Washi Tape Boxes

You can’t fail to have spotted the huge popularity of washi tape lately! It’s all over the internet and rolls of the lovely stuff have been appearing in my favourite shops.

For me it was a case of, I really liked then look of it and definitely wanted some but didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. That put me off buying some for all of about 3 minutes, so I treated myself to a bumper pack online in the New Year sales. I also bought an extra couple of rolls of ones I simply couldn't resist on a shopping trip.

Now what to do with them (other than admire and gently stroke them)? In some ways I feel they are too precious to use, I annoy myself when I get like that.

One roll I purposely bought to stick on the back of clocks I've made, that one was pretty obvious.

The next thing to jump in my head was to jazz up some boxes. I was given a Charbonnel et Walker, Pink Marc De Champagne Truffle box (without the chocolates which normally would be an awful travesty but I don’t like champagne truffles so all was fine)
The box itself is actually rather nice as it is and very sturdy, but I didn't want people thinking there were chocolates in there if they spied the box, so I decided to give it a makeover. 

I attached some stripy, paper stock and embellished it with a few strips of tape over the top, followed by some strips around the edge. Next were the obligatory buttons, I used PVA glue to attach them in the shape of a heart and just for good measure I coated the whole top with PVA for extra toughness. I thought the end result would make a lovely gift box that the recipient could keep as a trinket box. I didn't think about lining the button design up with the lid indents which bothers me now but I know for next time!

I felt I was on a roll then [pun intended ;-)] so went to work on a plain, brown, cardboard box. Again I used a rectangle of paper just on the top as a foundation and added washi tape with just a single button accent. I also decorated the bottom half with tape. It's just the right size for a pair of earrings I've made for a friend and makes the gift just that bit more special.

I then remembered a Thomas Sabo gift box I received containing a stunning bracelet, well that had to have a make-over too.

I did try to use it as I would use regular tape to wrap a present. The paper was slightly glossy, red paper with small white polka dots so I thought the white tape with red polka dots would look good. Unfortunately the tape would stay stuck down, after about 10 minutes it would curl up at the ends no matter how much I would rub it down. Ah well, that wasn't to be.
All in all, I do love the stuff and have a few more ideas up my sleeve....
Until next time craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and all the very best for 2014!

I really enjoyed 2013 but I’m super excited about 2014 as some of my closest friends are either getting married or expecting a baby this year- lots of crafting opportunities there.

I had a busy few days just before Christmas getting the last of the commissioned items made! They included a wedding album cover made with a Dr Who theme.

A fabric and leather handbag with lots of buttons as a feature- always a good choice in my opinion!

And a zebra hat for my friend’s adorable little boy. She had a picture of the kind of thing she wanted which I would say was knitted with crocheted features but I crocheted the entire one I made.

Over Christmas I gave my list of things I have to make a bit of a sideline and made some things for myself as a festive treat as well a few things for family members…

A very chunky, crocheted cowl in a lovely rich copper brown for my sister:

A super cosy, knitted, stripy hat which is certainly needed to keep the wind out of my ears at the moment. I made another version for my fella so he's cosy too. By then I was addicted so made one for our niece and a baby sized for one of 2014's new additions ;-)

A black, knitted, narrow cowl to keep the chill of my neck

And a bag for myself which is similar in design to the button bag above but slightly larger. I've been meaning to make something with the gorgeous, map fabric I bought yonks ago. I'm calling it my "Fit For Adventure Bag". I used some PVA glue to cover an old, shank button with aeroplane fabric and added a few other buttons for good measure.

I hope you all had a wonderful, crafty festive period, best wishes for 2014!
Always craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x