Christmas Boxes

I have made a sweet little box to share today.  I am making several of these boxes decorated for Christmas treats to give to special people in the community.

This box is very simple and easy to make starting with a plain paper box from Walmart for jut $2.  I covered the box with scraps of Graphic 45 12 Days of Christmas (I made and album from this paper last year).

A note about adding ribbon to the lid.  You want to place it deep inside the lid so that the extra adhesive (I used Tombow Fastner Tabs) doesn't get in the way of closing the lid.

I also created one of my special flowers (tutorial here) made from the Flowers pieces of the G45 12 Days of Christmas set.  I layered up the pieces and secured them with a brad.

Then I wet the layers thoroughly and scrunched up all the layers making them very wrinkly.

The last step is to gently peal back the layers into the shape you desire and let it dry completely (over night if possible).  The finished flower is beautifully sculpted and retains it's shape.

The finished box from several sides........

Supplies used:

• Paper box from Walmart
• Graphic 45 12 Days of Christmas paper scraps and flowers
• Tombow Fastner Tabs and Xtreme glue tape
• Really Reasonable Ribbon
• Wild Orchid leaves

Challenges for this project:

• CRAFT - Christmas
• Crafty Ribbons - Christmas

Have a great scrapin day!

NancyD

Zentangle Boxes - Part 2

Last week I posted about a couple of little boxes I made with designer paper to hold Zentangle tiles.  Since then I have made one from watercolor paper that I Tangled all over.

I used lovely black ribbon for the closure.  This box holds about 40 regular Zentangle tiles.  I think I am going to make a tan one for tan tiles and a black with white gel pen for my black tiles.

It's a pretty standard top-flap box cut to the dimensions of any size tile or Zendala.

You only need two strips of strong glue tape to hold the box together at the sides.

Just "like" my Crafting Passions facebook page, private message me your email address and I will send you the instructions (I promise to delete your address after sending!!!)

Have fun making your own Zentangle boxes.

NancyD

Zentangle Tile Boxes

I have figured out two simple boxes to hold official Zentangle and Bijou tiles.  When I say "figured out" it means math. I remember when I was in high school algebra class someone was always asking why they needed to learn algebra because they were only going to grow up to be a ditch digger.  Of course it didn't occur to me then, but even the ditch digger needs to know how long, wide and deep to make the hole.  They might even need to calculate the volume of dirt that will be removed so they know how many dump truck loads to schedule.  Click here to see a Zentangle version of this box.

You can stop running in circles while screaming now because these cute little boxes do not need any algebra or advanced math skills.  If you "like" my Crafting Passions Facebook page and pm your email address, I will send you the instructions for free!  (I promise to discard your email address afterwards!!!)

The larger box is for regular Zentangle tiles and the smaller box is for Bijou tiles.

The ribbon and bow form a band that keeps the box closed.

The regular tile box measures 4" x 4" and is 1" wide. 

I was able to fit about 40 tiles inside.

The Bijou sized box is 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" and 1/2" wide.

I was able to include at least 20 Bijou tiles.

I used the following products to make the tile boxes:

• Craft n CraftIn double-sided paper from Best Creation Inc..  This paper seemed perfect to me for these boxes.  Of course you could use plain white or black and add your own Tangles to the design!
• Offray ribbon from Walmart
• A Bow-Easy to make the little bows (from Scrapbook Central in Courtenay)
• Scor-Tape from fellow CZT Diana Crick
• Stick pin from Wild Orchid
• EK Success scalloped edge punch

Have a wonderful day!

NancyD

BoBunny Pop-up Card and Box

Hi Everyone!

Today I made another pop-up box card using my tutorial from last November when I was the Monday Hostess for Digital Delights.

This time I used the beautiful papers from the BoBunny Primrose collection.

As you know the pop-up box folds down into a flat card that it can be mailed in a regular envelop. I made a special box so that I could hand deliver the card to a friend.

As you can see I cut out a lot of butterflies and glued them to toothpicks for attaching to the hidden runners inside the box.

I made my own flowers using the EK Success Retro Flower punches and held them together with Michael's brads.

Check out the tutorial and make one of these using your favorite papers!

Challenges:

• Crafty Hazel Nut's Pattern Paper Challenge - Anything goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything goes (but no digis)
• Crafty Girls Challenges - Anything goes
• Paper Crafting Journey - Anything goes
• Crafting by Designs - Anything goes
• Divas by Design - Anything goes

Happy Crafting!  Have a wonderful day!

NancyD

Box and Christmas Tree Tutorial

Today I am the hostess for Hostess Monday over at Digital Delights.  I decided to try another tutorial and I came up with a great 3-D Christmas tree to used in a box scene.

I have had this scene on my mind for some time and I finally had time to work on it.  I got the tree idea from a card that a fellow blogger made last year. Her tree was flat, but I envisioned it in 3-D. The box is a typical Exploding Box with two sides glued together to form the room for the scene.

Box Instructions

• My box is a bit larger than normal. Cut 3 pieces of the base cardstock 5" by 12".  Score all three at 5" width wise. The 5" piece forms the base of the box.  
• Cut 1 piece of the base 5 1/2" by 12.  The extra 1/2 inch is to be glued to an adjacent piece. Score this piece at 5" width wise and the extra 1/2" on the long side.  Cut off the 5" portion of the long scored strip.
• Apply strong glue tape to the 1/2" portion. 
• Decorate the outside of the box sides.  I used Bazzill Red and DD Winter Wonderland digital paper.
• Glue the larger box side to one of the other box sides so that they are securely connected.
• Cut a piece in an alternating color for the box lid - 8 1/4" square.  Score this piece at 1 1/4" on all four sides. Cut through a short piece of the lid edge as shown.  At this point you might want to decorate the edges of the lid.  I used a Martha Stewart edge punch on my edges.

• I decorated the outside of the box and lid with BossKut Poinsettias and lot's of leaves from MS Leaf and Cottage Cutz Greenery.
• I also cut out circles and a lacy circle for the sentiment from DD Naughty or Nice Sentiment Set

Christmas Tree

To make the tree I used a paper cone base and lots and lots of Martha Stewart sprigs.

• Cut a half circle of your tree base paper.  I used a dinner plate as my template. The radius of the tree should not exceed the size of your box so mine is 5 1/2".
• Cut about 1/3 of the half circle away and apply strong glue tape to one edge.
• Roll the half circle around until the edges overlap and secure the glue tape to the other side.  This makes a perfect cone that will stand on its own.
• Next punch dozens of little sprigs. I used two different colors of green card stock.
• Begin to glue the sprigs around the cone in rows.  You can also glue sprigs to sprigs to extend the width of the tree.
• Keep gluing until you have covered the whole cone.

Creating the Scene

In my minds eye I wanted to create an indoor scene of the family decorating the Christmas tree.  One of my fondest memories growing up is of my mom and grand parents decorating the tree a few weeks before Christmas. They would dance around the room to wonderful music putting everything on the tree in just right place.  The room would sparkle from fire light bouncing back from the brightly colored ornaments and tinsel around the tree.  Fire crackled and the whole house smelled of cinnamon and fresh baked cookies.

When the lid is removed, two sides drop down to expose this wonderful scene. I plan to use this as a decoration on one of my side tables in December.

Here is the tree in the process of being decorated.
You can just see the Christmas Fireplace in the background .

Outside the house is the Post Girl delivering Christmas cards and letters.
She is greeted by the family dog! (the dog and lamp are from Carolers Accessories)

Joyful Joey will hang the candy canes on the tree.

The Christmas angel is played by Joyful Jamie suspended from the edge of the box with wire.

Wreath Racy hangs on for the fun!

The Christmas Kids are ready to decorate the tree.

A Touch of Christmas Sentiment Set

Ginger Baby enjoys the scene from the comfort of the hearth.

Ridley Stocking is hung by the fire.

A basket of cookies from the Carolers Accessories Set.

Well that is my Christmas scene with a box and tree tutorial.  What do you think?

Project Recipe

Images:  All images are Digital Delights

Paper: The base is made with Very Vanilla, the outside paper is Winter Wonderland and the paper inside is DD Baubles and Tree Paper Pack

Markers/Inks: Distress Brick Red and lots of Copics (my favorite reds - R32, R35, R37, R39, favorite greens - G20, G21, G24, G99, skin - E00, E01, Hair - E50, E53, E57, favorite blues - B93, B95, B97, B99, other colors to round out the scene include C1, C3, C5, C7, Y11, Y13, Y17, Y28, E11, E13, E15, E17, E18, E21, E23, E25, E27

Embellishments: Spellbinders Circle and Lacy Circle, Holly Accents, and BossKut Poinsettia die, MS Leaf punch, Cottage Cutz Greenery, Prima Pearls, Stickles red, gold and silver

Challenges for this Project:

• Make it Monday - Always anything goes  ** Selected by Lisa **
• ABC Christmas - Anything goes
• The House That Stamps Built - Anything but a card
• Just Keep On Creating - Anything goes (Christmas)
• Simple Create - Anything goes
• Brown Sugar - Anything goes
• Crafty Ann's - Christmas
• Fussy and Fancy - Anything goes  ** top 5 ***
• Stampin for the Weekend - Anything goes

Hope you enjoyed my two little tutorials today. It would be wonderful to see more of these Christmas trees popping up in blogland.

Have a Great Day!

NancyD

Key to My Heart - Digital Delights

My card for Digital Delights this week features another one of the new images available for Valentines.  The beauty of this great image, Key to My Heart, is that it can be used anytime.  

I made a little box using Spellbinders box die to hold Hershey Kisses for my sweetie. I used a hole punch to open up the lace design in the heart.

I used EK Success Retro Flower punch to create a little flower out of the Love page from the Valentine Digital Paper Pack.

Card Recipe:

Images: Digital Delights Key to My Heart

Paper: Valentine Digital Paper Pack, SU Pacific Point

Markers/Ink: Copics - R39, C1

Embellishments: Lace, EK Success Retro Flower punch, Michael's brad, Spellbinders box die, hole punch

Challenges for this card:

• Make it Monday - Always anything goes
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Use a digital stamp
• Creative Craft Challenges - Valentines
• Stamp n Doodle - Heart
• Creative Mondays - Anything goes
• Hooked on Crafts - Hearts
• Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - Anything goes

Be sure and take a look at what the wonderful Design Team has come up with for your inspiration.  And then hop over to the Delightful Challenges site and check out this weeks challenge.


Have a great day!
NancyD

Ahoy Friend!

Join us this week at Delightful Challenges 

for a color challenge!

This week at Digital Delights we have a color challenge.  Your project must have Purple, orange, green and black and that's it!!

My project is a secret treasure trove hidden inside a normal looking box.  I found this design at Creativityprompt.com.  

I used the Pirate set from Digital Delights and an amazing Graphic 45 paper that has design on both sides which really helps this project.

Of course a box like this has four sides and a top. This provides plenty of space to put all the cute little images from the Pirate set.

I made a flower for the lid using EK Success Retro Flower punch and the leaves were cut using Spellbinders Leaves. I added a little sparkle to the petals with Stickles but you can't really tell by the picture.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Digital Delights Ahoy Matey Accessories Set, Presley the Pirate, Ahoy Matey Sentiments Set

Paper: Graphic 45, SU Orange and an older green

Markers: Copics of course - BV08, 13, YG93, 95, YR02,04, 09, 16, C5, 7, 8

Embellishments: Martha Stewart punch, EK Success Retro Flower punch, Spellbinders Leaves

Technique: Treasure box designed by Creativityprompt.com

The prize this week comes from our wonderful sponsor Crafty Ribbons.  The random winner will receive this wonderful batch of ribbons.

The treasure inside are these cute little drawers that I will fill with sweets.

Be sure and take a look at what the wonderful Design Team has come up with for your inspiration.  I hope you join us this week at Delightful Challenges and I look forward to visiting your blogs to see your fabulous creations.  

Challenges for this project:

• Make it Monday - Always anything goes
• Crafty Creations - Fall pallete
• More Than Favors - Anything goes
• The Paper Shelter - Anything goes
• Scrapbook Sisters - Anything goes
• Bearly Mine - Anything but a card
• Celebrate the Occasion - Fall
• City Crafter - Magical box
• Creative Craft Challenges - Fancy edges
• Party Time Tuesdays - Anything goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Fall Colors
• Cards for Men - Animals (parrot)
• Crafter's Cafe - Brown, yellow, orange, leaves, fancy fold
• Kaboodle Doodles - Fall                                       ***** Winner ******
• Paper Pretties - Black, orange, purple, green
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Autumn

Have a wonderful day!

NancyD