I want the top to be pine so it has the same look and feel as the rest of the exterior, but the underside to be cherry. Even though it will be painted, I did some tests on some plywood I had and it took the paint a bit differently. Since solid wood has to be veneered on both sides, I decided to make my own plywood. Here I have the pieces cut to size

On the top and bottom panels, I put the edges together to get a nice seamless fit, then taped the joint. I brushed over the tape with a brass brush. This really helps keep it down

I then fold it open and apply some hide glue

When folded back together, It creates a seamless joint that stays tight and won't open up in my makeshift press.

I then spread a lot of glue on the surface for the next layer

I put the cross grain pieces down, spread glue on the top of those and applied the top. The top was done as described above 

I sandwiched everything together between wax paper and plywood and left it clamped like this for about 10 days

Once done, I applied veneer like described in the process for the bottom. After assembling the lid, I changed my mind on the curly maple. I didn't have the contrast I was looking for, so I repeated this process but used cherry instead. 

Now the moldings. First I planed a piece of pine down to 1/2" and then jointed an edge

After I ripped the 1 1/2" moldings pieces, I planed them flush on my benchtop. Take some time here if you are not using machines. If you molding stock doesn't match, your corners will be off 

I then used a block plane to chamfer the moldings. 

Once done I start to measure. since the sides can be left long I cut those first. This lets me get the perfect layout for the front piece 

Happy with the fit, I trimmed some of the excess off the sides, leaving them a tad long still 

I used hide glue to attach to the box paying special attention to really get a tight glue joint on the miters themselves. This is where a shooting board comes in really handy. I also drove and gently countersunk some finish nails to hold everything in place

After it was all nailed down, I used a flush trim saw to remove the excess

The process is the same for the top. Here you can see the cherry I used and note that the lock striker plane and hinge mortises have been cut first. In addition the lock I used is smaller than the one in the plans. The molding would have covered the escutcheon, so I cut a semi-circle allowing for some room.

I also finished the inside of the lid with shellac before attaching the moldings