Graduation Explosion box

I made this really cool graduation explosion box for my nephew a few years ago.  It held a gift card inside, and when the hat (lid) was removed, the inside had the words "You did It" floating above the card, waving in the breeze.

Each letter of the words was on its own piece of clear acetate so they would sway in the breeze easier, and each word was stair-stepped in front of each other.  It was a work of art.  He loved it, everybody loved it, it was awesome!  (One of those things you think twice about giving away because you want to keep it for yourself.  C'mon...admit it...you've done it too).  But...nobody got any pictures!  Duh, what's wrong with me??!!

Or so I thought.  This week I was purging some of my pictures from the hard drive...and what do I see?  Thaaaaats right.  My work of art explosion box.  Sometimes I don't know how I manage to put one foot in front of the other sometimes. 

The tassel is made with several strands of embroidery floss, and the letters were cut with the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

When the lid (hat) was removed, the front side of the box fell open (kinda like a drawbridge) to reveal the magic inside.  The double layer of red/white paper on the "drawbridge" made it heavy enough to fall on it's own. 

 

 

This project was actually pretty easy.   I used 1 sheet of 12 x 12 black for the base, and 1 1/2 pages of 12 x 12 black for the hat.  The hat was very sturdy and kept it's shape.  The button used to hold the tassel was held tightly in place with a piece of florists wire underneath the hat.  That whole contraption was completely hidden with the red/white papers placed inside the hat.  

I used the stamp set A1139 Congrats Graduate, which I just love because it's the perfect size for everything!  The numbers are varsity looking, so I have used it many times on my son's sports pages  projects, and team treats.

We each signed and wrote little notes to him on the white pieces and made it personal.  I think I wrote something heartfelt like "If you ever throw this away I'll purposely forget to buy you presents at Christmas".  Just a little something meaningful between a loving Aunt and her nephew.

Stamps:  A1139 Congrats Graduate

Inks:   Black, Cranberry

Paper:   Black, Cranberry, White Daisy, Honey, Indian Corn Blue, Cotton Candy

Cartridge:  Art Philosophy

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