I can be a little challenged when it comes to creating "projects", instead of my normal layouts and cards. But the one altered project that I love to create are these covered paper mache boxes. They come in such a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and you can find them at any craft of hobby store. Altering these boxes is so easy to do, and really takes no time at all. These come in very handy at Christmas time, since you can easily slip gifts in these boxes and stick them right under the Christmas tree. No wrapping required.
I used the 12 Days of Christmas collection to create these boxes. To start out, I simply measured all four sides of the boxes, and the four sides and top of the lids. I picked out the papers that I wanted to use for each box, and trimmed the papers to the sizes I needed. I put aside each set of papers, marking which box they went too. Then I used some white acrylic paint, and painted all of the edges of the boxes and the lids. Because the papers won't go all the way around the edges, this will help finish off the edges. There is no need to paint the entire box or lid, since the papers will cover most of it.
Once the paint dries, you can go ahead and adhere your papers to the boxes and lids. Sometimes, I just use regular adhesive to adhere the papers, if I'm not going for a really finished look. Or I will use Mod Podge, like I did for these boxes. I brushed the Mod Podge onto the backs of the papers, and then flattened them out on the boxes and lids, smoothing them from the inside to the outsides edges, to get rid of any air bubbles. Once they dry, I brush an additional layer of Mod Podge right over the paper, to give the boxes a nice, shiny finish.
Once all the boxes and lids dried, it was time to decorate them a bit. I used the Trims and the Chipboard elements to embellish each box as desired.
What beautiful gift packages Laura has created! We’ll give one lucky winner our 12 Days of Christmas collection. Leave a comment on this blog post by December 25, 2011.
