DIY Treasure Chest

This is a fun arts & crafts activity that I can't really take credit for -- it was Babygirl's idea! I am so grateful and amazed that she seems to have inherited my husband's playful inventiveness. She went over to the recyclables, grabbed a box, and began putting her treasures into it. I am kind of jealous of the way Babygirl could just use her imagination to turn a simple object into something more.

Since she was having so much fun taking her treasures in and out of her box, I decided to decorate it like a real treasure chest! All it took was using Mod Podge to glue some colorful construction paper to the box (the convenient opening lid was already there!), and a marker to add a few decorative touches:

Now, I'm no artist, but as you can see, I kind of got excited while I was gluing things. So I decided to make a matching hat for a playset! I have even included this helpful, extremely detailed tutorial to guide you through making a quick one of your own ;) If you have a little one working on their scissor-cutting skills, you could draw the guidelines, and let them make their very own pirate hat!

You can make a treasure chest with any box on hand, such as from a case of juice. However, a case of beer has some helpful handles so that Babygirl can carry it around, and it comes with ready-to-use gold doubloons! Hah!

What fun crafts have you created by reusing materials? Do you have that creative vision I envy? Share inventive ideas in the comments!

Set sail, me mateys!
The Yuppie Hippie