Vintage-Inspired Treat Boxes

While browsing eBay recently, I came across some vintage paper mache boxes.  I can't seem to find the actual listing anymore, but I saved a photo for reference.  I thought they were adorable and would be fun to recreate.  Here are the originals and the inspiration for a crafterevening with Heidi-

These were actually pretty easy to recreate and a lot of fun!  Besides some imagination, here is what you will need to make your own super cute versions of these vintage goodies-

You can find everything on the list at your local craft store, If you don't happen to hoard craft supplies like I tend to do, except for the spun cotton heads.  You can find a decent selection of new heads here or you can search for vintage ones on sites like Etsy and eBay.  I had some old wooden bead faces on hand, so I used those too.  If you choose to use Styrofoam balls for the head, you can use the spun cotton heads as inspiration for faces to paint or draw on.  I wish I had taken step by step photos, but I didn't, so bear with me as I list out the instructions.  Then I will show you my finished boxes!

If you are going to paint your heads and faces, you may want to do that first, so they can dry while you work on the other steps.  Otherwise, start by covering your boxes.  We used pretty scrapbook paper and ribbon to do so, just sort of using the box itself to measure how much we needed and then using hot glue for the ribbon and craft glue for the paper.  It's okay if the entire bottom part of your box isn't covered, because the lid will cover the very top.  I had some ribbon that looked too short, but worked perfectly.  You can also use pipe cleaners to trim the boxes.

To make the clowns from the inspiration photo, make a ruffle from crepe paper and attach it to the top of the box with hot glue.  You can use more than one layer and trim it do your desired size.  The clown's hats can be made from the scrapbook paper.  There are actually tons of templates online, but I am that moron that free hands it every time so that I am constantly trimming and none of my cones are the same size.  Just google "party hat template", shrink it to a smaller size, and print it out, if you don't want to make extra work for yourself.  Trim the hat by hot gluing a pipe cleaner around the bottom edge.  You can add a pom pom to the top, if you like.  Use hot glue to attach the hat to the head and the head to the ruffles on top of the box.  Voila!  That's it!

We went a bit of a different route with decorating some of our faces.  We used hot glue, sequins, and colored straight pins to fashion eyes, noses, and mouths.  One of my clowns also has pipe cleaner hair.  I think it's fun to just use whatever you have on hand.  Pom poms make good noses, especially big fluffy red ones!  You could also use googly eyes or small buttons.  Okay, so here are my finished boxes-

So they didn't turn out exactly like the original boxes, but I think they served as a good inspiration.  I really think these boxes would be so fun to make for party favors.  They could be filled with candy and made to match whatever colors or themes you were going for.  If you decide to make some, make sure to share the finished result!