DIY Personalized wood boxes

I really wanted to do something special for my nieces this year for Christmas. They're growing up, and toys just aren't their thing anymore. I thought what girl doesn't want her own private place to keep her special items in...  So I made my nieces these personalized boxes, they really are simple to make, yet look like you paid alot for them in some fancy boutique. I would have loved something like this as a girl! Let me show you how I did it. 

First I started with a plain wood box that had black metal accents. I forgot to take a before picture, but I bought this exact same box from my local Hobby Lobby. Using a 40% of coupon made the cost of the box around $4. 

Next, I painted the entire box using bright white base by Kilz. I even painted completely over the black metal accents. 

Then I sanded the entire box in order to smooth it, and distress it. I really wanted to sand over the metal accents to add that distressed look. 

Now to add some color. To do this I used ordinary acrylic craft paint. I added water to the paint until it was the consistency of colored water. Then I quickly painted the water mixture onto the box, and quickly wiped it off (using an old, dry wash cloth) before it dried. The color stays in the wood grain giving the box a sort of cool, but antique look. The more that you repeat this process the darker that the color becomes, so you control the look of the box.

After the paint dries, I adhered coordinating scrapbook paper to the inside of the box using good ole Mod Podge.

here's another look at the inside of the boxes when finished. 

( tip- if paper wrinkles don't worry, the wrinkles go away once the Mod Podge has completely cured. This should take about 24hrs. Also you can sand off any excess paper that comes out over the top of the box)

For the top of the box, I cut out a bird image from coordinating scrapbook paper. I used Mod Podge to adhere the bird, then I free hand painted the tree limbs. Lastly, I sanded over it all to add that distressed look. 

Now for the best part, The personalizing! I used the pencil transfer technique that I shared in my necklace hanger tutorial. The only difference is that instead of a scroll design, I'm using letters. I found both fonts at dafont.com. You can download any font from their site for FREE! 

This box I made for my son over the summer using an old bread box that I found at my local thrift store. I did have to power sand it first, but it was so worth it! I have many more ideas for boxes using the same techniques. I'll be back to share more with you later... until then, happy crafting!