DIY Date Box for 100+ Date Night Ideas

Hey guys! Colleen here from Lemon Thistle and I’m excited to show you this DIY date box that’s such a fun gift idea for a couple or for your sweetheart. You could even create a year full of date ideas and attach gift cards to give as a wedding gift. I’ll raise my hand… I’d like to receive that! The brush stroke pattern adds some fun pops of color but the hand lettered detail is my favorite.

Supplies needed to make your own DIY date ideas date box: 

• Paper Mache Recipe Box
• Acrylic Paint
• Flat Paint Brush and Fine Tip Paint Brush
• Core’dinations 4.25 x 5.5 inch Cardstock 
• Sharpie Markers 

Get started by giving your recipe box a couple coats of white acrylic paint as a base. In some areas I actually did three coats, allowing to dry fully in between. I painted the inside of my recipe box to give a finished look, but you could just paint the outside if you like.

When your base color is completely dry, pick out your brush stroke colors and get brushing!

Randomly place thick strokes with your flat brush of both blues, the green, and the gold. The photos don’t show it that well but the metallic gold is really quite beautiful in the light! Don’t be too picky about where you put the brush strokes, just have fun with this!

When your brush strokes are dry, take a thin paint brush and label the box, “Date Box.” I free handed this, but you could print out one of your favourite fonts to use as a template if you like.

Now for the really fun part, start writing down fun date ideas on the precut cardstock using the gold sharpie, I made mine double sided. If you need some great date ideas, just search on Pinterest and I promise you, you’ll find more date ideas than you need! I tried to vary what was on each side of the cards. If one side said ‘hit the beach’ the other side was a more winter friendly activity so we would never have to put the card back.

When you’ve filled your date box with all your date ideas, close the lid and give it to a special someone, or as a gift. I can’t wait to start using it to pick what we do on our Friday night dates!

Do you have a date jar or box in your home? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Colleen is a wife, new mama to twins, and lover of pretty things. Lemon Thistle is her little corner of the web to document the beauty of life as it speeds by. You can expect to see parties, home decor, printables, good food, photos, and lots of DIY on Lemon Thistle (Oh, and babies too!). Plus, she’s keeping it real on a budget. Please show Colleen some love by visiting her awesome blog and keep in touch with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Sarah {Crafts Unleashed Editor}

Sarah is the Marketing & Social Media Coordinator for ConsumerCrafts.com. She is new to the craft/DIY world and discovered a love for it after joining the company. Sarah is a dessert addict, animal lover, a bit of a perfectionist, and obsessed with trying new Pinterest recipes.