Mini Milk Cartons

It's another one of those last minute idea that I just have to give a go - last minute because:

1) I see the idea on Friday afternoon, and think, "Oh look, that's what I can make for Deb's Baby Shower gift!" The baby shower is on the next day. Never mind that I have no templates, and not even the time to google but you know, the idea is there, and I just have to run with it.

2) The earliest possible time I could experiment/work on it is Saturday morning, and that's when I also have three active boys all to myself as DH had to pop out for an hour or so.

I did have another gift planned but if this worked out, then that gift will be given when baby is born.

The idea is a picture on page 33 of the Stampin' Up 2010-11 IB & C (Idea Book & Catalogue) - NZ edition.

Unfortunately, I don't have the Bigz L Mini Milk Carton Die - indeed I don't even own the Sizzix Big Shot machine. I have not even seen the die nor the actual template it cuts out.

Fortunately, there's a small picture in the catalogue of the shape of the template the die cuts out , so I could easily just make some measurements up for it. The prototype I made up looked a decent size for what I wanted to use it for so yay! Next is working out how to do the carry tray with handle. This time I had no template to work from, but it is simple enough really to work out. I just didn't know how well it will hold up four mini milk cartons filled with yummies as I was using Designer Series Paper cardstock. Oh well, I gave it a go anyway. The end result appeared to hold up well enough. I'll just have to find out from Deb later down the track how well it served its purpose :-)

So, here it is: "Deb's Care Package"

I think it looked a bit more complete with the label embellishment:

Paper: Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper (DSP)

Punch: Heart to heart, 1" Circle, Horizontal Slot, Scallop Circle Extra Large 1 3/4"

Other: Double sided tape (though I think I'd use Sticky Strip instead if I had some - I read somewhere it's better for gift boxes), Gold decorative cord, cello bag for filling up yummy munchies in, cutting blade to cut a slit on the bottom of the tray to feed the handle panel through, 1/4" Grosgrain (I think?) Ribbon in Certainly Celery ( I think?) - I "stole" it from an old project that I had done in a class last year as it seemed to match the green on the DSP though the green there is Kiwi Kiss.

One box was filled with Prunes (if you haven't had a baby before, one of the things you always get asked by the doctor or midwife that see you in the days post birth is if you have passed bowel motions, because, well, it is important that you have a healthy bowel. So prunes can help some women).

One box was filled with Nuts (natural whole almonds and unsalted roasted cashew nuts) for energy and good fats.

The third box was filled with Lactation Cookies (actually I ran out of time to bake so I just substituted with shortbread that I had in the pantry! Will have to make Deb a batch of the actual lactation cookies when I visit her post birth. Google will give you many results, this is one of them, haven't checked if it's the same as the one I use, but it's got the main ingredients, ie flaxseed meal/ground linseed, brewers yeast, oats and chocolate chips, of course!).

Finally, the last box is filled with some chocolates. We all need a little bit of chocolate indulgence, don't you think?