Treasure Chests for VBS

We're doing Son Treasure Island for VBS this year, and I thought a perfect craft idea was to build our very own Treasure Chests.

So on Saturday I worked long and hard on a prototype for the Treasure Chest (so I could figure out how much material it would require), only to discover later that there were better ones at Michaels for only $2.99. Made in China, of course.

This prototype was made from cardboard. The real one would require a 24''x8" or a 14" x 10" sheet of balsa wood, neither of which were to be found at the Craft store.

I was only going to Michaels to see what kind of decoration items could be found. And discovered that they had a set of very nice, perfectly sized Treasure Chests (actually jewelry boxes), unfinished, for only $2.99. It wasn't even worth the hour it took me to figure out how to make one out of cardboard!

So I scrapped the prototype and bought the ones from Michaels instead. Oh, well. They're nice boxes, and at least the kids will have fun decorating them. And won't complain that the boxes are too hard to build.

And I'll think twice the next time I want to build something crafty like that, especially when needing a large number of them. They probably make it in China for 1/10th of what it would cost me to even think about it.

Sigh.