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How to make a Wooden Ladybird Jewellery Box for a Christmas present for someone in your family this Christmas who loves Ladybirds and also has lots of jewellery to put inside it. The ladybird trinket box is an ideal gift for any young lady, a younger sister maybe or your auntie or even your grandma. The box is quite easy to make and doesn't require any socialist skills and there's no woodwork involved, but you will need a few days to make it whilst the varnish dries.

To make the Wooden Ladybird Jewellery Box you will need…

A small wooden box (you can buy these ready made at Hobycraft. They are inexpensive and come in a range of sizes and shapes)
Wooden ready painted Ladybirds (again these are available at Hobycraft or any good Craft shop) Clear Varnish and a brush for application.
Sticky backed felt.
PVA Glue.
Ruler and pencil.

The box should be nicely sanded already, but if it is not smooth, give it a brisk rub with some fine sandpaper. Then take a few of the Ladybirds and stick them with PVA glue to the box. You might want to take some time to try different designs before you stick them to the box.

Leave the box to one side to dry.

Put plenty of old newspapers down to protect the table and read the instructions on the tin of varnish and apply a coat of varnish to the box. Leave the lid open so that you can apply varnish to the inside lip of the box. Leave the box to one side to dry – it will probably need to be left overnight. The next day apply another coat of varnish to give the box a nice glossy finish, be careful not to let the varnish run. Again leave the box overnight to dry.

With the paper side of the felt facing upwards, draw around the bottom of the box onto the stick backed felt sheet. Cut it out and peel the paper off and stick the felt to the bottom of the box. This is to prevent the bottom of the box from starching the furniture that the box is put on.

In the same way draw out another piece of felt, but cut it out slightly smaller. This piece should be struck on the inside bottom of the box.

Measure the inside depth of the box, and cut a strip of felt that is this wide. Starting at a corner, stick the strip onto the inside walls of the box. It is best to pull only a small amount of the paper at a time to reveal the sticky side, and push it tightly into the corners. When you get back tot he starting corner cut off the surplus length of felt.

In the same way, line the lid of the box with sticky backed felt.

The box is now ready for wrapping up and putting under the Christmas Tree.