Handmade Christmas Gifts Series I

Every Christmas I try to make some of the gifts for our family. This time, I made use of five little wooden boxes that look like books. I found them at the Goodwill store for three dollars each. The inside was a nice velvet-like surface covering both front and back.The outside was complete with hinges and a clasp but only finished with a coat of paint, and a little scuffed.  Since I love the craft of book arts, I decided to make book art "art boxes" for the five youngest grandchildren.

I began by painting the sides an iridescent color to resemble the classic book collections.

The top was slightly recessed so I planned to use this to personalize each to fit the owner.

So each began to take a personality with special handmade papers, and a variety of lettering options.

The split screen details below show how I filled each box with goodies for the children (ages 4 to 9) to make their own little books. I included a handmade book with blank pages for them to fill; and a tiny purchased book for inspiration to make miniature books; a set of colored pencils and sharpener; a #2 pencil; a set of colored and white papers already folded and punched with two holes and the waxed linen thread to bind them with; and three little packets. One of these contained small envelopes I made from recycled magazine images. These could be used for pockets in their books. Tiny envelopes with cards were in another packet, and kitty stickers was in the third packet.

Region's box cover was finished with a thick coat of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) which forms a glass-like appearance.

There was so much going on at our large family gathering I only got pictures of two of the grandchildren with their boxes.

Above is Jesse discovering the contents of her art box.

Below is Nadine. Both girls love doing art with Mommy and Grandmama.

Notice how Jesse has her hand lovingly on the box while about to open other gifts.

These pictures show me it was well worth all the thought and care I put into making these personalized gifts.

Below, I was happy to see the boxes were considered prized gifts by how they held them near even while enjoying the other gifts.

Notice how Nadine was playing with her DoDollie TM  (also a handmade gift from Grandmama) using the box as a "stage".

Jesse was appreciating the details of the contents of her book art- art box.

Every artist loves to feel validated- that their creations mean something.

I am a happy artist right now.