Valentine's Day boxes

So today is Valentine's day.  Luckily, my son is too young to need a handmade box yet, however, my daughter had very clear instructions on hers.  As a crafty mom, I go overboard on these kind of things for my kids because I feel it is the one thing I can really do right.  My kids seem to see my weakness and love to exploit it.   So this year, my daughter comes to me with her sketches of what she wants to see on her box, and we brainstormed until we came up with the perfect idea.

She is currently obsessed with Moana, so of course this was our theme.  She wanted Moana and Maui on one side, and Tomatoa and the Kakamora on the other (we had a mailbox)  She also wanted Hai Hai and Pua on the back.  She knew that she wanted Te Ka, but wasn't sure where, so we made the front of the mailbox Te Ka, and when you opened it, Te Fiti was on the inside.  Once we had the design, I got to work.

I started with the sides.  I painted an island background, then printed out Moana and Maui.  I cut them out and mod podged them over the background.  I had thought about painting them, but I was afraid I couldn't get Maui's tattoos perfect, so I took the easy way out.

Next was Tamatoa and the Kakamoras.  I painted this side, then added gold glitter to Tomatoa to make him look authentic.  I put a layer of mod podge over everything when I was done to hold in the glitter.

My next step was to make Te Ka and Te Fiti.   Both were painted since I couldn't find a picture that fit well on the box.

Finally I printed out my daughter's favorite picture of Pua and Hai Hai, cut it out, and mod podged it on the back, and I was finished.

She really loved her box, and since her party was last week, she is now using her box to hold small things on her desk.

I also have a habit of making a few extra boxes each year for students who may forget to bring one.  This year I made three of them:  a mickey and friends one, a princess one, and a batman one.  These are very simple to make.  I simply pick out a decorative scrapbooking paper, mod podge it on the bottom half, and then mod podge a matching paper to the top.  Finally I add stickers to the top.  They look really cute, but don't take a lot of time or effort.  I hope you like the pictures!