She loves to create spaces that are cosy and individual, and to do that influencer Geneva Vanderzeil spends most of her time DIYing and upcycling. She’s even written a book about it.

“Beautiful home decor elements need not be expensive or out of reach,” she says. “For me, there's nothing better than taking simple, affordable materials and turning them into something special and eye-catching with a bit of creativity.” Which is exactly what she’s done to make this simple yet elegant jewellery box. 

How to Make a Jewellery Box

Step 1: Remove the clasp from the box using a small screwdriver.

Use a craft knife to cut plywood tags in half – these will become the decoration on your homemade jewellery box. 

Step 2: Take eight plywood tags and mark each of them down the centre using a pen and a ruler.

Step 3: Using a craft knife, carefully cut the circles in half along your marking. 

Step 4: Paint the box using white paint. Do a few coats, allowing each one to dry before applying the next. You want the box to be well covered with no wood showing through.

Continue the craft project by painting the wooden embellishments white. 

Step 5: Paint the wooden semicircles, as well as two wooden beads.

Step 6: When the box, semicircles and beads are dry, start playing around with patterns on the lid of the box. Here, Geneva has used a simple linear pattern in two rows, but you can use any pattern you like.

SEE ALSO: Family Craft Projects: Personalised Gift Tags

Use a glue gun to fix the painted semicircles to the lid of the jewellery box. 

Step 7: Once your pattern is finalised, use a glue gun to glue the semicircles to the top of the box.

Wooden beads and magnets act as a simple but effective closure on this homemade jewellery box. 

Step 8: Take the beads and glue them to the front of the box, centred on either side of the opening, as shown above. Before attaching, check first to see how much gap you need to leave to add magnets to each of the balls while still allowing the box to close. You need to be precise.

Step 9: Once the design and beads are glued in place, add another two coats of paint to the box. 

Step 10: When the paint is dry, glue the magnets onto the beads, ensuring they are glued on the right side so that the positive and negative attract. 

To make the inner compartments of the jewellery box, line mini kraft boxes with some bold patterned paper. 

Step 11: To make the inside of the jewellery box, take the lids from two kraft boxes and glue them together at the sides. 

Step 12: Cut strips of patterned paper and line the base and the sides of the two lids, covering the middle join.

Glue pairs of the lined kraft boxes together to form two shelves for your jewellery box. 

Step 13: Repeat with the lids from two more kraft boxes to create two levels of jewellery holders.

Step 14: Insert the holders into the box, and your jewellery box is finished.

What to Try 

You’ll need a glue gun, kraft boxes and a wooden box to make the jewellery box.

SEE ALSO: This Week We Made: Families Try Fun Craft Ideas for Kids

This article was originally published in 2022 and has been updated.