Fun with Cigar Boxes

Every so often, the women in my 'hood gather for a bit of fun. This month, we had a craft night in my studio and decorated cigar boxes. Some decorated their boxes as lovely containers. It was a perfect project - you don't have to be an "Artist" just will to have a good time.

Nancy and Janine used wallpapers to decorate their boxes.

We used, besides the cigar boxes (thanks to Hugh for the big score there): 

Scissors, papers (wall paper, scrapbook paper, cast off and found papers. 

Paints (craft paints are fine) (a hair dryer to hasten the dry time)

A bit of sandpaper to rough up the surface of the box

Pencils and pens

X-Acto knife and cutting mat or paper cutter

Glitter, sequins, lace, fabric scraps. 

Bits and bobs of this and that (old jewelry pieces, stuff from the scrapbook aisle, trims

Glue: my special mix of Methyl Cellulose and PVA or Elmers glue.

Attendees can have a theme in mind if they'd like. None of us did and we had a wonderful time. (Well, I did because I tripped over the tea set while I was cleaning up my studio).

Chrissy worked on the interior of the box as an artpiece.

The first thing to do for this project is to collect the background papers or paint your box. Well, the first thing, really, is to pour the wine and beer and lay out the munchies. Then backgrounds after that followed by middleground, more wine/beer and then the foreground.

I used the remaining pieces of my childhood tea set.

I wanted to share this project with you because it was so accessible to everyone and we all really enjoyed it. You can too with a group of friends or neighbors. 

Next up: I'm thinking about tiaras made from plastic dime-store hairbands... .

Bloom

Spring always brings a great creative outpouring and I've been taking full advantage of this energy by designing new classes and experimenting with ideas that are flooding me.  
So what do you do in the off hours during times of intense focus at work? I love to have something fun and easy to do at the end of a long days. Kanzashi has filled the bill over the last week. I love Kanzashi in Bloom by Diane Gilleland. Although Kanzashi are a bit fiddly at first, once you've made a couple of these lovely fabric blooms it's a surprisingly simple and soothing craft. This is also a great craft that you can break down into steps and the unfinished project can be set aside in each stage. Perfect for those times when you just need a little sumpin' sumpin'. 
If I'm a bit irregular in posting over the next few weeks, you'll understand. 

holiday tags

I made Pannettone French toast for breakfast this morning. Yes! It is sweet (don't add any extra sugar to the egg/milk soak). The Pannettone box was so pretty that I cut it up and used a large round punch to make gift tags. You don't need the punch, you could just cut out some shapes. Poke a hole into the top of the tag and insert a bit of ribbon, yarn, what-have-you, fill in the back and tape it to your package (or tie it). There should be plenty of beautiful junk mail coming your way in the next couple of weeks.