Matchbox Fun

Here's another post where I go on and on about I swap I just participated in on Craftster!!  (Here's the website again:  http://www.craftster.org/ ).  This one was so fun:  I got to decorate two matchboxes (one for each partner), using my choice of themes suggested by my partners.  Today I am going to show one of the boxes because this partner has received hers.  When my second partner gets hers, I'll post pictures of that one too.

For this box I chose the theme "Halloween".  First, I covered the matchbox with scrapbook paper that has a pattern like old, dark wallpaper--something you might find in a decaying Victorian mansion.  Then, using a micron marker and colored pencils, I drew a jack-o-lantern with a loooooong vine, and cut it out.  I glued it onto the box so that the vine wrapped all the way around.  Unfortunately the sides don't show in these pictures, but the back does. I drew the leaves separately and glued them on after the vine was in place.

I don't know why I have two pictures of the interior of the box, but I do!  I drew the bat silhouette on black paper, cut it out and glued it inside the box.  Below you can see the back of the box.

The next part of the process was perhaps more fun than decorating:  filling the box!  Since it's Craftster, we are encouraged to make something crafty to go inside, in addition to any small treasures we can find that will also fit.  First, I made a cute monster book mark.  I made the monster from polymer clay, then strung it with some beads to make the bookmark.

Next, I made a refrigerator magnet, using my new button-making machine.  I drew the image using a fine-tip Sharpie and my daughter's Copic markers (they are the kind used by professional artists--she will be going to art school in the fall!).  Skulls usually aren't my thing, but this fit the Halloween theme.  I saw the image

online somewhere and I liked the surprise of the skull on the cupcake.

In this last picture you can see the box packed full and ready to send.  You can see a mini scrabble tile sticker, one of two with my partners' initials.  And since she makes jewelry, I added lots of little things like clasps, spacers, beads and a charm or two to fill up the rest of the matchbox.



The green pull loop is just a piece of ribbon glued to the bottom of the box. 

The amount of fun I had making this was huge, considering that it was something so smalll!  I want to make more!  One would be great as a gift box for a small item, anytime a gift-giving occasion arises. 

Check back in a week or two for Matchbox #2.  It was sent to Canada, so it may take some time to clear customs.