Pillow Boxes for Gift Cards and Cash

There are just a few more days until Christmas and Hanukkah begins tonight.  Everyone is trying to finish their list of things that must be done before the holiday.  I did a lot of wrapping yesterday and now I am just waiting for a few more packages to arrive.  This year most of our gifts are things that come in boxes but there are a few gifts cards too.  These usually come with some sort of folder but I think they deserve to be wrapped in style. 

A couple of years ago, I showed these little boxes that I made to hold some gift cards and cash.  There are pillow boxes on several cartridges - these happen to be from the Wedding cartridge.  You can see more details about them at THIS POST (there is also a yummy recipe for roasted vegetables in that post!)

I cut the same pillow box shape that I used for the blue boxes, however, I hid all of the lines except the curved lines at the ends that help to form the pillow box shape.  I don't like the cuts, but it is tricky to score smooth curves for folding, especially with this heavy glittered cardstock. 

I assembled the box with 1/4 inch  Scor-Tape.  This is a very aggressive adhesive and it works well even with the glittered cardstock.  When you fold in the ends of a pillow box, be sure to fold down the ends with the thumbnail cut first.  This makes it easier to open the second flap and also allows the solid flap to show when the box is closed.  You can see the white edges that are exposed by the curved cuts - you could ink these if they are too distracting.

I put together a few poinsettias from Prima and added a pearl brad from Creative Charms.  I colored the brad and pearl red with a ProMarker.  These pearl brads come in the Vintage Velvet Poppies and I often change them and add a different center brad so I have lots of extras sitting around.
 

The flowers have slits cut to insert the brad but I had to add my own slits to the leaves.

There were also some little embossed ornaments in the Prima tin so I added one of them to the flower cluster.  I tied a gold ribbon around the entire box and attached the flowers with a large glue dot.

I thought I'd like the ends of the ribbon to stay loose, however, in the end I decided to tuck them under for a rounder shape.

If you have a lot of "small, flat and folding" (as in cash) gifts to share, you could put all of the boxes on a tree and let the recipients search for the box that was personalized for them.  I put this one on the front hall Santa tree to take photos.

The traditional colors blend in nicely with the tree.  If you like the way the boxes look on a tree, you could even create a group of them to use as ornaments each year.

I had another gift box to share with you but, unfortunately, I dropped my camera while I was taking these photos and I am having trouble getting it to work properly.  The lens came off when the camera fell and now it is not consistently recognizing that the lens is on the camera.  This camera has been my constant companion for over four years and I hope I can get it sorted out to work as it normally does.

Hanukkah begins at sunset today so I want to say Happy Hanukkah to all of you who will be celebrating for the next eight days.

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Easter Celebration - Sweet Treats Thursday at Cuttlebug Challenge

Today is Sweet Treat Thursday on the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot and the team has been busy creating a variety of projects for Easter.  Be sure to "hop" on over to see all of the inspiration and visit the individual designers blogs to get all of the details.  I made a couple of table favors and a card to share with you today.

The first project couldn't be simpler.  I cut some bunnies from vinyl and adhered them to tiny treat buckets filled with jelly beans for the children.  You could also add their names in vinyl.

I found these sets of three white buckets which are meant to be wedding favors at my local dollar store - three for $1 so this project won't break the bank!  There was also some white ribbon and a set of tags in the package (I saved the ribbon - the tags were not attractive with large perforations for punching and I recycled them).

The bunnies I used are from the Easter cartridge - they have a nice detailed shape.

There is a standing bunny and a sitting bunny - if you enter them at the same size they will not be in proportion to one another so you need to make the sitting bunnies smaller.

If you enter a group of bunnies all in the same box you can quickly copy and paste them, then flip the entire set so half of the bunnies will face each direction.  Then you can move the groups into position to conserve the amount of vinyl needed to cut them.

When I cut vinyl I set my speed and pressure at medium (3) and my blade depth at 4 to "kiss cut" the vinyl - cutting the vinyl but not the backing layer.  This makes them much easier to remove from the backing.

I added some Easter grass and jellybeans to the bucket and tied a ribbon on the handle.  The cute little butterfly from Creative Charms makes a nice finishing touch.

I made a more elegant pillow box for the adults.  The pillow box is on the Easter cartridge and a very handy cut to have available.  Pillow boxes are nice for favors or small gifts and can be simple (just tied with a ribbon bow) or elaborately decorated.

 The pillow box on the Easter cartridge has a bunny cut out on one side.  You can use "hide selected contour" to eliminate this cut.  I also hide the "tick marks" that indicate the side folds.  If you hide more than one line it will stay hidden when the file is closed and reopened.  I do not hide the large curved lines that make the pillow box ends fold properly because they are quite difficult to score freehand.

This screen shot shows how I set up all of the pieces to cut at the same time on one 6 x 12 mat.  (click on the image to see a larger view).  You can set up two boxes on a 12 x 12 mat by turning the mat and loading it a second time.  The sizes of the papers needed are noted on the tab.  Taking the time to do this when you make the file is a great time saver if you want to repeat the project - all the thinking is already done!

I welded two lace border sections together to create a strip of lace for the edges of the box.  I put some extras on the mat - they can be used a trim on a card.  I did have a few issues with paper shifting - I think it is time for a new mat!  Sometimes you need to add a bit of masking tape to help hold a small piece of cardstock in position - particularly with specialty cardstocks.

The hook tool in the Cricut tool kit is great for poking out the holes in the scallops.  If I make this box again, I will probably use "hide selected contour" to eliminate the holes at this tiny size.

I couldn't imagine why my "Happy Easter" cut turned out like this and then I realized that there was a piece missing.

It turned out to be stuck to my blade!  If you suddenly have a bad cut it is always a good idea to take out your blade housing and check for debris.  Sometimes it is a buildup of paper dust and sometimes it is a big piece like this!

I finally got a good cut - this is cut at 1 3/8 inches and it is very delicate so take care when removing it from the mat.

I scored the box on the two long sides and adhered the lace strips to the top and bottom of one side of the box.  I used Scor-Tape to hold the box together - it is quick, neat and strong.

I decided that the lace looked too plain so I added some pearls to the center of each flower.  I used the smallest size in this set of graduated jewels from Creative Charms.

Here is a close view of the pearls.  I used the Core'dinations gemstone cardstock for all of the pieces - it has such a pretty shine and looks very elegant.

My last item was this Fabergé inspired card.  I used the same lace border from the Easter cartridge and welded four sections together on top of one another to create the card topper.

Meg left a comment a few days ago reminding me of one of the tricks I always used to show people when they were matting photos with the Creative Memories cutting system.  Since only the edge will show, you can cut another shape out of the center and save that paper for another project.  I used my trimmer to cut the center out of the bottom layer (you could also set up this cut in Design Studio but there would be some waste around the edges). 

Then I applied the frame to my card and added the pink and green layers.

The plain card is very pretty in the gemstone cardstock, however...

...adding the pearls makes this a much fancier card!  I would be careful to package this in a bubble envelope if I was sending it through the mail.

I hope you are getting lots of great ideas for Easter - it is so much to work with the bright Spring colors after a long winter!

Pillow Box

Fabergé Card Topper

Boxing Day (and money boxes)

Today was Boxing Day - not a holiday here in the States, but celebrated in many countries around the world. Here is a LINK to the Wikipedia entry about Boxing Day if you are not familiar with this holiday.

It was a very busy day for me. Tomorrow my mother and father in-law will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary.  We usually have all of the family here on their anniversary, but this year we needed to do it a day early since our older son is leaving (already!) to go back to San Francisco early tomorrow morning.

Just so you won't think that I have totally abandoned my Cricut during the holidays, I thought I would quickly show you the "money holders" I used for some of the teen to young adult Christmas gifts.  They are tricky to buy for and we tend to end up giving the gift that always fits...

Instead of making a flat money holder, I used this pillow box from the wedding cartridge.  There are two swirls that reminded me of winter storms.

By using Design Studio, I could quickly determine the largest size that I could use and still cut four boxes from a sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock.  I used the five inch size and cut the boxes exactly as they appear on the cartridge.

I normally do not care for the "tick marks" or score lines and eliminate them using "hide selected contour," however, in the case of pillow boxes, they do make the folding of the ends much quicker and easier.  I used a heavy textured Bazzill cardstock for the boxes.  It is important to use a strong adhesive for the flap that connects the long side of the box.  I use Scor-Tape for most boxes - it is very strong and quite a bit more economical than the red liner tape.  Here is a LINK to the Scor-Pal site page for Scor-Tape.

I measured the opening and cut squares of a coordinating patterned paper to adhere inside the boxes.  To give the boxes a bit more pizazz I added a snowflake punched from glitter cardstock.

 On the way home yesterday we enjoyed all of the Christmas lights - this house is not far from us and always has an "over-the-top" display.

 Most of today was taken up with preparing food and enjoying time with family - over 2 dozen people!  We had lots of yummy food.  My husband and sons found a recipe for a root vegetable salad and did an enormous amount of peeling, chopping, blanching and roasting to make a triple batch.

Here is a closer view of the root veggies - they were absolutely delicious!

We had quite an assortment of desserts.  Fortunately, I was able to send lots of the leftovers home with various people so I will avoid some of the temptation - there are still dark chocolate peanut M and Ms left in the house so I'd better start walking with my friends again!

If you are interested, here is the recipe for the root vegetable salad:

Marinade ingredients:
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups olive oil
2 1/4 teaspoons chopped garlic
3/4 teaspoon fresh basil - chopped
3/4 teaspoon fresh parsley - chopped
salt and black pepper to taste

Salad ingredients:
Butternut squash - 1/2 inch cubes, 8 ounces
Rutabaga - 1/2 inch cubes, 8 ounces
Carrots - 1/2 inch cubes, 8 ounces
Golden beets - 1/2 inch cubes, 8 ounces
Red beets - 1/2 inch cubes, 8 ounces
Celeriac - 1/2 inch cubes, 8 ounces
Fennel - Julienne, 8 ounces
Shallots - Julienne, 4 ounces
Balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup
Olive oil, 1 cup
Mesclun greens, 8 ounces

Prepare marinade by combining all ingredients
Blanch squash, rutabaga, carrots, beets and celeriac in boiling water, drain well, shock in ice water to cool quickly.
Combine blanched vegetables, fennel and shallots in a bowl.  Toss with marinade.  Transfer to a sheet pan in a single layer.  Roast in a 350 degree oven until tender (but not soft) and lightly browned.
Toss with balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste
Arrange on mesclun greens.