Feature Friday- Box of Chocolates Pincushion Tutorial

I am working on a big project this week- to be revealed next Friday. It is top secret at the moment…so in the meantime, I’m bringing back one of my old tutorials for you.  A summer re-run.  Enjoy…

Hi, my name is Suzy and I’m a chocoholic. I hang my head in shame. I have been know to consume an entire box of chocolates in one sitting. So needless to say, I’m kind of a fan of the stuff. Unfortunately, I appear to be allergic to the stuff as it seems to make my hips swell up. And it has the unusual effect of making my clothing shrink. So I have to limit my intake if you know what I mean.

I’m also an avid user of pin cushions.  So naturally, it occured to me to combine the two. Remember those old commercials- “You got my peanut butter in my chocolate! No, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!” No? Well take my word for it. It’s kind of like that. Ya know, I always thought chocolate and peanut butter should like get married… but that is a whole other issue.  Anyway, I decided to create a pin cushion that looks like a box of chocolates. Because the world needs more chocolate. That is a fact.  And this is the kind of chocolate that doesn’t shrink clothes.  The best of both worlds.  Well, almost….anyway…

For this project I used:
One 8″ diameter round box
1 fat quarter of decorative fabric for the outside of the box
Fabric for the chocolates in dark brown, medium brown and white
Wired ribbon
Puff paint- I used white, peaches ‘n cream and butterscotch
Gold Candy Wrappers (you can find them at any craft store or baking supply)
Fiber fill
Gold spray paint
Fancy Trim
1/2″ gold ribbon
Hot glue
Cardboard
Styrofoam
Small piece of batting

I started by spraying the inside of the lid and the round box gold.  Then taking your cardboard and using the bottom of your box, trace and cut out a circle. This will be the raised shelf inside the box to sit your “candy” on. Cut the styrofoam piece about 2″ inches tall and glue onto the inside bottom of the box to hold the cardboard shelf up. Glue the cardboard on top of it.

Measure the height and circumference of your box, in my case my box was 3″ inches tall and 24″ inches around. Cut your fabric designated for the outside of the box the exact height of the box and about an inch longer than the circumference. Use hot glue to attach the fabric to the outside of the box.

Use the lid of the box to trace a circle on the back of your outside fabric giving it an extra 1/4″ allowance and cut the circle of fabric to glue to the lid of the box, overlapping on the edges. Also use the lid to trace a circle on the piece of batting.  This gives the top a softer feel.  Glue the batting on the top of the lid and then glue the fabric down on top, overlapping it down onto the side of the lid. This doesn’t have to be neat- we will be covering all edges with trim and ribbon.

First use the gold ribbon to cover the outside edge of the lid, glueing it down with hot glue.  Cutting your trim to fit, glue the trim to the outside top edge of the lid, covering up the overlapping fabric and the raw edge of the lid.

Glue trim and/or ribbon to the top and bottom edges of the box.

Now lets start on the candy! Create two templates out of craft paper. One is a 4″ diameter circle, the other is 5″ x 3″ oblong. Use these templates to cut candies out of your dark brown, medium brown and white fabric. I cut about 16 pieces, varying the fabric colors and shapes.

Take thread and sew a running stitch around the outside edge of the wrong side of the fabric. Do not tie off. Instead, pull the thread to gather the edges. Add fiberfill to the inside, stuffing and shaping until you get the desired look, then pull the thread tight and knot. Do this with each of your candies.

Using your hot glue, glue each candy into a wrapper and then glue them into the box, placing them in a pattern of your choice. Be sure to butt them up together and fill the box with candies.

Using the puff paint, add swirls of “icing” to your candies to make them look real. Puff paint takes a little while to dry, so give it plenty of time before you try putting on the lid.

The final touch is a bow made of wired ribbon. Hot glue this to the top of the box.

Then place it on the coffee table in your living room and wait. It won’t be long before someone tries to get some candy and you can laugh at them. Or you could use it as a pin cushion. Whatever floats your boat. Me personally, I enjoy the thrill of the deception. “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get”. And in this case, really, you don’t.
 
Remember – all my tutorials are “printer friendly”!  Just click on the Print Friendly button next to the comments section below and you can print the tutorial out for later use!


If you liked this tutorial, check out my flip flop pillow tutorial.  Another fun use for fabric fat quarters!
 
Or if your are liking that faux thing, check out my Faux Textured Chair Rail.  Create an awesome looking chair rail for pennies!
 
Never miss a post… subscribe to my site by email! See the easy link on the right side of the page.