Pretty Pink Party Favor Tutorial

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the first ever French Flea Market and Auction. Please mark your calendars for Friday, March 25th as I will auction off of a high stack of gorgeous vintage aprons, tea towels, antique fabric and ribbon. Antique and vintage ephemera and jewelry will take place on April 8th.

I am now gearing up for the Arizona Bloggers Tea to be held on March 26th, 2011 from 3 ~ 5 pm at the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree, Arizona.

To add a bit of fun there will also be ~

A hat contest (Think English feathers, flowers and frippery)

Always a bridesmaid dress contest (And you thought you’d never wear it again!)

A white ~~wedding~~ elephant swap (Bring an item of décor that is nice, but perhaps had humble beginnings in a thrift store or is just something you have grown weary of. Wrap it as if it is the most lovely of wedding gifts.)

As the organizer I wanted to create a party favor for those that attend this sweet soiree. It began when I was wandering around T J Maxx and spied a box of Martha Stewart Water Lily Favor Boxes for a really low price. I loved the box, but the water lily’s didn’t exactly fan out as shown in the picture.

I decided that the box itself was very reminiscent of a matchbox and I have seen some really beautiful altered boxes around blogland. I searched for a vintage image which featured a tea party. I found the perfect scene from The Graphics Fairy. Isn’t she so sweet to share? Thank you!

I began by lining the bottom of each box with a small piece of scrapbooking paper.

Then came the fun part of filling the boxes. I gathered up some vintage beads, doves, buttons, flowers and candy…

…as well as confetti, paper punch shapes made from leftover scrapbooking paper and my Moo cards.

I then topped the contents of each box with a heartfelt message.

I wrapped a portion of the outside of each box with bits of leftover scrapbooking paper. For pieces that weren’t quite wide enough, I added a contrasting scrap of paper, ~ sticking to a color palette of soft, pale pinks. I lined up the edge of the paper with the edge of the box to eliminate a center seam. (Yes, I am persnickety! :)

Next came a wee bit of paper lace ribbon. I purchased mine locally, but you can find various colors and styles by several different vendors on Etsy. Because someone might wonder, I use Coccoina glue found at The Little Pink Studio.

I printed the graphic in a size which fit on the front of the box. I decided to round the corners to mimic the scalloped border of the paper ribbon. In any type of design, repetition of similar elements (in small doses) is a good thing.

On the back of each box I created a small and simple design. No two were alike.

On the larger image I added the word “dream” and used some paper punch shapes enhanced with gems and such.

After adding a bit of Stickles glitter glue I thought how sweet the box might look hanging on an Easter tree so I hot glued on a bit of ribbon and added a jeweled embellishment. A button would look sweet too. (This is a good angle to see that I secured/raised the paper punched shape with a foam glue dot to give it a 3D effect. )

With spring right around the corner I thought it might be fun to organize an altered matchbox swap and a Spring Craft linky party. Is anyone else interested? I will reserve 12 spots for the swap. Let’s have them in the mail by April 9th (almost a month away) so that they can be enjoyed before Easter. I will also host a Spring Craft linky party on April 15th for everyone who would like to show off their Easter crafts.

To participate in the swap please email me at decortoadore@hotmail.com for details.

To participate in the Spring Craft Linky just grab the button and link up on April 15th.