Another Christmas Box & a Photo Card Idea

Whew! Have I been BUSY. I have a feeling it's going to be like this through the holidays, so I may only be able to get to the craft room once a week for a postworthy creation. I'm guessing your life is similar. Since we could probably play "I can top that" with our calendars all day, I'll stop with my sob story and show you what I promised in the headline for this post, okay?

My last few posts have featured different packaging ideas for gift cards, and this post is no exception. This box was designed by Dawn Griffith, and she has a great video that explains and shows how to make it better than I can. It may seem a bit confusing, but just do what she says, and it'll make sense.

I used Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper and scored the 8.5" side at 2" and 7", and the 10.5" side at 2", 5", 7", and 10". It comes together really quickly, once you cut away a few unnecessary pieces, and it only takes two strips of Sticky Strip to hold it together. To decorate the front flap, I punched out a Decorative Label shape (currently back ordered, due to popular demand) in Very Vanilla and layered the tag ornament from Delightful Decorations, stamped in Cherry Cobbler and punched using the Ornament Punch, on top using Stampin' Dimensionals. The box is tied closed using the 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.

Isn't this cute? The final box size is 3" x 5", which is the PERFECT size for a gift card! There's also room in there for a lot of small candies. My favorite is Dove Dark Promises, if you're wondering.

The other thing I've been playing around with, in my very minimal spare time, is a photo card. This one was inspired by one I saw online. I used the 1.75" scallop circle punch and 1 3/8" circle punch to create a wreath. Then I made "berries" using my .25" circle punch (retired SU!). I tied small white bows for the wreaths using the 1/8" Whisper White satin ribbon. The gate fold card, which you score along the 8.5" side of a 5.5" x 8.5" piece of card stock at 2 1/8" and 6 3/8", is stamped with the Woodgrain background stamp on Soft Suede card stock to create the idea of wood doors.

Inside, there's a generous center panel that will hold a 3.5" x 5" photo, but it has to be oriented in portrait style. You don't want a landscape orientation here, peeps. The two side panels are for your family's greeting. I used a sentiment from Home for Christmas, but you could just write something.

The second version is much more down and dirty, quick and easy. This is a piece of 3 7/8" x 9.25" Cherry Cobbler card stock. It will fit in a #10 business envelope and can be mailed for no extra cost. There is room for a 3.5" x 5" photo, landscape orientation or portrait orientation, as well as a small piece of Jolly Holiday DSP (3" x 3 7/8"). The only embellishment is an ornament from Delightful Decorations, stamped in Old Olive on Very Vanilla and punched out with the Ornament Punch. There's a sweet little 1/8" Very Vanilla satin ribbon bow, and that's IT! Sign them and you're done--bada bing, bada BOOM!

It's not too late to get a neighbor to take a picture, print them yourself, and send one of these photo cards to your loved ones. The little boxes are great for teacher gifts, neighbors, coworkers, anyone you want to give just a little somethin' to.

Enjoy the weekend. I intend to!