Upcycled jewelry box

 

Part of being thrifty is learning how to recycle and "upcycle", meaning taking something old, and turning into something new!

 I refinished this vintage jewelry box over the weekend, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!

Here's the before. The velvet inside was still in beautiful condition, but the outside was badly dated and unglamorous.  

So I carefully taped off both the mirror and the velvet,

And then I applied two coats of primer and three coats of glossy black spray paint. 

After painting, there was a small amount of overspray on the velvet, (it's hard to get tape to adhere to velvet!) so I took some scotch tape and use that to gently lift the paint off, as well as any other lint that had been left behind. 

Then I pulled out my secret weapon, Mod Podge!

 

This was my first time using "gloss" Mod Podge as opposed to "matte", and I really liked the finish on the gloss a lot more, I'll be using it instead of the matte in the future.

 

 

This jewelry box had an area in the middle of the lid that is indented, and was just screaming "I want to stand out!!". So I dug out my scrap book papers and began the hardest part of this craft, deciding which one to use! I eventually narrowed it down to these two:

I really liked them both, but when I held them together, the choice was obvious to me. 

It's hard to see in the photo, but the floral paper has a metallic sheen that is just gorgeous, and overall the colors seemed a lot richer and more vibrant. So onward!

While I was waiting for the Modge Podge to dry, I pulled out my goo gone;

And used it to clean any paint residue off the mirror. You only need a tiny bit and it comes right up. Works for spray paint over spray on just about anything!

Once it was dry, I went over the entire piece with some polycrylic to seal the finish. 

I must say, I've used this brand several time and I love it. It goes on smoothly, dries quickly, leaves a beautiful finish, and clean up is just soap and water! 

It leaves a slight milky haze after first applying, but dries clear.

Now I've turned a piece of thrift store "trash" into a treasure! 

One more:

I would love to keep this beautiful piece, but I have no room!! So up for sale she goes, hopefully I can find a good home for her!