Boxes for Christmas

For the past few Christmasses, I have been making gifts for my friends. At this point in our lives, my friends and I have just about everything we need. To truly give something different and meaningful, I have found that hand-made gifts are the way to go. And some of my friends have made me some cool things, too! My friend Phyllis made me some Christmas bats (wearing Santa hats!) a few years ago, and they have become my all-time favourite ornaments for the tree. Yes, Christmas bats- now there's something you don't see in stores. My friend Ronni has knit me some awesome slippers in the past and I hope I get more this year. I feel the love.

This year, I made some quick little shadowboxes for my two sisters and two sisters-in-law. I know they'll be too busy shopping and working to check this website before Christmas, so I'm going to post photos of the boxes right now.

I found this awesome stash of vintage matchbooks at a garage sale this summer, and was just waiting for the perfect application. I decided to incorporate a few of the more interesting ones into the Christmas boxes. The boxes themselves I got at Value Village. I gutted them of their bad flowers and painted them. I added some old buttons, Made in Japan Cracker Jacks metal toys and charms, and other neat stuff. I am quite pleased with the results! You can click on each image to 'zoom in'. Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope that 2008 brings you excellent ideas and nice, long, uninterrupted stretches of time to execute them!