Christmas Cottage Explosion Box..... Simple Stories Merry & Bright.

Hello There.

Its Anita here today with you to round up the end of the week. I really cannot believe how rapidly Christmas is approaching..... Do you make lots of your Christmas cards? I have to be honest and admit that I am rather naughty and only hand make some for a few of my friends, they are all crafty ladies and I know we all appreciate a handmade card... I have a couple of large boxes full that I have saved over the years of ones I have been lucky enough to receive and I love looking at them.

I wanted to make something different for some very special friends of mine this year and decided to make an explosion box and use as a card for them.

I have been working with the Merry and Bright Collection from Simple Stories, its a vibrant mix of red, green and white with a mix of plaid, polka dots and various other patterns and also lovely decorative panels to choose from.
I used 2 sheets from the range.... 4 x 4 Elements and A Simple Wish along with a sheet of Red Hots Bazzill and a sheet of Ivy

There are lots and lots of tutorials on Pinterest, You Tube and Google, to create various size and shaped Explosion boxes depending on what you want to do and so much inspiration for decorating etc. I went for a simple, single layer box based on a sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock. It was scored at every 4 inches, this meant the sheet was split evenly into 9 squares. I cut the top right and left panels out and the same on the bottom right and left. This left a basic cross shape and when the sides were folded up it creates the lower part of the box.
I picked 5 panels from the 4 x 4 Elements sheet and used them to decorate the inner base and each empty side ( you can of course use photos if you prefer) I also added some Stickles to pretty the panels up and give some extra festive sparkle!
The outside of the box was decorated with panels of one side of the A Simple Wish sheet.

I wanted to make a little 3d scene inside and found these sweet little wooden cottages and a mini bottle brush tree which were perfect for the job. Along with some teeny polystyrene snowballs to finish it all off.

I used the 2nd sheet of card-stock for the lid. This was cut down to an 8 x 8 " square and then measured in at 1" 7/8 " along each corner, sliced inwards to 1" 7/8 and then folded to make the lid. This was covered with panels of  the reverse side of A Simple Wish and the very top of the lid had a 4 x 4 Element Panel added to it and Stickles added.

With the left over card stock I made a simple little mini album for some special photos to be added into.

These little boxes are lovely to make and are great for many different occasions.... why not pop onto Pinterest, Google etc and see what ones you can find!

Hopefully my friends will be pleased with it!
Thank you so much for looking at my project today, I hope that maybe you are a little bit inspired to have a try yourself.

Merry Christmas and a Crafty New Year to you all

Anita xxxxx