One Man's Trash...

I was busy as a bee this afternoon playing with my Crafty Secrets Book Lovers stamps

 and an empty box....this is what I started with~

You've heard of these Breathe Right strips, haven't you? They are great to wear when you are sleeping with a stuffy nose, which I have had this week because of a cold. Anyway, the box was empty and a little lightbulb went off in my head...I loved how the box opened and had plenty of space inside. Space for tea. Space for chocolate! 

I love to read and so do many of my tea drinking friends...and for good measure, why not add a Ghiradelli bar? So, I painted the box with white acrylic craft paint and let dry. Then I covered all surfaces with Bo Bunny card stock.

Handsome Mr. Sheep...an avid bibliophile... sits propped up against a thick tome by C.S.Lewis. I used white flocking powder on the sheep so he is soft and fuzzy.

All sides have stamping along the edges, and the back has a chipboard oval in which I used 4 of the Book Lovers stamps together, as well as a metal heart brad~

I had just enough room to stamp two standing books on this side~

The top is stamped too. I stamped a small open book and used Glossy Accents to adhere a Tim Holtz fragment over it. The fragment looks like clear glass and magnifies the image~

Do you see what I see? Chocolate!

I even stamped the inner box with small books~

 I really have fun altering small boxes. Remember when I altered  empty chewing gum boxes College Girl regularly provides?

Before you toss that empty box, think about what little treat might fit perfectly inside!

Fun news! This 'Book Lovers' stamped and altered box is being featured on the current Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Blog

Sharing this post with ~

It's Overflowing

Share Your Cup Thursday

Got Gum?

My daughter chews gum. A lot of gum. ~lol~ One day I decided to re-purpose all those gum packages into mini albums after seeing other people turn all kinds of things into tiny keepsakes, including toilet paper rolls for mini album pages! I covered the surfaces with pretty paper and inked the edges. 

I cut cardstock into tags, linked them with a loop of ribbon and decorated them with journaling spots and chipboard to go inside. My purse sized mini album closes with velcro. I let the recipient attatch personal photos on the enclosed tags. Quick, simple, fun...and easy to make! I like to keep a few on hand as little 'happies' to take to a friend when I visit, or to include with a gift card (which fit inside perfectly!) for teens~ 

I am sharing this with Liz at The Brambleberry Cottage

My Muse...an empty gum package!

Standing in Target and buying another multi-pack of gum for my teen, it occured to me that these little containers would look adorable if altered. Because of Ms. R I have access to a plethora of empty Trident and Orbit boxes!

I started by opening the gum package on a piece of Cosmo Cricket paper, tracing the shape and cutting it out. I creased the cardstock where it would fold once it was glued onto the package, then used a liberal amount of Beacon's 3 in 1 Glue, my favorite for a permanant hold.

You can paint the interior and/or cover with pretty cardstock. In this photo you can see where I cut a part of the gum package away (green section) so I could more easily attatch the stretch cord throught the bottom. I planned to use a decorative brad and looped stretch cord for a closure. I have also used velcro tabs in the past, and if you can find them, mini magnets work too! I used the Bella Muse Challenge image for April and made a charm for the front of the gum box with a Tim Holtz Fragment and Glossy Accents. (Put Glossy Accents on one side of the fragment and press the wet side onto an image of your choice. Trim excess, if any) Don't forget to insert brad BEFORE you add decorative cardstock in order to hide prongs.

Can you see the stretchy cord loop extending from the bottom? Poke a small hole and insert the ends into the box bottom. Once inside the box bottom, tie a secure knot. You can also tie a tiny bead, safety pin or Tim Holtz Game Spinner onto the ends to hold  them securely inside through the fastening and unfastening of the altered box. (won't pull out!)

Here is a shot of the gum box opened and the interior tags exposed. I made double sided tags for photos, quotes or small memorabilia. I also added 7 Gypsies stickers to the face of the box above the stretch cord.

This is the outside of the box. The Muse image is a woman sitting on the moon. In my imagination, she was daydreaming about travel, and thus pictured herself on the moon....so I made the little box with a travel theme. The 'bon voyage' is chipboard matted with mulberry paper and there is a vintage postage stamp under the fragment charm. Scraps Of Darkness is offering an RAK for the April Muse Challenge~ Come play!