I joined a Harry Potter ornament exchange group on Facebook and the theme for the first exchange I participated in was "Back to Hogwarts" which meant you could send anything to your partner you thought they needed to start the school year at Hogwarts. I'm a very practical girl so I immediately thought of the quintessential item every student needs:
A trunk!
I wanted to model mine after the vintage steamer trunks that were used in the movies. I started brainstorming objects that might work for the body of the trunk. Most of my options were too boxy or required sanding or shaving the edges to get the rounded edges I wanted. The answer lied tucked at the back of my silverware drawer. The bamboo utensil organizer I was using was not deep enough for the drawer so I had shoved an old spice tin in the back to act as a spacer so the organizer didn't shift back and forth. Oh, hello gorgeous. You have rounded edges, you are the right size, and you are lightweight. You are coming with me to the craft room! *closes drawer and listens to organizer slam to the back of the drawer* Oops.
My first trunk involved decoupaging tissue paper around my tin form and then painting it afterwards. This produced a nice weathered aged leather look. I felt like I could get nearly the same effect with less effort so I made my next trunk with leather-looking scrapbook paper. I then set out to make an entire set of trunks done in Hogwarts house colors. I'm pretty happy with the results but caution you to stick to covering your trunks with paper and not card stock because the latter is harder to work with.
But enough already, let's get started!
Supplies Needed:
1 metal spice tin
1 sheet of 8.5" x 11" card stock (any color, this will get covered)
1 sheet 12" x 12" leather looking scrapbook paper (or a color representing your Hogwarts house)
Leather cording - I used Bead Landing's 0.4cm x 3.6m leather cording found in the beading and jewelry section at Michael's
2 small jump rings used in jewelry making (sized such that the cording can be threaded through them)
Fine gold cording for hanging ornament
Scotch Tape
Double Sided Tape
Craft Glue of your choice that dries clear (I used Elmer's Craft Bond)
Super Glue
Mod Podge Matte finish
Paint brush
Gold fine point paint pen
Polymer Clay (optional, used to make the "lock" for trunk, could be card stock or craft foam)
Hogwarts Crest printed on paper or lightweight card stock. Printable file found here. Want to print a bunch? Here's a whole sheet of them.
1. The bottom of the spice tin needs to be bulked up a bit so it doesn't sink in at that end when you cover it later. Cut out several pieces of card stock to fit the bottom (5 or 6) and stack them inside the bottom of the recess of the tin using double sided tape between each layer.
2. Cut a strip of card stock to wrap around the main portion of the tin. Start at the long narrow side at the crease in the tin and wrap it around until you've overlapped the starting point, secure it with tape.
3. Cut 2 pieces of rectangular card stock, both slightly bigger than one of the ends of the tin. Affix those to each end with a piece of double sided tape. Then trim the card stock as closely as you can around the edges.
4. Use tape to close up any gaps you might have, trying to get as close a fit as possible.
5. Continue to work on the ends by cutting a piece of the leather scrapbook paper slightly larger than the ends and affixing it with double sided tape.
6. Snip the paper all the way around the tin to assist with folding the paper over the edge.
7. Use craft glue to glue down the snipped edges, working to secure them as snugly as possible to the tin.
8. Cut a strip of scrapbook paper to wrap around the body of the tin. Start at one of the long narrow ends about 2/3 of the way up and finish by overlapping slightly so that your seam is about halfway down the side. This crease acts as the "opening" of your trunk. Use double sided tape to help secure the paper tightly as you wrap the paper around the tin. A little at the edges should do the job.
9. Start wrapping cording around the ends of the trunk. Start on the center edge of the bottom and wrap it around until you meet up with where you started. Use craft glue to affix the cording.
10. The inside straps of cording are placed about 1/2"-5/8" over from the outside straps. Start underneath the overlap "opening" of the trunk and wrap it around until you've just come over the top of the trunk.
11. Pause and thread one of the jewelry rings over the cording so that it sits right above the overlap. Glue the ring in place and then allow the cording to overlap itself, gluing it in place. You'll see in the next picture that I trimmed the cording at a diagonal and let the straps flap down in place.
12. Cut two small strips of cording for each end of the trunk to act as handles.
13. Affix these in place with super glue or some other strong glue. I found that the craft glue just wasn't strong enough to hold these end handles, which are where you will tie your ornament hanging string.
14. Use Mod Podge to coat the paper portions of the trunk and to affix the Hogwarts crest. It adds to the leather like sheen and gives a layer of protection to your paper. Printable Hogwarts crest here. You could also print and cut your crest by machine if you have a Cricut or Silhouette.
15. Shape a piece of polymer clay into a lock and bake it according to packaged directions. Color it with a gold paint pen afterwards and use a fine point sharpie to create a little dot for the lock hole. Alternatively, the lock could easily be made from card stock or craft foam.
16. Use the paint pen and add some hardware details at the corner edges and on the end handles. The jump rings I used weren't gold so I took my pen over those as well. You can also use the paint pen to add initials to one end of the trunk to personalize it.
17. Tie a fine piece of gold cording to the end handle straps and you are done!
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