Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Cash Cow Exploding Gift Box

My sister, Tila, has asked for cash in lieu of gifts or even a birthday luncheon this year.  I wanted a fun way to present it.  I decided on an exploding box!




I let the crafty Renee choose my colors for me.  She is hostessing a color challenge this week on her blog, I Came, I Saw, I Created.  You can see it by clicking here!  (I cheated ever-so-slightly by also using some prints with it from All Wrapped up that added a bit of red and yellow, but the majority of colors on my project used her blue-pink-orange combo!)


I have never made an exploding box before, but I had the idea of a tiny 'cash cow' inside with the money.  I set out to learn how to make this kind of box and found a great little tutorial on Enfy's blog, Going Buggy. You can see it by clicking here!  I followed Enfy's instructions on the box except for inner-most layer.  I wanted that layer to be diagonal so I sized it to be a 2-1/4" diamond base that would be adhered to the square bases.  For that layer, I started with a 6-3/4" square, scoring at 2-1/4" increments and cutting out the corner squares like the others.  For the lid, I cut an 8" square from All Wrapped Up and followed the directions from her tutorial to put it together.


For the shapes on the inside orange flaps, I cut medallions from All Wrapped Up at 3" and topped them with blue punch cuts from the large Martha Stewart sunburst deep border punch.  (I cut on each side of a 2-1/2" strip of paper to create the sunburst).  I cut silly pictures of her kids and added them to the tops of each.



For the blue flaps, I cut medallions from All Wrapped Up at 1-1/2".  I glued rolled up money on two of them.  I wanted it to be easy to take off the money without ruining the box, so I wrapped the money in a strip of paper and attached it by putting a pop dot under the paper only.  (She can either pull off the rolled up money or scoot it out, leaving the paper strip.)  I later added butterflies to the plain medallions.


My cow is from Noah's ABC Animals, cut at 1-3/4" on the Expression.


To attach it to the box, I cut a little square of paper and cut in slits under each leg.  I slipped in her little feet and glued them in place on the back.  I attached the square to the box using 1/16" pop dots since the feet poking through would prevent the square from adhering flush.



I cut a tag using a punch from a piece of Cricut clam shell acetate that I recycled.  I trimmed it down to remove any extra acetate.


To that, I adhered butterflies, cut using a Martha Stewart punch.  I used E6000 glue to attach the butterflies to each side of the acetate.  I attached the butterfly-covered acetate to the middle layer of the 3D cow using a strip of Terrifically Tacky Tape, scooting it down inside the cow to hide the tape.


For the outside of the box, I cut 1" strips of cardstock for ribbon.  I attached the "ribbon" to the lid separately so the lid would still easily pull off of the box.


For the bow, I used the tutorial by Linda at the Paper Boutique.  You can see it by clicking here.

For the tag, I used the butterfly tag on All Wrapped Up, cut at 2".  I printed my sentiment on the reverse side so that it would make sense to her when she found a cow inside:  "For your birthday, we thought you would like a cash cow."

I attached the bow and tag to the box lid using the bow's construction brad.


This was fun, and for my first one, I liked it.  If you want to ever feel inadequate as an exploding box maker, I suggest checking out Elaine's Magic Boxes (click here).  Wow-- she is a magician with these!  So much fun to see and the main reason I had to have floating butterflies in mine.

Thank you for checking my blog today!  To see many of my previous projects, please check My Project Gallery.



22 comments:

Sis Patterson said...

This is by far, the best blue and orange cash cow with butterflies exploding box with pictures of kids I have ever seen (in my entire life). Seriously - fun - whimsical - detailed - and joyous! You made a practical gift a true present!

Tanya~Studio 5380 said...

Oh what fun! Wow...I love those fun, bright, happy colors together! The photos inside are just wonderful and I know they will be treasured! What a wonderful, thoughtful, amazing gift...your sister is a lucky lady!

Sandy from Ukiah said...

Oh how fun, this is just so adorable, she will treasure it.. i have never tried making an explosion box before, i have always wanted to, thanks for the inspiration.

RockinRenee said...

You are SO SUPER talented! Love your 3-D cash cow! I also love how your butterflies "float"! Thank you for linking up at this week's Creative Color Challenge,
Renee @ icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

Carolyn/MamaC said...

Wonderful Explosion Box! Another great creation!
Carolyn
http://cccscraproom.blogspot.com
cccscraproom@gmail.com

Brenda said...

What a fun card! Love the cow and butterflies. Great job, as usual!

http://happyscrapper64.blogspot.com/

Karon said...

This is absolutely brilliant! First box!! Great job. TFS

http://karonskraftykorner.blogspot.ca/

MelodyR aka Ry&MysMom said...

That is too cute! I have never made an exploding box before but you made it look so easy! Love the colors too!

Hrvatica said...

Fantastic exploding box! Love your use of photos and the whole "cash cow" concept was genius. Funny that we both posted explosion boxes in the same week - thanks for the kind comments on my post.

L.B. said...

I love the creativity on this..That cow is great with all these colors wonderful

Sukie said...

Fabulous project, I love the cow and all of the fun colors you used. The patterns are gorgeous as well.

KOLA Designs said...

What a great idea! Love the "cash cow"!!! Very clever to cut the slits for it to stand in :)
Love those butterflies flying away too!!

Ladybug said...

That is one lucky Sis you have to receive such a creative "out of the box" (get it??? LOL) gift. :-)

It is simply beautiful! TFS! :-)

Diane said...

Nadia, you are a hoot! Absolutely! I love love love this exploding box. Love the cow and the butterflies on top! You can be my sis any time!

Cindy said...

This is fabulous! I love how you attached the butterflies to the cow with the acetate! Very cool!

Margi said...

WOW!!!!! Nadia. Your work is so perfect and beautiful. I always love to visit your blog. TFS

Marie said...

Your box is fantastic! I love the whole thing! The details are so well thought out and the cash cow - just love it. your sister is one lucky gal!

Josie0602 said...

You are so talented both in designing and creating this awesome exploding box!! I love that cow with the butterflies!

Tracy

ClaireR said...

What an awesome exploding box. Love the cash cow theme -awesome too. You are so very talented. I really love the colors.
TFS!
ClaireR
www.threewaterscreations.com

cdm317 said...

That is wonderfully colorful and creative! Love the cow and butterflies!
Colleen

Anonymous said...

LOVE the whole project! Beautifully executed from start to finish.

Clover in Devon said...

This is a really imaginative and inventive way of presenting a practical gift. Love it. TFS

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