• Fill the treasure box with hints for a scavenger hunt.treasure chest image by sumos from Fotolia.com
  
  Turn a treasure box into a trove of ideas for parties, games and crafts. Treasure boxes may be obtained from craft stores already assembled. Or you can build your own treasure box out of balsa wood, foam board or heavy cardboard. Use a shoebox or other box as the basis for the container. You can even make the treasure box out of cake.
  
  

Birthday Cake

• Create a treasure box out of a piece of store-bought pound cake. Create a hollow in the top of the "box." Create the lid of the box with another rectangular piece of cake that has been rounded on the top. Frost both in brown to resemble wood. Fill the hollow with candy bracelets and necklaces, gold foil-wrapped chocolates and jewel-colored hard candies for a child's birthday party, or crystals, beads and faux pearls for a grownup's party. Place it on top of a frosted sheet cake. Let a few pearl necklaces trail down the side of the treasure box onto the sheet cake.
  
  

Pirate Chest Game

• Paint a wooden chest from a craft store black to resemble a pirate's chest. Fill it with clues to a scavenger hunt. As the players accumulate the scavenger items, they put them in the box. First one to find all the treasures the clues lead to wins. The game can be played individually or in teams.
  
  

Fairy Bed

• Cover a treasure box with pictures of flowers cut from a magazine. Use a decoupage liquid on the flowers to attach them and protect them. Line the box with a soft blanket, satin pillow and cotton batting to make a fairy's bed. Floral prints for the bedding would continue the theme of the box. Fairy dolls may be purchased, or you can make one using silk flowers. A rose blossom is used for the skirt, a small flower for the bodice, round wooden bead for the head, and wings make of netting.
  
  

Floral Arrangement

• Place a waterproof container filled with water-soaked floral foam inside the treasure box. The container should be slightly smaller than the box so it won't show from the outside. Poke stems of flowers such as mini carnations, sweetheart roses, button mums and baby's breath into the foam, covering it completely.
  
  

Chase Away Bad Dreams Kit

• Children have bad dreams and often dread bedtime because of them. Compile a kit to chase those bad dreams away. Fill the treasure box with a scented spray. Lavender is a good choice because it's relaxing and calming. Right before bedtime have the child spray the air around him. Include a child-size flashlight in the kit and a battery-operated fan to blow the bad dreams away. It may sound silly but if the child believes the items work, they will.