Hunting Theme Treasure Chest Tutorial DIY Gift

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Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Christmas is getting so close I can feel it! It’s in the air! The scents, the weather; it’s all around us! So that means its time to start thinking of Christmas gift giving! And what is the top of the list for Cool Christmas Gifts that boys for eons have always wanted? A Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun! It seems as though it’s been tradition; that as boys reach a certain age, they get a Red Ryder almost as sort of a right of passage.

In my family, it was no different. All my brothers had a BB Gun. The husband’s family all had BB guns. It’s just natural. And what better time to Gift a Daisy than for Christmas?

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Cool Christmas Gifts for kids & kids at heart

Now we are all for responsible parenting, so we always are concerned that our kids know about gun safety and have respect for guns; not fear them. And a great way to introduce them to guns in a safe method is with a Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun. We have discussed the idea of getting the boys BB guns for quite a while; and they now seem to be of the age that they are ready for the experience. Plus it is a great opportunity for family bonding.

So the husband had a weekend home between his business trips and we knew we wanted to get in some shooting and gun safety before the weather turns too cold and the snow comes. So off to Walmart I went to pick up a Daisy Red Ryder and the 880 rifle. Plus safety shooting goggles and BB gun ammunition. Remember you ALWAYS wear safety goggles when handling and shooting guns. And BB Guns are no exception. I found all I needed in the sporting gear section.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Meanwhile the husband set up the shooting range. We had a lot of big boxes left over from our move and of course ordering Christmas gifts, and these were perfect for our shooting range. The husband set up the shooting line, where no one is to pass when shooting is taking place (to ensure safety). And of course we have the target itself.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

The husband taped his favorite targets onto a large cardboard box,. And yes, there is a reason why the target is angled. He angled it slightly downward when attaching it to the fence to ensure there wouldn’t be any stray BB gun ammo flying anywhere. The angle ensures the BB gun ammo from bouncing off and having stray fire.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

With the range set up and the BB guns and fun all ready its time for the Gun Safety course. Always have a gun safety course! Even if your kids have already had gun safety and shot BB guns in Boy Scouts like our boys have. We still ensured they remembered the gun safety rules. You can never have too many refresher safety courses.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

With the Husband’s extensive Military background, Police Training and weapons training he was the perfect candidate to instruct the kids on gun safety.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

He discussed the rules of the range. Where to stand. How to stand. No one goes beyond the shooting line while someone is touching the BB Guns. Never point the gun at any person. Always keep the gun pointed towards the target, etc.

He went over proper handling techniques, pointed out different parts of the gun and how to use the gun.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

If you need help devising your gun safety, Daisy educates roughly one million of America’s youth a year through their Ten Lesson Shooting Curriculum about BB gun use and safety (found here). You can get ideas and instructions from Daisy to help with your education plan.

Once the instruction was set, we then all took turns shooting. The husband started off with a demonstration shot on each gun to make sure all was in working order.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Then each child had individualized instruction as they took a shot.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

We took turns so no one person was shooting without direct supervision.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

And finally after everyone took a turn shooting, the guns were all laid down. We checked to ensure downrange was clear, and then set off to check out the target. It was so fun to see where everyone ended up shooting.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

We then returned and repeated the process. Over and over. Shooting, clearing the range and checking the target. The boys had a blast! They thought it was amazing to have such an experience with their dad. And learn how to shoot at the same time. When they finally got tired, it was time to clean up the range. We made sure everything was put away, the guns were emptied and stored properly (away from easy access from little kids).

We quickly realized it would be a lot easier if we had a carrying case or box of some kind to keep all the goggles and BB gun ammo stored in for easy transportation from storage to the gun range each time. So that’s what I did. I pulled out the crafts and created a fun BB Gun Ammo Treasure Chest!

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Supplies:

  • 1 Wooden Box (1 with handle and clasp to lock advisable)
  • Chalk paint (I used Spanish Moss Color)
  • Paint Brush
  • Small wooden Letters
  • Woodland decor of choice (I used Pine Trees from the scrap-booking section and a Deer Clothing patch)
  • Wood Glue
  • Mod Podge
  • Scrap newspaper
Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

I always use scrap newspapers when I paint. It protects my counters, or tables from paint. Usually I just keep the random sales fliers in a pile in my garage and pull from it as I need for crafting. Begin by painting the box with the chalk paint! Remember how much I love Chalk paint from my last DIY furniture makeover post? Yeah, I still love it! No sanding or prepping the wood. Just paint!

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Plus it dries rather quickly. So after about an hour its ready for a 2nd coat if you want. But I loved how it looked after just one coat. Make sure you get the bottom, and sides. And even the inside edges. You can paint the entire inside if you want, or leave it. I decided I liked the contrast of leaving the inside unpainted.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Next take your decorations and lay them out on the box how you want them to look. I wanted my letters to say Treasure Chest, because I wanted it to be a fun box we could all use as a family. But you could easily personalize it with your child’s name. And then make sure the other decorations look good and how you want them.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Once you have everything where you want it, you will glue down the letters with the wood glue. Be careful, you don’t need very much glue at all. And then make note as to where the other decorations sat on the box. You can measure it or take a picture to reference later. I took a picture for later use. After the wood glue has dried for 24 hours then we can apply the antique layer.

I used an antiquing wax. It basically smooths out the chalk paint, seals the wood and paint and leaves a nice smooth antiqued finish to the box. And just know a little goes a VERY long way. So barely dip your brush into the wax and then make a few brushes and dabs on an old lid or any plastic you have around. I used an old food wrapper I had laying around. Just brush and dab the brush off until just a little is left on.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Then lightly brush across the surface where you want an antique look. The more you brush on the darker it will be. Watch closely around the edges and corners as it loves to get darker. You will be doing this to the entire surface of the box. Including the letters and the inside.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial
Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Take special care around the metal of the box. If you get paint or antiquing wax on it, you can quickly wipe it off with a damp paper towel and you’ll be just fine.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Now again, it is time to set the box aside while it dries. You could probably get away with proceeding after about 2 hrs, but to be safe maybe wait until the next day to finish off the box.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

The next step is using the Mod Podge to apply the decorations and finish sealing the box.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back of the item you’re putting on, then smooth it out onto the box.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Watch for wrinkles or bubbles as it dries, it needs to be smooth.

Repeat for every item you are using to decorate the box.

DO NOT apply a top coat yet! You need to allow the Mod Podge to dry for about 15-20 minutes before you apply any to the top of the decor or else it will bubble. After 15-20 minutes you seal the whole box with a topcoat of Mod Podge. And I do mean the entire box. I applied first a top coat to the top and sides of the box. When that dried, then I opened it up and applied a layer to the inside (as Mod Podge is a great sealer). When that dried then I added a layer to the bottom of the box.

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Wait for it to dry completely and then you are done! Fill it up with the Daisy shooting goggles, BB gun ammo and you are good to go!

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

It will make the perfect addition to the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun for a Christmas present this year! Can you image that little boy or girl’s face when they open this up and see not just a cool BB gun but also the fun Treasure Chest to go with it?

Cool Christmas Gifts and Treasure Chest Tutorial

Learn more about gun safety by visiting Daisy online. Also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Who would you gift a Daisy to this season?

What is your Daisy BB Gun story?

What do you love most about our Cool Christmas Gifts?

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274 Comments

  1. I love that treasure chest. I think my son would have a blast making one for his treasures!

  2. My 13 year old son wants a BB gun but I am just not ready to let him have one yet. I love the treasure chest though.

  3. I would gift one to my son! I remember when I was a kid my three brothers got one and I did’t I wanted to shoot that thing so bad!

  4. I would give this to my dad. His favorite movie is Christmas Story and one of the first gifts he HAD to give my son when he was younger was a Red Rider BB gun. He still has it to this day.

  5. This totally reminds me of Little Man’s first Daisy. He still plays with it at his Uncles and loves it . Thanks for sharing

  6. I would love to win the $100 Walmart gift card! This Treasure Chest is such a cute idea for holding bb’s. My son & my brother would enjoy this project together.

  7. My kids are too young for guns, but I bet my husband would like something like this. This reminds me of The Christmas Story movie!

  8. My sons been dying for a BB Gun,he said that was on his christmas list. Love the Treasure box for the BB’S too! So winning this would be great i could go buy him one! IThanks for the chance!

  9. This is a great giveaway. Walmart is a great place for Christmas shopping. My son was into Air Soft and Paintball when he was a teenager. We always went to Walmart to get supplies.

  10. We have a tradition to give the boys in our home a BB gun when they turn 5. They learn at a young age the importance if safety. So all 3 older boys have one, but we can never seem to have enough ammo here! I would live to stock up on ammo & I like the box idea. Way cute!! Crossing my fingers.

  11. In my favorite Christmas show ” A Christmas Story,” little Ralphie Parker is mesmerized by a BB gun in a store window. Not just any BB gun, but “the holy grail of Christmas gifts,” the Daisy Red Ryder 200-shot range model air rifle.

  12. If I won, I would gift the Daisy to my sons. I remember as a kid, my brother had gotten a Daisy gun one Christmas. My brother and I spent so much time in our yard, shooting at empty soda cans. Really, I think that my sons (and I) would really have fun with a Daisy gun.
    Thanks so much.

  13. I’d love to gift the Daisy to my best friend’s daughter, who’s an aspiring hunter and would love it. I don’t have a story myself, but hopefully I’d be able to create some fun memories after giving the BB gun to her as a surprise holiday gift!

  14. I really like your gift idea. We are a hunting family so you know we have those same BB guns for our kids. We like for them to get comfortable using the BB gun that way we can move them up to a real gun eventually and they can go hunting for deer and hog with us. I love your idea of the treasure chest. I want to make one for each of my kids now. Thanks for the giveaway as well!

  15. i think i would gift a daisy to my hubby and son, this would be awesome for them to get together just them two out there shooting away and having his dad teach him the right way to go about guns. This is a great idea and i think its just what i was looking for. thanks for the help,lol.

  16. If I won, I would give a Daisy BB gun to my daughter. She has wanted one ever since she shot target practice at Girl Scouts

  17. I love the treasure box.That is adorable! Every time I hear about a BB gun I think of “Christmas Story” lol! I always wanted one when I was a kid.

  18. Well a long as people really instill that only targets are allowed…. I have mixed emotions about BB guns.. yes we had one when our kids were small…..and yes one of the kids went crazy with it and was shooting chipmunks and some birds with it so that “toy” was taken away. You really have to watch out.

  19. I would gift the BB gun to my grandson. We gave one to my son when he was old enough. He would sit on the basement steps and shoot at laundry detergent boxes filled with catalogs.

  20. My husband is a former US Marine & he would LOVE to pass down his love of marksmanship to his sons. I know he would get them a Daisy for sure! When I was young, my grandfather was a US Army vet & he believed it was important for everyone, even girls, to learn how to shoot & defend themselves. He took me to the shooting range & I learned how to shoot using real hand guns & rifles so I’ve never had a BB gun, but it would be fun to have & share with my kids.

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  23. I love the treasure box idea. My husband started a treasure box tradition in our family but we don’t make them, we buy them.

  24. I would give a Daisy to my daughter. She loves being outdoors and my husband would love to show her how to use it.

  25. I would give a Daisy to my son. When I was a kid, I had a lot of fun with my brother’s BB gun, would love for my son to experience it also.

  26. Who would you gift a Daisy to this season? What is your Daisy BB Gun story?

    i would keep it my self…a long time ago i had one..it’s only good for target practice…i leave the birds alone!

  27. My boys are still a little young but I can see us buying them one of these BB guns for them in the future. I love all your safety tips! Thank you!

  28. My husband has always wanted one but his mother told him he would shoot someone’s eye out and would never get him one.

  29. My older brother and younger brother both had Daisy BB Guns when they were young. My Dad taught them how to be really responsible for them and they never got into trouble with them. I think my niece and nephew are old enough now to have one.

  30. My husband still has his original Red Ryder bb gun from his childhood! We bought our boys all Daisy guns and they always had fun with them.

  31. I would let my hubby give it to our youngest daughter. I would let him teach her about gun safety with it. Thank you!

  32. my favorite memory about a bb gun would just have to be watching it a christmas story … your gonna shot ur eye out !!! if i was to gift a daisy it would have to be to my nephew

  33. I would feel very honored to give his to my husband. Married for 1 year he would have love this.when his dad died 1 year before he brought my husband one and my husband lost it. It was brought in the year of 93

  34. Love this idea much better than giving kids gift cards, I have 2 nephews and a niece that would all love this.
    Thank you for all you do

  35. I LOVE the treasure chest idea… my father-in-law made one for our oldest a couple years ago… think I’m going to ask him to make one for our little one soon, too.

  36. That little chest is a really cute idea for Christmas; and so many different ways you could personalize it for someone. My daughter would LOVE a BB gun, but I’m way too freaked about accidents to let her have one just yet. Maybe in a few years.

  37. My husband bought a red rider b b gun in the summer and the boys and took it from him. This one would be for him.

  38. I would give this to my daughter for Christmas. She wants to be a police officer when she grows up and this would start her on her way. I never had one growing up and always wish I did

  39. The great treasure chest is beautiful. I really don’t have anyone on my list for whom a BB gun would be appropriate.

  40. I would gift a daisy to one of the young boys at the local youth group. They would appreciate it and it could help teach them gun safety early.

  41. I love that the box you decorated was handmade for Christmas. I would put something else in it because I wouldn’t want my kids playing with a gun that could injure them or encourage them to go all Sandi Hook They aren’t mentally ill but still. Too many guns-too many irresponsible people in this country

  42. I still have mine with lots of wear and tear, I absolutely love it. I would love to give it to my granddaughter. Years of fun and learning.

  43. I would give it to my nephew as a gift. No, I do not have a Daisy BB Gun story to share because I never used one before.

  44. I would give a bb gun to my oldest grandson and tell him the story of always wanting one but being a girl , my parents said no.
    vmkids3 at msn dot com

  45. My oldest was gifted with a Daisy when he was 9. My younger boys might not get the chance until they prove they are responsible enough to have one. Maybe next year if they learn what I’m trying to teach them.

  46. We actually got our daughter a nice BB rifle recently. She wants to learn to hunt so we figured we’d start her on something safer to teach her gun safety in the meantime.

  47. I love your Christmas ideas. I would gift the bb gun to my son he would just love it and he can make his own memorys and storys with it

  48. I would give one to my boys, they love bb guns. My brothers had one growing up and always had tons of fun.

  49. Beautiful gift idea that will create memories..sure it would be kept in the family for generations..thx for sharing

  50. I would gift a Daisy to my youngest son.He is 7 and it is time.He has been using his older brothers Daisy for a while and loves it.

  51. First off I love that box what a cute design. I would love this for my daughter she keeps asking to go with her dad and brothers and she is at a great age to start going with them love the pink ones

  52. I would gift this to my son! He’s a huge outdoors kid and this would be something new him and his dad could do together!

  53. I was a tomboy growing up but I also liked my navy dolls. One item that my parents gave me that I loved was my Red Ryder. I used it all the time. We let someone borrow it and they never returned it. A red Ryder is a great gift as long as the child is responsible in using it.

  54. I would gift my daughter. My brothers had bb guns when I grew up and I was excluded. It was unspoken but it was a distinct feeling that it would be inappropriate for me to participate. Meanwhile I was the one who grew up to have military experience.

  55. I would give it to my sons. I don’t have a Daisy story but I did own a Pellet/BB gun growing up and remember how hard it was to pump lol.

  56. My son is older this Christmas and I think that some responsibility would be good for hi. To me this would be a perfect gift and something that he and his dad can bond together over.

    jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com

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