DIY Treasure Hunt

Last fall, I wrote about a scavenger hunt I made for Trevor to do when we went camping. What I didn't mention was that I also made a treasure hunt for him to do during the same camping trip. It was so much fun!

I started with a plain paper mache treasure chest from Michaels.

I painted the box inside and out with Americana's Asphaltum, letting it dry between coats. Then I used the combing tool to brush on a mix of Asphaltum and Yellow Ochre to create the appearance of wood grain. It took awhile to get the look I wanted. (Notice that I used my Frisbee to mix the colors!)

I bought a gold colored hasp from the hardware store and attached it in place. Then I added gold brads to the corners of the chest to look like rivets. Here's the finished treasure chest:

The next step was making up the clues. I gathered up kraft cardstock and envelopes, a Stampin' Up tree stamp, StazOn ink, and a Prismacolor pen. I stamped trees on each envelope and colored in the trunks. 

I had to wait until we arrived at the campsite to do the final steps: figuring out my hiding spots, writing the clues, numbering the envelopes, and then hiding them.

I made the clues very simple so that Trevor could read them himself.

He had so much fun on the treasure hunt! Of course, the best part was when he found the hidden treasure. The chest was filled with a camping activity book, some plastic snakes, a sand art project, and a handful of Lifesavers. Trevor loved it. 

Of course, being Trevor, he spent the rest of the weekend making up treasure hunts for the rest of us to do. Any time the adults were busy cooking, he sat down with the notebook and wrote out clues.

Here's one of his clues. It says, "GO TOW TREVORS TET. EDEN GO TO M TO"  (Go to Trevor's tent. And then go to M {Mommy} too). Adorable. This was shortly after he turned four- pretty good spelling and writing! I'm not sure why he chose the creative formatting.

We had so much fun with our treasure hunts! This one really simple craft is something that our family will enjoy for years to come. I can't wait to go camping this summer and enjoy more treasure hunts!