Sampler theme box of drawers

This is an idea I was excited to try though in the end my execution of it is only so-so.

This is a Countdown Calendar from Karen Foster Design You can do a google search to find a place to buy one if you are at all interested in doing something like this. They are about $20 but I've seen them a bit lower on some websites. I have seen these made for with Christmas and Halloween themes to help children countdown to the holiday. You can insert little treats and trinkets in the drawers.

I thought I'd make one with a sampler theme and maybe keep charms and buttons and any other small item in the drawers. So here are my warnings if you decide to try this yourself.

First, the box is made of slick white cardboard. It took me 3 days to get the piece painted because unlike regular flat cardboard, the paint needed many layers of coverage. Very frustrating when you want to get onto the fun part. The tiny edges in between the drawers do not take paint well at all and I finally said "enough with this, it will have to do". Thus the coverage isn't perfect.

Second you need to paint the drawer fronts or else have a bit bigger template for the paper coverings as the white will show if you don't paint them. The drawers are equally as frustrating to paint as the box.

Third, you need to notch the paper to bend it around the half circle drawer pulls. I was advised to buy a circle punch but unfortunately it is very, very difficult to figure out where exactly to place the punch so that a half circle forms rather than a full circle so I ditched the punch and did the notching. However, gluing the little ends of paper to the back proved difficult as there wasn't much to work with. I would cut the top of the paper larger next time in order to have more to work with in order to make the half circles more regular.

I plan to try another little box piece but using small matchboxes, 8 sets of 3 stacked in a pattern and I will post it when/if I get it done. I do know the regular cheap matchboxes take the paint much, much better than the slick surface of the countdown calendar. My other thought for the calendar is to cover the side and back surfaces with paper instead of paint but that could present a whole new set of problems.
Good luck, I would love to see any that you might produce!