Emergency Chocolate Box

One of my friends is a teacher/administrator at a private religious school and has been feeling particularly stressed lately. With the holidays near, and gift exchanges looming over me, I knew that I would have to stick to homemade gifts due to my own personal budget. After some thought and consideration, I decided to make her an Emergency Chocolate Box, that she would be able to break out during times of stress and anxiety.

To make the Emergency Chocolate Box, I used the following materials that I already had at home:

• An old box that had once held tea, with a glass top
• Primer
• Colored spray paint
• Chalkboard spray paint
• Rhinestone embellishments
• Masking tape, to protect areas that I did not want in particular colors
• Chalk, to write a message on top of the box

In a well ventilated area, you'll need to prime the box you've chosen to use so that all of the color and chalkboard paint will be even.

Spray nice, even coats of primer on the interior and exterior of the box, and glass. Do not rush and try to cover it all in one coat. Trying to rush the process will cause your paint to pool and drip. You'll need 2-3 coats. Wait about 1 hour between coats.

After you've waited about 1 hour after the final coat of primer, you're ready to spray paint the interior and exterior of the box in the same manner as you did the primer. It doesn't matter if you get the color onto the center, since you'll be covering that up with chalkboard paint later. Give the box about 2-3 coats, and then leave it to dry overnight.

I forgot to take a picture -- but after the box has dried overnight, put masking tape on the parts of the top that you do not want covered in chalkboard paint. After you have done this, spray the glass part with chalkboard paint in the same manner as you have done the primer and color. Give the chalkboard section about 2-3 coats, and then leave it to dry overnight once again.

After the chalkboard paint has dried overnight, you are ready to decorate, embellish, and fill your Emergency Chocolate Box!

I chose to use rhinestones around the edges to embellish the box, and then wrote an erasable message in chalkboard paint.

Once you're finished, you're ready to gift your Emergency Chocolate Box, or keep it for yourself to break out in dire circumstances. Enjoy!

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