Decoupage Box with Beach Theme

A Reminder of the Beach

The (Finally) Completed Beach Memory Box

I checked off one of the items from my graphic to-do list. "Finish this Cancun memory box or toss it. It's just not inspiring me.."

What finally inspired me to complete the decoupage beach memory box was my assignment to write a Quamut decoupage guide for Barnes & Noble. I needed a reference photo as an illustration.

The pictures above shown how I finished the box.

It could hold mementos on the inside as well, but my idea was to put the mementos where I would see them frequently.

Every time we go to the beach, I pick up a few shells and maybe a small piece of driftwood. When we get home, I arrange them in a bowl somewhere. But that doesn't really show them off very well.

The driftwood "handle" and shells on this box were gathered in Cancun this past February.

I centered them on a white sanding disk on the box top and glued down the shells and driftwood, wrapping the arrangement with raffia to frame it, as well as to hide the edge of the sanding disk.

The beach landscape running around the box and the paper shells I glued onto the landscape are graphics I printed from Print Artist. I had to print the landscape three times and piece it together to reach around the box's 24-inch circumference.

I painted the rim of the top to match the Caribbean blue water and then put on two coats of Mod Podge.

If you want to try a project like this using images you print with an inkjet printer, here's a tip: spray them with three coats of Krylon Crystal Clear to seal the ink. No more ink bleed!