Double Acetate Box

Hey crafters :) Hope all is going well. I am just whipping up things at my desk and having FUN! For me personally- I DO like having a reason to make something BUT sometimes, it's nice to just play. Sometimes my playing turns into something beautiful- sometimes it's the start of a great idea and other times it's just a volunteer for the recycle bin :P So here's one that I made up- snatching the idea of some beautiful packaging found at Starbucks. Is it just me or is coffee packaging now-a-days just gorgeous or what? And for the cost of making your OWN coffee/cocoas, chocolate truffles and papercrafts- you can make a few cute gifts for a lot less. But starbucks is still good to go for inspiration or a caramel coffee :)

Okay- so I'm not the most clever at thinking up titles or names for my creations :P Here, I'll show ya what I made and you can tell me what I should call it!

So I teach Sunday School a few Sunday's a month and I have a trio of beautiful, giggly 13/14 yr olds. Over the past two months, one of them has been horribly ill with migranes and fevers- so Sunday School has been a bit quiet and you realize just how much you miss someone- even if you don't know them THAT well- when they aren't around for a while. SO I whipped this up after seeing the idea at Starbucks and wanted to have a sort of feel-better package for her.

Now- I recently bought some projector sheets and LOVE using them :) Thank you to whoever you were -whichever blog I hopped too- that suggested finding CHEAP acetate in this way :) SO, now that I'm done babbling- I'll give you the lo-down with more pics :)- and some recipes if you'd like!~ well- I'll post them anyways- I'm in a giving mood :)

Materials:

2- 8.5x11 acetate sheets

2- sheets DSP or PP- I used 2 sheets of 12x12 by Making Memories

3-different colours of scrap paper for lable

1- 8-9 inch peice of ribbon (I used sheer ribbon- found at Michaels- very inexpensive for LOTS!)

stamps, ink, embossing powder

Tools: hole punch, adhesive, paper cutter/scorer, bone folder

Cutting:

Cut both sheets of acetate to 11x6. Score each sheet lengthwise at 2.5,5,7.5 and 10

Cutting your DSP- I cut 1 sheet is cut at 9x6.5 (please add an 1/16 of an inch on each side for wiggle room- sorry, I'm not good at measuring at 1/16 incrimints) and 7x6.5 (again- please add 1/16 inch on each side for wiggle room). The larger one is your bottom peice- smaller one is the lid. You SHOULD have a 2.5x12 inch strip left- trim that in two (if not- cut 2.5x6 with some other paper)

Cut your other peice of DSP into 2 peices of 8.5x2.5- they are the band to go around the entire box and will overlap on the sides.

So build your acetate boxes- which will really just look like long rectangle tubes, and add sticky strip to the one inch tab and tuck that inside. Now build your bottom by scoring at 1 inch around each side, and then at the 2 inch mark at each side. Now- I took time out to take pics of a BAD box bottom (lol) cuz I tried to explain- and couldn't - so here are the photos to help explain it for me:

So as you see, you cut 2x1 inch off each side and trim the other 2x1 inch in all four sides into tabs. You then fold on the score lines and assemble. It gives the box a sturdier bottom because then the sides are 'doubled' up. :)
I did the top the same way- but only doubled up the far sides- not all four as I didn't have enough paper :) On a note (as I did it later and it was a bit tougher) BEFORE you assemble the lid- use your hole punch and punch 2 holes in the top of the lid to weave the ribbon through. You can also add eyelets for strength if you wanted to.

So I had the box bottom, I stuck both acetate boxes together and then slipped the 2.5x6 DSP on the inside side of the box to hide all the adhesive. I did that to both sides- so now you have 1 6x5x2.5 box with a divider in it, essentially. Add sticky strip to the bottom- no more than 1 inch from the bottom and squeezing the acetate together, set it in the box bottom (if you squeeze it on all sides, you don't run the risk of it sticking to the bottom sooner) and then press all the sides against the bottom to stick it together.

Then I took the 8.5x2.5 sheets and scored at 1 and 3/4 on each side and then just over lap the peices on the side and adhere to the side of the box. For the lable, I just used my Storybook cricut Cartridge and cut out 1 oval at 2, 1 oval at 2.5 and a scalloped oval (w- I think- check your book) at 2 (yes 2- it made it large enough to layer). But you can lable yours however you wish. Creativity is key :) So here are some other shots:

So it was a lot of fun to make these little pouches. Now I am also a candy maker- as I've shared before- and in the candy/wilton aisle in Michaels- they had these lollipop bags. I bought them to make lollipops (FAIL) for valentines a couple of years ago. I still had them and they are PERFECT for adding 3-4 rounded tablespoons of coffee mix. SO I made the lables with my cricut (George and Mini Monogram cartridges) and for the top I had a 2.25x3 inch peice of DSP and scored it at 3/4, 1.5 and 2 1/4. I folded the edges with the top of the pouch, punched a couple of holes and wound the ribbon through and tied a bow. Very simple- but works with the box and is SO cute for single packages!

So I've used up SO MUCH room on my blog- lol. Hope the directions were cohesive enough. I know y'all are papercrafters and some of it is common sense- but I am NOT very good at the whole 'explaining' thing and I did want to share if you want to make some of your own. So I will share the website I got most of the coffee mixes from, and share the candy secrets for another day (well- they aren't that secret- got them from cookbooks and the web too! lol)

http://www.recipe-recipes.net/beverages/beverage-mix-recipes.htm

Too fun :) And very easy/inexpensive. So there ya go- enjoy! Thanks for coming.