Open If You Dare...

Hello friends...

Welcome to a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! This week our theme is all about Treat Boxes and Bags and with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, there is no better time than now to start creating little homemade treat boxes that can be used for all these seasonal occasions!

I decided to create a favour box for Halloween ~ it's perfect to fill with chocolates and is just right for any Halloween table, ready to greet your guests!

and we can't wait to see what you create!

To create the matchbox, I cut one piece of black card, 9” x 5” and a piece of kraft card, 5” x 6⁷⁄₈”. Taking the kraft card, measure 1” from each edge of the card, score and fold along the scoreline.

With the scored card placed horizontally in front of you, make two vertical cuts along the folded scorelines at the top and bottom, cutting inwards and stopping at the 1” fold of the box.

Place adhesive onto each of the tabs and fold the end sections of the card inwards to form a box.

Attach a Hitch Fastener to one of the shortest sides of the drawer and then line the drawer with paper from the Materialize paper stash and then colour the edges with Black Soot Distress Paint.

For the wrap section of this box, take the black piece of card stock and place it with the longest edge, horizontally in front of you. Measuring from the left hand side, score vertically at 3¹⁄₈, 4¼”, 7³⁄₈” and 8½”. Fold along each scoreline and place adhesive along the ½” tab at the end. Attach the tab to form the wrap cover for your drawer section. You now have your basic matchbox.

To decorate the wrap section of the box, I used more papers from the Materialize paper stash and cut them to size before attaching them to my box, leaving a narrow border showing around the edge of each piece.

Now for the fun part of creating all those embellishments! For the coffin section, I used Tim Holtz's Coffin die and cut pieces of thick card. I wanted to create a wood effect to the box and for this I used Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Antiqued Bronze and Ground Espresso Distress Paints.

I started by covering the card with a layer of Walnut Stain and then just applied each layer of paint, blending them together to create the striations and give the box a wood effect.

Dry the card thoroughly and then assemble the die cut pieces to create the box.

As a finishing touch to the coffin, I added small brads to each of the joins and then added a smear of Antiqued Bronze Paint over the top to make them look slightly rusty.

Attach the base of the coffin to the top of your matchbox. I then added some torn pieces of cheesecloth which I dyed with Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stain and attached the pieces inside the box but letting them overhang the edges.

For the lid of the box, I die cut a piece of silver mirror card using the shield die from the Tiny Bat, Cross and Shield Movers and Shapers die set. I then added a smear of Black Soot Distress Paint over the surface and attached it to the lid, together with a skull and a Metallic Label Sticker. I added the word Beware, from the Gothic Remnant Rubs set to the vial label.

Attach the lid at a slight angle onto the base of the coffin.

Now to create the leaves and for this, I used the Fall Foliage die to die cut sections of card, one section spritzed with Candied Apple and Wild Honey Distress Spray Stain and a second piece spritzed with Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive. Once I cut a selection of leaves from both coloured pieces of card, I then inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and spritzed them with a little Mica spray to create a sparkle to them as if they'd been touched by the morning dew!

Attach the leaves around the base of the coffin, placing them together with some floristry fibres.

Remember the box will be seen from all sides, so decorate the back and the front!!

At this stage, I also added some of those supercute little pumpkins, some natural pinecones that I glittered by dipping into collage medium and then into the pot of Vintage Platinum Glitter Dust, some of those wonderful resin boneyard findings and a tiny tattered floral flower.

For the finishing touch to my little scene, I used the bat from the Hocus Pocus die and inked it with Clear Embossing ink before applying Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder over the top. Heat emboss the die cut and then attach to a piece of coiled wire and place amongst the cluster of leaves to give the effect that it's flying away.

Finally, I stamped the wording from the Beyond Regions Stamp set onto a piece of inked card, which I then matted onto gold card before attaching to the side of my box.

...and that completes my Halloween Trick or Treat box that will sit in the middle of my guests dinner plates and will only be opened ~ if they dare!

I hope you've enjoyed the creative process behind this project and as always if you do need any further inspiration, then you need look no further than our blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz Dies: Tiny Tattered Florals, Coffin Die, Tiny Bat, Shield and Cross Movers and Shapers Die, Hocus Pocus, Fall Foliage

Tim Holtz Stamps: Beyond Regions

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Antiqued Bronze, Ground Espresso

Distress Spray Stains: Candied Apple, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Pumice Stone

Idea-ology: Gothic Remnant Rubs, Resin Boneyard Bones, Boneyard Resin Skull, Pumpkins, Metallic Label Stickers

Surfaces: Metallic Kraft Core, Materialize Paper Stash, Black Card, Kraft Card, Mirror Card

Mediums: Jet Black Archival Ink, Collage Medium, Clear Embossing Ink, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder, Vintage Platinum Glitter Dust

Distress Ink Applicator

Ranger Craft Sheet

Heat Gun 

Wire, cheesecloth, pinecones and floristry fibres from my own stash