I’m one of those family people. For the last 5 or so years, I take my nephews on vacation every summer (except last year for obvious reasons) and my mom tags along. So far we’ve only taken vacations around Texas, the state my mom and I live in. Because, quite honestly, Texas is big enough that you can vacation there summer after summer for years and years and never do the same thing twice :) Don’t believe me? I added up the mileage just from hotel to rent house for one year and we put over 1,824 miles on the car. That isn’t even including driving to attractions or anything! Because our trip has been such a big deal we call our annual summer vacation “The Texas Tour”.
While we sometimes stay in hotels we will always choose a rent house if a good one is available. It’s nice because I can bring my dogs along with us, we can cook at home instead of constantly eating out, and we can veg out more comfortably. A few years back on the drive I was telling the boys about how much I loved Studio Ghibli films and they hadn’t heard of them.
Now my mom probably doesn’t remember the movie all that well because she was probably doing a puzzle on her tablet. But she was there when we all watched a movie and the boys fell in love with one of the movies I love most in this world. And so I thought it would be pretty darn nifty to make a DIY musical jewelry box for my mother that took a song from “Spirited Away”. As an added bonus, the top also features a gorgeous inlay design I cut with my Cricut Maker.
Want to make your own DIY jewelry box with your favorite song (seriously, you can buy a mechanism with SO many different options!) – Let’s get to it!
This DIY Musical Jewelry Box with Veneer Inlay Design is made using this specific unfished wood jewelry box available at Amazon. You can use any music box you’d like but I’d look for one that has a lip around the top of the lid for the design to fit neatly within. You also need a box with removable trays inside so that you can hide away the little metal music mechanism.
I lucked out by finding a gorgeous layered design in Cricut Design Space meant for a greeting card. It was easily modified the design to specifically fit the lid for this jewelry box. You can access the ready to cut veneer inlay design here. If you need a different size, you can access the original design by searching for #M38495B (Gilded Floral Card).
A few days before you intend to piece together the inlay and add your musical mechanism, take your jewelry box apart. Place the clasp, hinges, and screws in a bag or cup in a safe place.
Stain the wood according to package directions. Giving the wood plenty of time to cure will make it easier for the adhesive to take hold later down the line.
Once the wood is stained, feel free to screw the hardware back in place, but live the lid and box separate.
Apply a piece of veneer to a StrongGrip cutting mat. Use a brayer to fully attach the wood and then tape around the edges to ensure it stays in place during cutting.
Load the mat into your Cricut Maker and cut the design from this Cricut Design Space File using the veneer settings. The topmost and bottommost layers are cut out of the lighter Maple and the second, middle layer is cut from Walnut.
After cutting, gently remove the pieces of the design that won’t be applied to the jewelry box. Once all of these pieces are removed you will have one solid piece per layer (no small pieces to attach).
If necessary, use a craft knife, like the Cricut TrueControl Knife to help remove pieces that don’t easily come away.
If you have any rough edges clean these up with fine sandpaper.
Place the largest, bottommost piece of the inlay design inside of the beveled lid. Since no 2 jewelry boxes will have the exact same shape inside, you might need to trim a little bit with a pair of scissors to get the piece to fit neatly inside the space. First mark the backside of the pieces with a pen and make a small mark on the lid that corresponds and will be hidden by the layered veneer. This will make sure you get the pieces to fit together again correctly.
Cut a tiny amount away from each piece individually, as needed, so that each piece fits within the bevel and lays well with the other 2 layers.
A lot of what kind of adhesive you use for this project depends on what you are most comfortable with. I tried 3 different glues on the 3 different layers to see what works the best.
If using a glue that takes a while to dry, it’s advisable to place the interior trays onto the veneer to hold it down. Just make sure there isn’t any glue on the top of the design, or squeezing out that will make the veneer glue to the bottom of the trays.
Apply weight on top of the trays to help keep the smaller veneer pieces in place as the glue dries.
Apply glue to the backside of the design and put in place on the lid. Clean any glue that oozes out with a toothpick. Remove the veneer and place glue side up for 30 seconds to a minute. Once the glue is tacky on both the lid and the veneer, press the 2 together and the hold should be immediate.
Spray the backside of the veneer over a trash can to prevent a mess. Allow a few seconds to minutes, depending on package directions, for the glue to get fully tacky. Push the design into place, taking care to hold down any smaller pieces in place for a few seconds. You don’t need a lot of weight, pressure from your hand is enough.
Adding the musical mechanism, also called the movement, to your jewelry box is super easy and such a fun way to customize your DIY projects. Sold for around $8-10 on Amazon, these wind up mechanisms come in a nice variety of 18-note songs. They use a small handle that you screw onto the mechanism to wind it. Any other style will be different than described below to install.
On a piece of paper trace the shape of your musical mechanism and the screw holes to create a pattern. A mechanical pencil with the lead sticking out more than usual is the easiest way to do this. Apply a tiny dot of paint to the screw end that you will attach the lever to wind up the mechanism and place down onto the template, fitting within the traced line. Give the paint a second to dry then put the paper on a window and trace the design onto the other side to mirror the pattern.
Turn the bottom of the box over and place it paint dot side down onto the surface. Tape into place. Using a drill bit as close to the width of the screws that came with the mechanism, drill THREE holes around the outer edge.
FYI – I drilled four holes because there are four in the movement, itself, however the devices only come with 3 screws. So I basically have an extra and totally empty hole for no good reason :)
Before moving on, place this piece into the hole and make sure that it has plenty of room to turn.
Place the mechanism inside of the jewelry box, aligning the screw holes. Hold it in place and flip the box over.
Gently screw through the holes in the bottom into the mechanism to hold in place. Do not overtighten screws or you could risk stripping them. Add the handle to wind the music box.
While still upside down, apply a strong adhesive to the open end of small wooden candle cups. Place them adhesive side down on the four corners of the box to act as feet and give some room for the handle to turn as the music plays. Remove the cups and give the glue a few seconds to become tacky. Replace the feet and allow the glue time to dry, several hours is good but overnight is best.
screwing the lid and base together with the hinges. If you choose, you can also glue the trays in place to permanent hide the mechanism within. I like to look inside and watch the pegs moving and making the pretty tune play so mine has been left open :)
gently turn the box over to access the handle, holding the lid closed as you do. Twist 2-3 full times.
Turn your box back over and listen to your sweet tune play!
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