These instructions are not complete since I didn't take enough
pictures and I really suck at explaining things, but here goes:
I started by simply drawing the shape for the sides of the chest
on some cardboard and cutting a template.
One of my great neighbors gave me some pieces of plywood and
other assorted lumber. I used a scrap piece of 1 inch plywood for
this project. I used my template and cut 2 pieces of plywood to
make the sides of the chest and lid. I then cut the curved tops off
of those pieces, which would be used as the top of the chest.
I cut 3 rectangular pieces for the front, back and sides of the
bottom of the chest. I just kind of eyed them to get the right
sizes. After I screwed those sections together, I started on the
lid. I used more scrap pieces and just cut them into strips about 2
inches wide and as long as the chest was <---> this way. Then I
propped up the sides pieces for the lid and screwed the strips onto
them one after another until I had the lid covered.
Once that was done, I simply attached 2 hinges and a chain to
keep it from opening too far. I stained the chest with a black
stain which let the wood grain show though but was still nice and
dark.
I bought some thin aluminum flashing and cut it to fit both the
right and left sides of the front and backs of the chest, and to run
from front to back on the lid on both the right and left sides.
I used some of the black stain to color them and give them an
aged look. I
used some small finishing nails to attach them to the chest,
about every 2
inches or so.
I've had several boxes of plastic poker chips forever and
have NEVER used them, so I decided they would make good treasure. I
hot glued them onto a piece of foam, and then spray painted them
gold.
