Treasure Chest Gift

Thinking outside the box today!

Here's an idea to use something other than a plain box, or bag, to give a small gift...


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So, I found these cool little treasure chests at Michael's and Hobby Lobby last week.

Michael's Version

This is what they look like when you purchase them from the craft store.

They come in 2 sizes.  Lets call them small, and medium.  You can't fit a lot in a small size (not even a gift card), so I went with medium.  With a 40% off coupon, I paid about $3 for this one.

Hobby Lobby's version (I forgot to take a before picture, but it was unfinished like the Michael's one)

They can be stained, or painted.  I only stained mine because we had some left over from staining our table and chairs last month.  I used PolyShades Antique Walnut from Home Depot, but I mixed in a little black to make it darker.  
I justified the 'less than perfect' stain job by telling myself, that like an old real treasure chest, imperfections add character.  Really though, I'm just lazy.

A few gift ideas to put in a "treasure chest"

• Money (you'd pay the same amount for a card these days anyway)
• Jewelry and other small accessories
• BRUNO MARS CONCERT TICKETS (get it? Treasure?)  ;)

             -Bruno Mars concert memorabilia (ticket stubs, pictures, confetti that you ran                       around and collected like a kid at an Easter Egg hunt {guilty}, or something                           signed if you were so lucky)

• Gift cards
• Small pirate toys
• Pirate themed DVD

No matter what you do, make sure you put something on the bottom (even if it's tissue paper) to build it up a bit.

I'm always finding "treasures" at TJ Maxx, so I thought this way of giving a gift card was fitting.

For this, I filled the bottom, added cash, an old cheap (Forever21) necklace I don't wear anymore (you can use beaded necklaces from the dollar store, party store, or craft store), and plastic gems also from the craft store.

This would be ideal for a young child. Might be funny to send to a college student too. After all, nothing is treasured more than MONEY when you're away at school!

Small, coordinating accessores

Or just use this as a creative way to give a gift card. If it's for Christmas, add a colorful Ornament behind the card. This could double as an extra gift, and decoration. (All I had was my empty clear ones for the photos :( All of our Christmas stuff is in a storage locker)

So that's it!  Let me know what you think.  Would you use this chest as a gift box?