A Year of Boxes

(First off- all hail Pinterest! You inspire me to craft more & more!) For this post I will be sharing the box I jazzed up inside for my hubs for the month of Feb and what I have planned for coming months.

A Year of Boxes
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What is a year of boxes? Where did this idea come from & what inspired me. Well Pinterest of course. Some time last year I pinned a box idea- the inside of the box was decorated with paper, love notes, and packed with goodies inside.

It was listed under deployment ideas and I pinned it to my "Army Wife" board for future reference. I really liked this idea but took it further. Each month I plan on sending a box whether it is big or small. Each month will have a "theme" to fit the box which I will share after the hubs has gotten his box. Since he can read this blog- I don't want to give away the surprise!

Anyway! Shout out to all military wives! Feel free to steal my idea! I took it further than the pin. For this month I sent a Valentine Box. I had my grandma in law & mother in law chip in too! They bought things for the box. I packed everything- wrapped gifts, etc.

The box decorating is fairly simple- I bought stickers, cool paper, glue, and keep my exacto rotary cutter handy if I need to trim paper. I glue fancy pieces of paper to the inside of the box- I do the "top" part of box where it is opened- but you can do all of the box if you want. This is where you can get creative. Love notes, valentine sayings, etc.

When sending foodie goodies and toiletry items I suggest using a food saver for toiletries in bottles- I seal all the bottles up and place the food in bags as well. You never know when something might "explode" or leak when sending a box overseas.  No food saver- just use bags! I'm just weird and chose the food saver. It does work wonders for any baked goods you send though! Think "fresh" oh and  it's a very good investment in the long run!

Anyway! Here is my first box of the "year" along with a cute kitteh to boot! (Never fails- if you have a box around the cat is surely to get "trapped" for hours in said box).

~Lexxy~

Keepsake Craft

Now I had an idea like this one some time ago... keeping all the cards my husband has given me  and creating some type of book. Then I saw a pin on Pinterest. I didn't read the entire link but it brought up that idea again. Not sure if mine is exact/ similar but here is what I did:

First I grabbed my hole puncher, a sharpie, and metal rings (two of them) I had stashed for my index cards for when I take notes.

Second I grabbed all the cards I had stashed in my room & began punching holes in them. Make sure you line up cards to create the "right" look.

I used sharpie to mark other cards from my starter card. Keeps things looking nice and neat.

Open metal rings and put freshly punched cards on rings and viola! You have just started the beginning of a "book" of sorts made with cards ( from whomever) that you wanted to keep.

I say get more creative if you like with ribbon, etc. Right now I'm keeping it simple as the cards keep coming and I need to go digging for the rest.

I like the way this turned out. Can't wait to see it grow. I really like this keepsake. While the husband is away( gotta love Army life) it really helps to have these cards where I can see them and read them when I am feeling down or worried about our marriage. Being apart definitely puts a relationship to the test! This is just one way I can make the coming months bearable.

~Lexxy~