Just For You - a hostess gift tute

It's Saturday and I'm blogging ... even I'm surprised! Good day, fellow crafters. It's probably hotter than the sun outside so I'm seeking shelter indoors, and still fiddling with a project I started yesterday. We're off to a BBQ this evening and the dilema is should I take the usual chocolates (in this heat - a gooey goopy mess) and / or wine? (mulled wine in summer - blech!) After much rumination and meditation, I decided to take tea. No fuss no mess - perfect. I proceeded to make a tea bag holder / dispenser in an attempt to come up with a fancy hostess gift. The inspiration came from the original box, I toyed around with it last night and adhered the final bling bright and early this morning.

And then I saw this week's WaltzingMouse Sketch Challenge #109.  Whoa!!! My project for this week's challenge is done! Coincidence? (Note to self: buy a lottery ticket). In the meantime, take a peek at my tea bag holder / dispenser. Today's post is picture-heavy - sorry!

Here's the top. No patterned papers; just lime green and vanilla CS, die cut and stamped  with a sentiment from WMS Compact Sentiments.

The box base is 2.75" x 2.75" and stands 6" tall. I stamped "Tea" with WMS Victorian Alphabet set and cut with Spellbinders dies. 

The patterned paper is called "Ladybug Garden" by Doodlebug. I love this paper - so cheerful and bursting with summer goodness - minus the heat! 

Embellishments come in the form of pink bling and red twine. Keeping it simple , y'all!

Here it is with the lid open. I punched the edges with X-Cut Lacey Trim.

And this is what it looks like from behind. Yep, all neat and tidy, folks.

I'm including a series of pictures that may shed some light on how I constructed the teabag holder / dispenser. It's really very very simple, but since I'm lousy at tutorials,  I'll let the pictures clarify my story:

Try to use sturdy 110lb / 300gsm CS for the box base (e.g. GinaK's Heavy Base Weight CS).  Each panel is 2.75" wide x 6" tall. The glue tab on the left is 3/4" wide. The opening is 1.5" high and 2.5" wide, leaving a quarter inch border on either side. I stuck the glue tab on the outside of the box so that the inside will remain seamless.     

Here's the lid. The CS measures 4.75" x 4.75", score and fold 1" from all 3 sides. I  punched the trim on 3 sides leaving the fourth as a glue tab for the lid. As before I adhered the glue tabs on the outside on the box and lid to keep the insides neat.

Here are the decorative panels. I cut the green CS 1/8" smaller than the walls of the box and the patterned papers  leave a quarter inch border around the green CS.

These are the Spellbinders dies I used.

And finally, meet my battle-worn muse: the original box. I measured my box to fit these teabags.

Supplies:

Papers: Doodlebug "Lady Bug Garden"

Spellbinders Dies: Classic Ovals LG S4-110;  Labels 19 S4-311;  Lacey Ovals S4-314

Waltzing Mouse Stamps:  Compact Sentiments; Victorian Alphabet

Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa; Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Antique Linen; Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

If you've never made a teabag dispenser before, give it a try. It looks like a lot of work but is in fact very straightforward and you can dress in up or down to suit the occasion.

Taking my box to a couple of Anything but a Card challenges: Die Cutting Diva and Dutch Dare Challenge #176; and over at Stampin with Dragon's Blog they're playing with Summer Colours. You can also find me over at Make It Monday #101.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of the Saturday. Thanks for stopping by and ploughing through the pics. Have a great weekend, take care and I'll see y'all on Monday.

Beijinhos!



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Blueberry Cheesecake (yummm) and