

When we found some keepsake boxes at the local dollar store, we imagined them used to store other stuff, too.

The manufacturers of these boxes often use the same designs on other products, too, so we were able to find small gift boxes to match the keepsake boxes. Read on to discover how we put it all together.

Keepsake Jewelry Box

You will need:

• 1 – 10″ x 8″ keepsake box
• 1 – 6″ x 7″ shape mirror sticker or something similar (mirror sticker shown is the smaller of a set of two.)
• 1 matching gift box, 4 ½” square or smaller
• Small piece of soft material (optional)

 

To make:

1. Remove the backing from the mirror and position it in the middle of the inside of the lid.
2. Glue the small gift box into one corner of the keepsake box.
3. Turn the lid of the gift box over to make a tray that will sit on top of the small box.
4. If you choose, cut a small piece of soft material to fit inside the tray and glue it down.
5. These keepsake boxes come with long ribbon ties. We opted to remove the one from the bottom half of the box and trim the one attached to the lid
to make a short handle for easy opening of the box.

If you can’t find mirror stickers in your dollar store, you could use some other lightweight frame-less mirror and attach it to the lid with two-sided tape.

Now you have a jewelry box that’s the perfect place to store your costume jewelry.

Keepsake Mail Supplies Box

You will need:

• 1 – 10″ x 8″ keepsake box
• 1 – small matching gift box
• Coordinating color card stock,  8 ½” x 11″ sheet
• Glue
• Scissors

To make:

1. Cut a piece of card stock approximately 9 ¾” x 4 ½”, apply glue to both ends and along the bottom and position it just above the lid crease. This will make a slot for stamps and address labels.
2. Let the ribbon attached to the lid of the keepsake box fall down the center on the inside of the box and make a loop of about 2″ at the top of the lid. Glue the loop together at its base to make a handle.
3. Leaving some slack for a pen to fit into, glue the other end of the ribbon to the lid near the bottom.
4. Remove the piece of ribbon from the bottom half of the box.
5. Glue the small gift box into one corner of the keepsake box and the lid, turned upside down to make a tray, into the opposite corner. Store paper clips, sticky notes, etc. in these.

The space in between the small gift box and lid is big enough for tape and, if you put them in on a slight angle, envelopes will fit in at the back of your new mail supplies box.

These keepsake boxes have a window on the outside of the lids in which you can insert a 5” x 7” picture. For your mail supplies box, you might want to choose a photo of a favorite place you’ve been to or would like to visit.