Making a gift box

This tutorial was made for Jean's Art Dolls. Please check out this site and all the talent and wonderful ideas there!

The first step is to choose the paper. I have used both cardstock weight and lighter. I use these boxes most for candy etc. and I like the heavier weight better. It will work with just about any paper though.

Once you have the paper you will want to determine the size you want. I usually use a 12x6 size but any paper with a 2:1 ratio (8x4, 10x5 etc) will work. Obviously the bigger the paper, the bigger the finished box


Once your paper is cut you will want to mark the half way points on each side. Your first fold will be in half legenth wise.

You will then fold from the center mark on the width to the center fold of the paper. It is not a tricky fold but sometimes the paper will tear a little of your are too rough. Note that happened on mine but it is not really noticeable on the finished product.

If you wish to decorate the box, now is the time to do it. You can see where all the folds are and can embellish the box accordingly. Things like doodles or stamps can be put right over the seams and folds but thing like flowers or bling would be better on one of the flat surfaces.

Now the sides will overlap and you can use a hole punch at the center to punch a hole for the thread or ribbon to go through. I have done this both with and without using eyelets in the hole. If you choose to use eyelets, make sure that they are big enough for you to get the ribbon through. Also you do not want to seal the sides with eyelets as then you will not be able to put the items in the box.

Now and open the box and put your contents in. You will then string your ribbon through and tie it in a bow.

Store up Treasures in Heaven

It seems as if there is no in between for me. Either everything is right or everything is wrong.

Tom got up and was on his way out to work. He opened the door and just stood there. This did not make me happy as it was COLD out there and as he stood there with the door open it was getting cold inside too.

Then after a second he said,"Where's my car?"

Needless to say, I forgot about the heat at that point too. Sure enough the only thing left in our drive was the freshly fallen snow. There was no car - not even any tire tracks just a vast expanse of white.

We have two cars - mine and his. Mine is just that mine. Literally it is all paid for and everything. I have the title and it is all mine. Tom's car technically isn't his. He gets a demo from the dealership and that was the car that was stolen. Yes, I felt very bad that it was gone, but at the same time I was also rejoicing in the fact that it was not OUR insurance that needed to foot the bill or that we would be without a car for long. So although it was not a good situation, I could easily see the good side of it. First blessing.

The car that was stolen was a Dodge Charger. With that kind of car if you are lucky you find the remains of the frame and everything else stripped. Tom was most concerned about the contents of the car - which were not much but they were ours. There was a car seat for Emily and a few music cd's and it was the latter that most upset him.

I came across a few extra bucks in my Christmas shopping money. Though we had agreed not to exchange gifts, I thought it would be a nice treat to get him a Michael W. Smith disc that I knew that he wanted. I searched long and hard for that disc - literally calling every store I could think of that might have it and until the last one, came up empty handed. Finally, I was able to find it. Tom got it for Christmas.

When all was said and done and the police had finally got here and made there report it was then that Tom realized, "My disc is gone!"

It is with that somewhat forlorn note that I dropped him off at work. On my way home I realized that even if we didn't' get the disc back that I could get another and I even know where not to look for it. We usually listen to books on tape/cd in the car. We don't buy them but get them from the library. I was so thankful that if a disc had to be lost that it was one of ours and not one from the library that we would have to pay to replace. Next Blessing.

Life settled down to normal and Tom called this afternoon. The car had been found! But how was just want made me see God's fingerprints all over it.

One of Tom's customers called him and asked, "Why is your car parked in front of my house?"

What are the odds that someone would leave the car somewhere where it would be recognized. Also it wasn't actually the car that was recognized, but Tom's dealer plates. What are the odds that even recognizing the dealer plates and know who to call? Think the blessings are working over time today!

They are going to tow the car into the dealership and it doesn't look like there is too much damage. The front grill is missing, the back bumper has some marks on it, and the spare tire is on it but that is all the physical damage that is apparent. The steering column wasn't even stripped! The car is going back to the dealership so they will not have to worry about dealing with the police impound either. More blessings!

After all the excitement I was thinking and that was when I realized all the blessings that had come our way today. It was also a valuable lesson ( and as lessons go a fairly painless one ) on looking at where my heart is. AND I passed the test! I was not concerned about the car and I could clearly see God's handiwork all over the day.

So in reality, I am wrong it was not a bad day after all.

Happy New Year

It is a new year and I can't help thinking what does it mean...Yes we have a new month on the calendar and I need to pay attention to write 2009 on my checks but in reality what other difference is there?

I have heard of it referred to as a new start but is it really? I was overweight in 2008 and you know when that calendar page moved, the pounds sure didn't. You know all those lovely bills that I owed in 2008...yup you guessed it they are still due now.

I guess is what I am trying to say is that the turn of the page may give me a new perspective but in reality nothing much has changed. And I know that the biggest changes in my life came not at the turn of a calendar but at other unscheduled personal turning points. (none of which were at the start of a new year or in fact, even a new month) They were a time when I met the Lord in a new and different way and that was more than a new year, it was the birth of a totally new me.

Sanctuary

Yesterday was just one of those days - not really bad but everything my kids did got on my nerves. How hard is it to turn off the light, close the door, or flush the toilet. Well yesterday it was virtually impossible for any of them to do anything.

I had a Pampered Chef meeting to attend in the late afternoon and I decided to "run away" after it. I just left a message with Tom saying not to expect me for dinner and I would be home when I got there.

After the meeting, I went to church. Now I have in the past, and I guess being that I still have the keys, still could taken sanctuary to get away from the world at my church. But being that it is closed I didn't feel right doing that. One of the churches that we visited - the first one in fact - had started a service at 6pm on Saturday night. The time is awkward, but I did want to go sometime. And last night was the perfect opportunity so I did.

Today in the church we have been attending for a while now we sang the song "Sanctuary" and it was then that I realized that sanctuary was just what I was looking for last night. And I realized that I found it too. It wasn't the building or even the service but just that time to go away and be with God that filled me and set me straight again.

I love my family. We are together just about all the time 24/7. I am a very introverted person and at times, I just need to be alone and that was what I did last night. But it wasn't til I heard the song in church this morning that I realized that I wasn't being selfish or wrong, but I was just doing what I needed to do.

So here is a lesson learned I need time for sanctuary and it is not wrong to take it once in a while.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

And today was a day for good byes.

Today is the second anniversary of my dad's death - which is still a good bye that I occasionally struggle with. With his passing I became the oldest member of my immediate family. I usually don't think about it, but on days like today, I can't seem to help but be reflective.

Today was also the day I had to say good bye to a very close friend. This friend has been with me through thick and lots and lots of thin. I will truly miss the godly cousel that was a trademark of his.

So today was a time for good byes and now I look forward to what is the next purpose under heaven.

Back in the Saddle Again

It has been ages since I have had a Pampered Chef show - and I was not happy about it, but if I was being honest with myself, I could have tried harder. So I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself and did something about it.

I have been on the phone all week and didn't have a whole lot of success. I did manage one show, but that was a small accomplishment considering all the phone calls I had made. I decided to work a craft fair this weekend and that went much better.

At the fair I made a number of new contacts and I can't wait to get started again. If all goes well, I will have another fair next weekend so between the two, things look like they are up and running again.

So much life

Life - that is what has been happening and being fairly new to blogging, and not yet set in my ways, the blogging has slipped - but I am catching up (at least a little) now

In my defense, I went about 2 weeks without a computer or access at home to the Internet - neither of which are conducive to blogging.

On October 16 I was zoning out and watching the only show I watch on TV - CSI. I noticed that the light was flickering. I figured that the bulb was just burning out. Then I noticed that the light was flickering in the other room too. As I was looking around I noticed "fireworks" in the back yard. That was just before the transformer on the pole shorted out leaving us powerless for the rest of the night and putting just too much strain on our computer and killing it.

We were a week without the main computer so we were living in survival mode. I used the lap top for school, but that was about all I was able to do. We got the computer back on the 19th and live was good again.

It didn't stay that way though. Another transformer on the same pole decided that it too was time to die, but unlike its predecessor it wasn't content to just send out a few sparks. No, this one actually sent flames up and down the phone line. So n0 the 20th less than a day after getting our computer back and running, the phone lines were burned. So although we had a computer, we couldn't do anything with the Internet til that was fixed. We finally got back and completely up and running on the 24th. Well of course there was alot of catch up to do - Tom with work and the kids with school. So there was not opportunity to blog for me.

Add to the above scenario scouts, awana, and a trip to the art museum and my days were pretty full. But now, at 4 in the morning, I can finally get on the computer and do what I want to do - and blogging is it.

AND the reason that I started the blog was to chronicle our search for a church. We began at the start of the month going to The Orchard. This was a second time back and we wanted to give it a month or so and see how it feels. Well, we are giving it more than a month. We are not committing to anything right now long term, but we will be here through the rest of the year. Emily was asked to be in their Christmas program and Eva is working on a project with the youth group so we will stay long enough to give the kids an opportunity to do what they want. I figure after months of being dragged from church to church letting them actually get involved is not a bad thing. So with a few planned weeks off, we are staying at The Orchard through at least the 14th of December.