Coaster Gift Boxes and CC98...

Okay, the newest tutorial on Splitcoast is a good one! Another use for all those restaurant coasters that I got a few hundred of. Here is the link for it, please check it out! Taylor VanBruggen wrote this one, and these little boxes are too cute! I'll probably do them as teacher gifts for Valentine's Day.

I tried two today. The first one I did using Basic Grey Urban Couture. I used mod podge to adhere the paper to the coaster (I did find that painting the paper with mod podge and then laying that down on the coaster worked better - the coasters sucked the mod podge up so fast it dried too quickly!). Then I used the crop-a-dial to punch the holes. On this box, I mod podged over the paper as well. I like to do this because I feel it makes it a bit sturdier....then the paper isn't going to peel up - ever! And it won't get snagged on anything either. I used several different ribbons to tie up the sides. Then came the hard part. For me, sticking the bottom on was hard. For the mod podged one, I used the E6000 glue Taylor mentioned. This stuff smells awful. And my stamp room doesn't have the best ventilation and it is small. Stank up the room for hours. And it was kinda messy. I tried something different on the second box. But it did stick.

For the second box, I used the rest of the Basic Grey Urban Couture sheet I had out. (I love that you can get two boxes out of one sheet! - I used a different coordinating solid piece for the bottom square.) The only difference with this box is that I did not mod podge OVER the paper this time. I took them outside and sprayed them with Clear Acrylic Sealant by Plaid. I wanted to seal them a bit, so I tried this. I have to say, looks wise, it is really hard to even tell them apart. We'll see how they hold up. I used Crystal Effects (SU - it's clear strong glue, not sure what other companies call it) to adhere the bottom coaster. It stank a little less and seems to hold just as well. So I say you can use either. I know some people used glue guns for theirs....personally, I hate glue guns and I think stuff falls apart when I use them. But that's just me.

Anyway, thanks Taylor for the fantastic idea. Great present boxes. I love the idea and I think I'll be teaching a class on it in a few weeks.

CC98 was today. I used a color challenge by MyPrecious. Night of Navy, Brocade Blue and Bravo Burgundy. I made a card really quickly last night and it's not so good! It was very late by the time I got done cutting out my new rubbah though. Anyway, I did get to use some new stamps and that was fun! Here's what I made. I'd tell you what I used on it, but I am too tired. If you wanna know, just ask me!