Ruffled Jewelry Box from a Cigar Box

Hi everyone,

I know it's been awhile since I last posted...I feel like when I have less work to do, then I post less, haha. Anyway, I have a tutorial for you today! It's been a long time since I did one of those, too, so I'm excited! And I really love this project...I hope you do too!

Anyway, I'm going to show you how to make a cute, ruffled jewelry box from an old cigar box. My inspiration came from those ruffled pillows, like this one:



I had a couple of cigar boxes that I had picked up at Goodwill for about a dollar apiece. If you can't find one, it probably would be pretty easy to adapt this idea for other boxes as well, maybe even just an inexpensive jewelry box.

Aside from that, you will need, two different kinds of fabric (I used white jersey and a heavy, flowered fabric), your usual sewing supplies, glue (and unless you are really patient, I would definitely recommend using hot glue), and that's about it!



Now, you'll have to cut the fabric that you want to use for the sides of your box. Carefully measure the sides, and cut, making sure that you have about an inch or so extra in the width so that you can fold it under the box and over the sides for a cleaner look. Also, on the pieces that you are going to use for the front and back sides of the box, make sure that you leave about an inch and a half of length, because you're going to want to fold those onto the other sides, again for that nice, clean look (I'll show you what I mean in a minute).



Now, we're going to glue the strips to the side of the box. I usd hot glue to make it faster, though I'm sure that regular fabric glue would work just as well. Glue your long front strips first, and fold them so that they cover a bit of the adjacent sides as well. Then glue the two smaller side strips, which should cover the folded over parts of the front (and back) strips.
Then, flip your box over to the bottom and fold the fabric so it lays flat (this is exactly like wrapping a present).And then do the same thing on the inside of the box. On the back strip, which you won't be able to fold in at the top, just fold it over the top of the box and glue it down.
You should end up with this:





Now for the ruffles!

Take your jersey and cut 5 or 6 1 1/2 to 2 inch wide strips (length is up to you, depending on how ruffly you want it), or however many you need to cover your box adequately. Sew them into ruffles...



...And glue them (and I recommend starting at the bottom, because I did mine at the top which causes unnecessary difficulty) to the top of your box.

Then...you should end up with something like this:



And there's your finished box!



Cute, huh? It does take a while to make, but the results are so satisfying, it's totally worth it!

I hope my instructions weren't too confusing...if you want to make one, and you can't get it figured out, just let me know, and I'll try and clarify it.

Anyway, have a lovely weekend!

~Vicki