Bonbon Box Ideas To Try!

Hi Folks! We recently shared this really easy, low assembly Bonbon Box from Essentials by Ellen, and I couldn't stop at just one box. There are so many different ways you can use it, so I thought I'd try a few more! 

First, some quick instructions on making the box:

- cut two pieces.

- place one piece on top of the other (make sure you end up with four walls extending from the square base).

- adhere the two square bases together.

- fold the four walls up.

- bring the two handles together, and put those thru the slots on the opposite two walls

That's it. The slots that go over the handles keep the box closed on their own ... no adhesive needed!

In case you missed it, this is the Bonbon Box I shared earlier where I just stamped a sentiment on the side, and added two shaped die cuts from Holiday Characters.

Another idea is to either use patterned paper, or stamp your own pattern. This one is stamped with the stripe from Winterscapes, but the sky is the limit here. If you have Christmas patterned paper, use that for an easy Christmas box. If you have Halloween paper, use that to hold little Halloween candies. 

Another idea is to create little windows for curious recipients to peek thru. You can do this with a die cut shape, like a star, which would be super cute. Or, you can use the Hinged Alphas! "Ho, ho, ho, ho" turns out to be perfect for this Christmas box, but you could also use the person's initial.

Here's another view of what it looks like. So much going on here, with so little effort. To make things easier on myself I taped the H and the O dies together so I didn't have to line them up each time. Also, note that you can put a pattern on the bottom of the box to change it up even more.

I've got one more idea to share ...

Recognize this?! Yep, it WAS a Coke can! 

You can use this die on a pop can! I picked Coke because the red is perfect for Christmas, and because they have that cute polar bear on their Christmas edition cans. Who needs to stamp and color a bear, when you've already got one?!

I tried being strategic about where I placed the dies on the Coke can, like making sure the polar bear would show well, I also made sure I got as much of the "cola" as possible. This actually required two different Coke cans. 

As an added bonus, these cans also have "names" of people you can share a Coke with, so you can completely customize your treat box! This one has the name "coach" ... how perfect to give a little treat to one of Logan's football coaches, or one of Jackson's baseball coaches? I'm sure they wouldn't be expecting THIS : )

New this year are Coke cans with American college team names on them. Here's a list of the teams. What a great idea for a college kid, or maybe someone who's still a college kid at heart!

As you can see, I had fun playing with the Bonbon Box die. The ease of putting these together really makes it a good candidate for mass production ... teacher gifts, dinner parties, secret santa gifts, surprises for your kids or grandkids, etc. Hopefully you got some ideas, or this sparked an idea of your own to try.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly

Supplies used (including affiliate links, thanks so much for your support!)

Bon Bon Box, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Mini Tags, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Holiday Characters by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps Holiday Characters by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Black Jack, Catherine Pooler Ink Pad Hinged Alphabet by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies Winterscapes by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps Glue Tube, Lawn Fawn

Catherine Pooler Retro Winter Release!

Hi Folks! I'm so pleased to share some projects from Catherine Pooler's new Retro Winter collection! Using the NEW INKS!! Yay, there are four new ink colors that are must-haves in your CP ink collection!

Here's a peek at the four new ink colors, as well as one of the new sets in the collection ... the Happy Buddies stamp set. It has adorable critters who are just waiting to give you a hug. Here's the teddy bear. Love that the "happy" banner included in this set fits perfectly between his hands.

I tried to make the watercolor splotchy on Mr. Bear for a feeling of fur. Also notice the pattern on the two opposite panels? In addition to the new stamps, dies, and inks, there are also new patterned papers!

You can also always make your own patterned paper with the stamps. In this last panel I just stamped the "birthday" sentiment a few times and then added the die cut presents.

So, the bear is super cute, but isn't this guy the CUTEST?! Maybe it's the die cut antlers, or the little fur markings, but I'm so in love with him.

Here he's been made into a pop-up card, and since he has his own stand, he's perfect for hanging out on the top of a present.

You can see how he's adhered between the two ends of the strip of patterned paper, and then stuck through a slot in the middle of the patterned paper.

This allows the tag to be collapsed flat for mailing or storage,

and he can still pop back up into action. I thought he was cute enough to skip the card altogether, and stand on his own as a unique present tag. 

Finally, the last critter is an adorable penguin. In this case, it's a flock (is that the right word?!) of penguins!

I cut several wavy pieces of paper and stacked them together to make a snowy landscape, and practically, a place for the flock (?!) of penguins to all hang out.

One of the penguins is bringing a present to the big party (with some selective cutting I separated one present from the larger group of presents) and two other penguins are helping to hold the greeting. This could easily be a winter birthday card instead of a holiday card. The sky is blended using two of the new ink colors (which I LOVE).

So much to take in here, between the stamps, dies, patterned paper, and NEW INKS! I think my favorite of the four is Sangria because it fills a plum-colored hole nicely, and will be used often with my layered flower stamping.

Thanks so much for stopping by ... after the Chicago snowstorm on Halloween, I definitely feel like winter is coming sooner this year (and not just in my craft room)!

xo,
Kelly

Supplies used (affiliate links used, thanks so much for your support!):

Happy Buddies Stamp Set

Happy Buddies Die Set

Urban Oasis New Ink Colors

Feeling Chilly Patterned Paper

DIY Band-Aid Valentines: I'm Stuck on You!

As more and more schools ban sweets and foods of all kind at school, it's a little more challenging to come up with a non-food valentine that the kids will like. It's also a challenge to find a valentine that works equally well for boys as girls.

Yesterday I posted about the amazing tin valentine mailboxes that the third graders decorated for their Valentine's Day party, and today I'm going to show you the punny valentines that we made for Jackson's class!

While looking at the tin mailboxes at the Target Dollar Spot, I noticed a package of adorable valentine band-aids that had an assortment of valentine-themed prints on them. And they came in a pack of 20 for only $1!! I figured I could come up with a punny sentiment to go along with them so I bought a couple packs and headed home. 

It didn't take long. 

I'm STUCK on you, valentine.

Yep, that works!

I designed a quick 3x4 sentiment on the computer and printed them out. For the valentines we made ahead of time I chose the word "stuck" to be in purple to emphasize the pun. There were some valentines that I wanted to give out to friends and neighbors more at the last minute, however, and due to my stubbornness not to spend any more money buying colored ink cartridges, I couldn't print them at home, and didn't have time to print them at the library. So I just printed a few with a lot of open space and wrote "stuck" with a purple marker. Sometimes the best solution is the quickest solution : )

We printed all the classroom valentines with each child's name so all Jackson would need to do is sign his name at the bottom. I realize we lost a great opportunity for him to practice his handwriting, but sometimes you're just pressed for time, hahaha.

 

We stuck the band-aids directly onto the valentine, but you could absolutely leave the adhesive backing on them, and adhere them to the card with a tape runner so the recipient could actually use them later if they wanted to. 

I used an envelope punch board to make custom envelopes for the Valentines, but you could just pass them out as-is. Don't they look so cute in the mailbox?! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope your Valentine's Day is a sweet one!
- Kelly

Valentine Mailbox Craft for a School Valentine's Day Party

I am excited to share the Valentine's Day craft we made at Jackson's third grade elementary school Valentine's Day party! This valentine mailbox turned out so sweet, was simple for the kids to make in a 10=15 minute station, cost less than $2.25 per person, and was put to use immediately for all the little valentines they received. They even got to be mailmen and actually DELIVER their valentines!

Let's take a look ...

This mailbox is made up of two main parts:

1. Mini tin mailbox (Target dollar spot $1)
2. Glass candlestick holder (Dollar store $1, although you can absolutely find cheaper ones at garage sales, resale shops, your basement, etc.)

 Other supplies you'll need include: Spray paint (read the cans to confirm but I've had good luck with Krylon on glass), embellishments for the tin (possibilities include glitter and foam adhesive hearts, adhesive gems, die-cuts, flowers, birds, butterflies), pre-cut lengths of ribbon, and hot glue.

Line up all the candlesticks in a well-vented area and spray them with the paint. Once they are dry, apply hot glue to the top of the candlestick and immediately press the bottom of the mailbox onto the glue. I did have a few mailboxes come off during the process, and I believe those were the ones I didn't press the mailbox into the hot glue right away.

I went a step further and adhered a patterned paper heart to the lid of the mailbox just so the kids had a head start in decorating at the party. I figured if they really weren't into crafting and decided not to do anything further, the mailbox would still look cute as-is. (side note: they were ALL VERY MUCH INTO the crafting, and came up with some fabulous designs, which was awesome to see.)

Here they all are, waiting to be carried to school for the party. I brought several extra patterned paper hearts for the kids in the last station who won't have as many mailboxes to choose from.

I also tried making an even amount of each color mailboxes and stands. Unlike adults, who may have selected the silver or gold tin to match their decor, or fixtures in their house, the kids all gravitated towards the pretty, blue colored tins. I definitely ran out of those fairly quickly.

We had one and a half adults helping at this station. I was the half, either taking photos or helping as needed. The kids picked out which mailbox they wanted to start with (after gasping with excitement once they saw them and realizing they would get to bring them home!) and then started picking out the stickers and gems they wanted to put on the tins.

Then they visited the mom in the corner to have their birds or butterflies (4 for $1 at the dollar store) hot glued to the tin. Their final step was to select a pre-cut length of ribbon to tie in a bow around the stand. If you're working with younger kids (these are all third-graders) you may want to pre-tie the bows on the stands or have another adult available to do this step.

So very fulfilling to see their proud looks when they complete their Valentine mailbox! Seeing what they come up with is always the best. Jackson took the spare wire pieces that came with the birds, stuck them through the back of the bird, and adhered glitter hearts to the tops so it looks like love is all around. Literally : )

At the end of the party, after they had all rotated through the stations and everyone had a completed mailbox, they got to set up their home base and start passing out the valentines.

Delivery!

I mean really, can you beat this?! They were so, so proud. And check out how well they all did!

This craft did take a bit of preparation, but I think it was well worth it. Not only do they get to actually put it to use during the party, but they have a pretty good quality Valentine's Day decoration to display at home for years to come. I've heard of some families actually using it at home during the whole month of February. Leave it out in the kitchen, or at the back door, and write a sweet note for your kid(s) to find when they come home from school. Don't forget to raise the flag!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Kelly