If you’re a soon-to-be bride looking to add personal touches to your special day, I have the perfect project for you! I just love the trend of unique dresses within a color palette that fit each bridesmaid’s personality. Why not have their thank you gifts do the same? Pick a piece of jewelry or a small token of appreciation, and then create a little keepsake box to put the gift in. These may look like loads of work, but I promise the techniques are simple.
Mix your paint color palette.
Apply tape. If you want a super easy graphic impact, use painters tape. Apply tape at an angle across the unfinished boxes. As a section dries, apply another strip of tape to keep lines clean as you layer.
Apply painterly brushstrokes to a blank box in a cross hatch pattern. Apply 3-4 in one direction, let dry a minute and apply 3-4 in the other direction creating the start of a plaid design.
Only put a small amount on the brush tip to get the brushstroke effect.
Continue layering with different paints to achieve dimensional plaid. You can vary your brush size to get varied line weights.
Play around with diluting the paint on the brush with a quick dip of water to achieve a transparent watercolor-like effect.
Continue painting additional boxes. Try different patterns, single stripes, random painterly splotches etc. Introduce a felt tip pen for nice crisp line art overlays. I found that Papermate felt tip pens work the best with minimal bleeding.
Add simple white tags and complementary ribbons.
Admire your work! Bonus, no gift wrapping required!
Display them all on a tray to gift to your wedding party.