My (not-so) Triumphant Return to the Blog-o-sphere!

After more than a year's absence from blogging, I have returned.  Not that anyone noticed I was missing.  :)

For my first project, I should have tackled something simple, something easy and straightforward. I did not. Instead, I picked one of the fussiest projects ever--I decided to alter something.  I love the idea of altering little objects to make them more attractive or more personal--it's also called "up-cycling."  In fact, I have 2 boxes full of ugly containers and notebooks waiting to be made beautiful.  However, if this project is any indication of what's to come, they're going to be waiting for a looooong time.  I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me two days to alter this container and make a matching card.  In all honesty, most of my time was spent trying not to throw the box across the room.  It was just so "fiddly!" I huffed and I puffed and I took a break to organize my scrap papers (Yep, that's how frustrating it was...I organized my scrap paper).  But I finally finished.  Wanna see the result?

This is what I started with: a box that used to have marshmallows in it.  It was part of a hot chocolate and  mug set that I got from my sister-in-law last Christmas.  Guess how many marshmallows were in the box.  Seriously, just guess.  FIVE.  That's right.  It only had five marshmallows, in the ENTIRE box.  And I'm sorry to say there was nothing indulgent about them.    

This is what it looks like now.  I covered the box in some paper I've had for ages.  The paper is adhesive on one side which made the application...tricky.  For example, the paper adhered well, but centering/lining it up was a pain. If it wasn't in exactly the right spot when you laid it down, it probably never would be.  I topped the box with some handmade felt roses, a ribbon, and a monogrammed tag. 

Here is the matching card. The E. Bell image is from Sugar Nellie.  I paper pieced her smock and her pants (including the patches on the knees), but it's not showing up that well in the photo.  The card is 6X6 (That should give you a sense of the how big the box is and how ridiculous the fact that it only had 5 marshmallows is.)

I'm happy to enter the gift set in Cupcake Craft Challenges.  It's one of my favorite challenge blogs, and I'm excited to participate again.  The theme this week is "Alter It."