HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS: Gift Boxes from Handy with Scissors

This year we are THRILLED to participate in this year’s Holly Jolly Craft-mas with a collection of creative pages for kids, organized by Little Button Diaries http://littlebuttondiaries.com/ (two friends who have a beautiful collection of craft books)!   You can follow a pathway (see chart below) of all sorts of playful ideas to make with your children and/or students!

I was SO happy to see that Susie Rigg from Handy with Scissors was going to be featured on our site!  Susie is the Kids and Families coordinator at the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art in Australia and a mother of 2 who creates sustainable projects often made of recyclables.  She is, as her name suggests, Susie is handy with scissors, a glue gun and her imagination as she transforms everyday items into extraordinary creations that families can do together!  Here she is!

Recycled Splatter Gift Boxes 

Why buy expensive gift boxes when you cam make your own! These gift boxes are a great way to package up holiday gifts with style plus they are cheap to make and really fun! Any excuse to splatter a bit of paint around right? Word of warning, this can get messy, so lay down a big drop sheet before you start.

What you need: 

• Empty boxes in a variety of shapes and sizes
• Paint (any kind will do as long as it has a good thickness)

Tools to splatter: 

• Empty spray bottle
• Toothbrush
• Fingers

Be Creative! 

1.  Add a base coat of paint to your boxes. If you have spray paint and want to use it, go for it. I chose a mix of pinks and greens but you can choose any colour pallet you have on hand.

2. Get splattering! We used a combination of spray bottles, toothbrush flicking and finger flicking. For the spray bottles, mix up paint and water at a ratio of about 70% paint and 30%. The ration depends on the paint you are using so just experiment until you get a good flow.

3. Add a few layers of splatters in a mix of complimentary colours.

4.  Add your presents and dress them up with some jazzy ribbon. I’m pretty traditional at Christmas so went with gold but again, you can use whatever colour you like.

All done! Merry Craftmas! 

Excited to see more of the projects?!  Here is where you can find all of the pages participating and their ideas: