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This is something that I made.

Where I work there is an auction held each December, and the proceeds raised are donated to charities.

Each work group collects auction items, and some folks choose a theme to make their offering a bit more enticing.

A few years ago, someone in my group suggested a pirate theme, and we figured, “Why Not?”  Pirates are cool, everybody digs ‘em, and there are plenty of pirate related materials available – movies, books, toys, t-shirts.  You can even get pirate bandages, for cryin’ out loud.

I took it upon myself to create a pirate chest to store all the collected booty.

I gave myself a bit of a head-start by picking up a pre-assembled chest at a craft store.

This photo is just for reference.  The chest I found didn’t have any hardware, which was fine with me.  I knew that I wanted to give it a pretty specific look, so a trip to the hardware store was always part of the plan.

After adding a dark, ruddy stain, I got to work on the details.

Brass colored handles and clasp seemed the way to go.  I added more texture by gluing some leather strips on the edges and anchoring them with brass upholstery nails.

For a little more dimension I added some wooden nautical stars on either side of the lid and some narrow bead molding where the lid meets the body of the chest.  Olde Timey lookin’, right?

To add some unique character, I busted out my découpage skills from back in my Cub Scout days.

I pilfered the images from around the Internet (Shhh, don’t tell Google).  I was quite happy with the  compass rose on the front, and the pirate flag on the inside of the lid added a dramatic flair.

But my favorite bit is the treasure chest hidden in the bottom.  Who doesn’t love a surprise?

The woman who won the auction gave the chest to her two small children on Christmas morning, and the kids got quite a kick out of it.