Let the Fun Commence

At this time of year it has become something  of a tradition for me to share with you the box I have made for my longest and dearest friend.  Regular visitors will recall that every year  I exchange Advent Calenders with my BFF, we have been doing this for many years.  Over time our 'calenders' have become a little out of the ordinary, the most obvious being that they contain a small gift for every day for the whole of the month of December and, because I struggle to find very small items, my container is larger than most.

For the last couple of years I have made a fabric covered padded box to put my gifts in.  (You can find the 2015 box by clicking here, the 2016 box here and the 2017 box here.)  I have made each box slightly smaller than the previous one so they can be either stacked or nested like Russian Dolls.

Each year I try to select a seasonal fabric for the box with a plain contrasting fabric for the inside.  Each box is hand stitched around thick card.  In places the fabric can be kept in place with glue, I find Pritt ideal for this, but I only use it around the back where it cannot be seen or where another layer of fabric will cover it.

The lid of the box is padded and the tinsel decoration is only temporary so it can be removed after Christmas.  In the past I have also decorated the top of the box with Christmassy things but this year I did not do this because I thought I would need two boxes to hold all of the presents and so I left the larger box plain so the smaller box could stand on top of it.  A the last minute I discovered that, with a bit of careful packing, I did not need the smaller box - I guess I have a head start on next year!  

In the New Year the boxes can then either be stored or re-tasked - perhaps used for storing Christmas decorations or craft materials.

This year's box is currently overflowing with little gifts, each numbered to indicate which day it should be opened.  The plan is that I will be back every day for the next month to share with you the contents of that days surprize parcel.

Let the fun commence.

Dionne