Tea Packet Boxes

One of my co-workers (one of the doctors that flies in every few weeks) saw the tea packet card I made for Holly's Monday 3D Challenge at Stampin Addicts and just loved it. So she asked me to make a larger card that she could put a couple tea bags in and set at each place setting on a table. She wanted this to be a reusable thing she could put out at small gatherings with special people. Well, I saw Lisa Young's project for her Thanksgiving table the very next day, and inspiration struck! I made 12 of these darlings the next day :)

 Here is a side view. I don't have the die Lisa used, but I had purchased the Petal Card die off the clearance rack and discovered that tea bags fit in these little boxes perfectly! I am so in love with this little box, I was willing to take the risk and make these for the lady without her approval and boy did it pay off! When she saw them, she gave me a big hug and went on and on about how much she loved them :)  :) That sure made my day! Now I wish we still sold the Petal Card die...

And they all fit perfectly in the hinged lid Sterlite box I had bought to carry my swaps in to Convention in 2009, so she will be able to take them home on the airplane safely and store them conveniently at home! I am sooo good! Not...just really lucky because I didn't check to see if the tea bags fit in the box before I made the first one, and then I assembled them just trusting that they would fit in the box I had in mind, and then that the customer LOVED them so much! 
And here is how I made them:

            1. Cut a 4½" square and a 4"x5½" piece of card stock.  You can get 2 boxes from one 8½"x11" sheet if you cut it the long way at 4" giving you a 4"x11" piece and a 4½"x11 piece. Then cut the 4" piece in half the short way, and the 4½" piece into two 4½" squares.
            2. Cut out a full Petal Card die out with the 4½" piece.
            3. Line the 5½" edge of the other piece up with one of the score lines on the die. Two of the corners of the paper will hang over the die, but that's ok, it will still go through the die cut machine just fine. This will give you a die cut will 3 petals and will be the front of the box.

            4. Do any stamping, inking, embossing to the box base now. I stamped the tea pot all over both sides of both pieces.

           5. One the 3 petal piece, fold over and crease well on all score lines. On the 4 petal piece, crease 3 of the petals.
           6. (Optional step) Ink all the edges with a sponge and coordinating ink, or  just use the ink pad ;)

              7. Lay the box back (4 petal piece) on your surface with uncreased petal at the top and fold over the right petal.

             8. Then lay the 3 petal piece on top of it with the flat edge lined up with the top uncreased score line of the box back.
             9. The right flap of the box front should be lined up with the folded edge of the right petal.
           10. Make sure the top and bottom of the box front are well aligned with the top and bottom score lines of the box back the right edge of the box back. This will ensure a nice squared box.
           11. Now it is safe to adhere the front flap to the back flap on your right.

                 12. Flip the whole thing over.
                 13. Check alignment and adhere box front flap over box box back flap so the flaps are going the same direction on both sides.
                 14. Do not adhere the bottom yet! It is easy to decorate the rest of the box before final assembly, and they will lay flat for storage or mailing this way...
                 15. When done decorating, adhere the bottom flaps together, or if you are sending it in the mail, put a piece of Sticky Strip on the bottom flap for easy assembly later :)

 

Here is the front. The matting done on this was  2-3/" square of Crumb Cake  embossed witht he Vintage Wallpaper EF, then a Cherry Cobbler Designer Label punch and a Watercolor paper Culry Label punch. I used markers to add color to the image, then the Aqua-painter to blend it, then added a little Frost White Shimmer Paint with a Blender pen to add a little glitz.  The top label is the Large Oval punch and a strip of Watercolor paper. I inked up the "vitamin" phrase with a marker to eliminate the caffeine and used a marker to ink just the tea in "tea"-rific. And if you haven't noticed already, I just have to add stitching to everything! The matted punches are popped up on dimensionals and the pearls really make it pop!

• Stamps: Morning Cup
• Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Watercolor paper
• Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
• Other: Big Shot with Petal Card die and Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Bone Folder, Aqua-painter, Frost White Shimmer Paint, blender pen, Signo white gel pen, Pearls Basic Jewels, Designer Label punch, Curly Label punch, Large Oval punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

                  Add here are a couple of pictures without background distraction, but worse lighting :)

                                            So, are you all as excited about this project as I am?