Nugget Box tutorial and template - February project for The Hen's Den

Nugget Box 

Designed By Lori McClellan

Featuring: Melody Ross, Soul Food collection, Melody Ross Soul word cards, Webster's Pages Ladies and Gents Designer Trim, May Arts sheer woven Rosettes ribbon and Graphic 45 flowers.

These nugget boxes are so much fun to make.  This is one project you will want to make a lot of.  They make great gifts and are perfect to have on hand.

So to begin, gather your supplies:

Melody Ross, Soul Food Collection papers, Melody Ross Soul Food Cards, Template for the box bottom (I've included a pdf you can download at the bottom on this blog post), Black card stock

Websters pages Ladies and Gents designer trim, May Arts sheer woven Rosettes ribbon, scissors

bone folder or other scoring tool, adhesive, scalloped scissors

Melody Ross - Soul Food Collection - Souful	Melody Ross - Soul Food Collection - Lovely Garden	May Arts - Sheer/Woven Rosettes - 1.5 inch - Olive
Graphic 45 - Chipboard Flowers	Webster's Pages - Ladies & Gents - Designer Trim

InLinkz.com

Begin by using the template to draw the bottom box shape.  Cut it out.  Score on all the lines that are dotted and make sure to cut on all the solid lines.  It should look like this. 

 Start with the 4 small squares, put adhesive on the back and fold it over and stick it to the side next to it.

This create the basic box shape.  Add adhesive to the other flaps and fold and stick them down to make the box.  When it is finished it will look like this.

 Take your patterned paper and cut a 5 x 8.5 piece.  Score it on the long side at 2 in., 3 in., 6 in., and 7 in, then fold.  It should look like this.

I cut a 1/2 inch wide piece of coordinating paper and used my adhesive to stick it to the 8.5 side sides of the box top.  Then using some scalloped scissors, cut to add a little flair.  Add adhesive to end flaps and wrap it around the box to secure it.  Make sure that the box bottom can be slid from the patterned paper wrapper.  I LOVE the Melody Ross soul food cards from the Hens Den, and thought they would be great accents to my nugget boxes.  Because the cards were a little bit large for the boxes, I trimmed 1/4 inch off all of the sides, then used a corner rounder to round the corners so they still looked like cards.  I mounted them in black card stock and then tore the edges.  To finish I added the gorgeous ribbon trim, graphic 45 flowers.  These would make great gifts for teachers, friends or neighbors.  I challenge you to try this project, take a picture and upload it to The Hen's Den gallery.  I would love to see how you dressed yours up.

Hen's Den Box Template

New Beginnings Sunflower Idea...

New Beginnings invitations I designed.

It's that time of year again when we celebrate New Beginnings in our church with the Young Women ages 12-18.  We have a special night to introduce the girls who will be turning 12 during the year to the Young Womens program, tell them about the personal progress program and introduce the theme for the year.  This year the church wide theme for the youth is D&C 115:5 "...Arise and shine forth that thy light may be standard for the nations."

For our New Beginnings we are using a sunflower theme along with the D&C scripture, largely because of this quote by Rebecca Taylor. 

"My favorite flower is the sunflower. When I go for walks in the morning, I notice how the sunflower turns its face toward the sun. By evening, it has turned so that it faces the setting sun.  We can be like the sunflower: We need to turn our faces to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and follow Him. He is our light, and if we follow Him, we will be happy." - Rebecca Taylor

One of the things we like to do on this night is to have something nice  for the girls to take home with them.  I put both the scripture and the quote on to a picture that will go in a frame.  Then we will have 8 stations for the girls to go around to to learn about the 8 values in Young Womans: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.  At each station after hearing one of the girls talk about their "value" the other girls will get a vinyl sunflower petal to add to their frame.  After visiting all the stations they will have a full sunflower to go on the glass in between the 2 quotes.  I just thought I would share since I know that some of you look for ideas.  

Quote and scripture I designed to go in the frame.  The vinyl sunflower will go on the glass of the frame in between them.

If anyone wants or needs a copy, please send me an email at lori.b.mcclellan@gmail.com

Nugget Box tutorial and template

FYI, I have a new blog post over on The Hen's Den blog http://thehensdenteam.blogspot.com/2012/02/nugget-box-with-melody-ross-soul-food.html  Check it out.

More Valentines Day fun

Every year I make homemade valentine with my kids for their class.  This year was no exception. 

Jorja's Loads of Love Valentines

My sweet Jorja is in 1st grade this year and wasn't so sure about my little red wagon idea, but once she saw them finished, she loved them.  The little red wagon is from the Just Because cards cartridge and cut at 2.25 inches real dial size.  The hearts are from George and Basic Shapes and cut at 1 inch.  The sentiment "Sending you Loads of Love From Jorja", was created in illustrator to fit inside my tag punch.  I kept the same template and just switched out the sentiment for my other daughter's Valentines.

The white part is a tiny paper sack I found at Hobby Lobby.  They are so cute and perfect for slipping a little treat in.

Jaida is in 6th grade and her teacher loves Owls, so she asked if we could do owl Valentines this year.

Jaida's Owl Valentines 

The owl is from the Straight from the Nest cartridge.  I used the hide contour feature and hid the design that was on the bellys and added a heart.  I used vinyl for the yellow nose because I didn't want to try and put adhesive on something so small.  The googly eyes finish these owls off perfectly.  The tags say "Whooo's your Valentine?  Owl be your Valentine. Jay"  I also used the small white paper sacks and then put a treat inside.

The kids really loved them.  Jaida loved giving them out.  For the teachers, I went a head and made them a nugget box, with the matching paper piece for the class.  They turned out vrey cute and the teachers loved them.  Jorja's teacher even went as far as writing her a thank you note about how much she loved it. 

Teacher's nugget boxes

I am so glad that my kids let me do this every year.  It is a great opportunity for us to work on a project together.  This year was no different. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I would love to know what you think.

Arrr......you ready for Valentine's Day?

So it's that time again, nearly Valentine's Day. I loath the holiday for myself, but I love it for my kids. We make our valentines every year. Since I now have all 4 kids in school I started a little earlier this year. I want to try to make each kids a little different and have them help more (I am trying to give up some of my serious crafting control issues this year, we'll see how this goes). This week Scotty was out of school early, so for 2 hours it was just me and him. I figured this was a great opportunity to get his started.

Scotty is in a learning center class room for special needs children and since he only has 11 kids in his class (10 boys and 1 girl), I wanted to do something fun and unusual. We went to Hobby Lobby and looked for paper. When I saw this cute pirate paper, I looked at Scotty and said "Arrrrr......we gonna use this paper fer yer Valentines?", he chuckled.  We had quite a funny pirate chat in the isle for a few minutes, made pirate jokes, then picked up the paper and headed home.

I used my gypsy to set up a cut file for the boxes so I could cut 4 on a sheet of paper. The box is from Tie the Knot cricut cartridge and sized at about 5.6 inches.  After the boxes were cut, I scored and fold them.  I added a candy inside the box before I closed it up.

I created the flags in Adobe Illustrator document, which showcases my new found skill of writing on a path.  I printed them on my home computer.  We tore around the flag and the text, then glued a toothpick to the back for the flag pole.  I cut red hearts from the George and Basic shapes cartridge, then adhered them to the back of the flag.  I stuck the flag into the slits of the box to make them stand up.  Not to bad for a more boy friendly valentine, eh Matey?

Cigar Memeory Box and Journal - first desing team project

  Cigar Memory Box and Journal

Cigar Memory Box and Journal

Designed by: Lori McClellan 

Featuring: My Minds Eye, Darice Cigar Box, 7 Gypsies, Prima, Tim Holtz

I bet you already knew, but just in case you didn't......  The Hen's Den has some of the COOLEST stuff around, and I got to work with a few of their amazing products this month.

  I was jubilant when I saw that I got this awesome unfinished cigar box to work with.  This amazing box could be used in so many different ways, jewelry box, treasure box, but since we are at the beginning of a new year, I decided to turn this into my special Memory Box.  I am going to walk you through the steps I took to create it, but I hope that something sparks in you, inspires you and you get a great idea of how you want to make your own unique, special box.
1. Take off all the hardware and paint the Darice Unfinished Cigar box.  I used a brown acrylic craft paint.

2. While it is drying cut the paper you need to fit on all the surfaces you want covered.  I used the Gertie "You and Me" Numbers paper from My Minds Eye. 
3. Tear some of the paper to make it look aged.  Ink it with Tim Holtz tea die distressing ink.

4.  Use modge podge to adhere the paper to the box.  If your paper is going to cover the holes for the hardware, make sure you keep them open.  I used a toothpick to poke holes in the paper so I could easily put the hardware back on.

5. Add the hardware after the modge podge has dried.
6. Using the Hattie "Happy" Polka Dots Paper from My Minds Eye, cut 2 pieces to fit on the inside of the box and adhere it to your box.
7. I took a piece of the May Arts Ribbon - crochet Ivory and wove a piece of yellow ric-rac from my stash through it.  I glued it on the top of the box.
8. I cut a tag shadow from Hattie "Happy" Polka Dots paper from My Minds Eye, and the tag from Hattie "Buddies" Argyle paper from My Minds Eye.  I used Thermo-web 3d foam squares to give the tag a little pop, and added the words "Memories 2012".  Adhere it to the box.

9. I added a Prima Parfait flower and a clock charm to finish off the top of the box.

I wanted to utilize the space inside, so I created a little pocket where I could keep special mementos, pictures or journaling tags from the year.

10. Cut a strip of paper from Hattie "Buddies" Argyle paper from My Minds Eye to fit across the box, and about 1 1/2 inches tall.  Glue another piece of the May Arts Ribbon - Crochet Ivory, and the yellow ric-rac across that top.  I added a My Minds Eye Stella and Rose Gertie You and Me layered sticker.  I put adhesive on 3 sides, leaving the top open and stuck it to the inside of the lid, creating a pocket.  In the picture you can see there are some matching journaling cards in there, but you could also put pictures, ticket stubs, or other fun memorabilia poking out.

Your memory box is finished!  However, I wanted to have a journal to record some of the fun memories we make this year, and since The Hen's Den has so many awesome products, I wasn't finished playing sooooooooooooo......I made a matching journal that will fit inside the memory box.  Here is how I did that.

1.  Cut a piece of chipboard  to 6 1/2 x 9 inches.  (I used an old cereal box.)
2. Cut a piece 6 1/2 x 9 in piece of paper from Hattie "Buddies" Argyle Paper from My Mind's Eye and another (same size) of Hattie "Boy" Tapestry Paper from My Minds Eye.
3. Adhere the papers, one on each side.  Ink the edges of the paper with Tim Holtz Tea dye distressing ink.
4. Score your journal at 4 and 5 1/2 inches.  Fold you chipboard.
5. Take your binder ring.  Place it in the inch and a half wide area, center it and mark where you want it to go.  Punch holes where you marked, (I use my crop-a-dile, but any small hole punch will work).
6.  Using the brads that came with the binder ring, put em through the holes and spread them out on the back of the journal  Note: the backs of the brads will now be visible on the outside of the journal.
7.  Cut a piece of paper 1 1/2 inches x 6 1/2 inches from the Hattie "Boy" Tapestry Paper from My Minds Eye, ink with the tea dye distressing ink, and adhere it to the back of the journal to cover up the brads. 
8. Glue another piece of the May Arts Ribbon - Crochet Ivory with yellow ric-rac to the front of the cover.
9. Cut a tag from Hattie "Buddies" Argyle paper.  Tie the Tim Holtz Word keys charm to the tag and through the lace and adhere it to the front of the journal.
10.  I added 7 gypsies Book Corners in antique brass to the corners of the book.

For the inside I knew that I wanted to have different sections, I debated on having one for every month, but in the end I decided to have different categories.  To start I cut some file type cards with the tabs on top.

11.  Cut tabbed page dividers 3 3/4 x 5 3/4 from several of the My Minds Eye paper collection including Hattie "Boy" Woven stripe paper and Hattie "Happy" bouquet.  Add titles to your tabs and punch holes to fit the binder.
12.  I added these awesome 7 gypsies paperclips avignon to the tabs as well.  As you can see in the picture, I clipped a ticket to the page , so you can also use the clips to add memorabilia to your journal.
13.  Add additional blank pages to record your memories.

And it is that simple......  I know that was a lot of instructions, but don't worry.  I hope that something made you thinks of an awesome unique way that you would like to create your own special box.  My plan is to fill this with fun memories, pictures, funny things the kids said, fun places we visited, school programs, people we love, ect and next New Years Eve we will pull this out and read it together as a family and be reminded how lucky we are to have each other.

Happy Crafting everyone!!

My first design team project is up......

I have my first design team project done and it is posted on The Hen's Den blog.  Here is the link, copy and paste it to go see what fun project I made this month.  I will post it here in a few days, if you want to wait.  Thanks for all your support.
http://www.thehensdenteam.blogspot.com/2012/01/cigar-memory-box-and-journal-by-lori.html#comment-form