Thursday, February 10, 2011

Little finishes.

I realized about the end of January that I had forgotten a couple of friend's birthdays that were in December...I must have been in that psycho frenzy that every December brings...so I found a couple of little boxes that I had purchased a couple of years ago (ahem, I bought, like tons of them, couldn't stop clicking on the DC&C website...if one is good, then a dozen is better, right?) Finally paid off. I stitched up these little monograms using Glorianna Winterwoods floss, on a scrap of overdyed linen from my stash. We all know stitching over-one thread is a pain in the butt but I plugged along until I had 2 of them done.


Then for the finishing....First of all, I painted the insides of the boxes a dark brown and then I Mod Podged the boxes on the outside and inside so they had a shiney finish. The boxes had a rough finish to them and I wanted them to have a smoother surface. I then used the lids to trace around the monograms, applied iron-on interfacing to each, and cut them out.



I was good to take photos until last night...the camera was downstairs, it was dark, and so I just went ahead and finished them without pictures. Sorry. I made a smaller circle out of a scrap of mat board I had, basted around the edges of the linen, centered the monogram in the middle, and then pulled up the basting stitches around the matt board circle. I then used Aileen's Extra Tacky glue and glued each in the center of the box lid. Then I placed a couple of heavy books on them and let them dry over night. This morning, I made some cording out of the thread I used to stitch the monograms, and glued it around each circle. DONE!


I really like how they turned out. I think I might just put a few pieces of Dove chocolate in each of them. I'd make a little stitching box out of them with an old spool of thread, a needle, and some antique buttons, but these ladies don't sew and so I'm just going to put some chocolate in them. I think they will like it!



Now, I'm back to Sally's Sampler...I'm working on the bottom border but got off somehow on the vine...UGH...so I've gotta spend some time looking it over to see where the mistake is, and if it is worth frogging...shouldn't be too bad to fix!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I do read every comment and ♥ your friendship! One of these days I'm going to have a giveaway...so stay tuned!

Have a fabulous Thursday...counting the days until the weekend!

14 comments:

Siobhán said...

What beautiful gifts! I'm sure the recipients will love them. My mother is addicted to Dove Dark Chocolate, so we get a bag or two tucked in with every care package from her. ;)

I loved the pic of you with your cousins and aunt, too! I have three brothers and just two first cousins--also male. Somehow I think I was cheated... ;)

Cari said...

You are one talented sister ! Those boxes are simply fabulous!! XOXOXOX

Deb said...

What great gifts!! I'm sure that whoever you are giving them to will absolutely love them. I had to crack up about if one is good, a dozen is better!! LOL I do that kind of thing all the time. You just never know when they'll come in handy and yours have made some wonderful gifts!

Alison said...

Those boxes look fabulous Cathy!

Margaret said...

Wow! What beautiful boxes you've made! I'm sure the recipients will love them! Hope you find the mistake on Sally's sampler and it's easily fixable or ignorable!

Katrina said...

Cute gifts!!! I love the boxes, and the color is perfect.

Hope you find the mistake and it's an easy fix :-).

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

How pretty! The boxes turned out beautifully and I personally love the idea of filling them with chocolates! They can eat them for breakfast! ;-)

Nicole said...

Cathy - they turned out beautiful!! Except my initial is N not M! LOL! Just teasing you. They are really gorgeous - congrats on the finishes, I know the recipients will love them too! :)

Nicole said...

P.S. I'm so sorry about the frogging. Hope you get back on track soon!!

Robin said...

Cathy, what lovely finishes! Your friends will surely love them! Thanks fo sharing your finishing secrets, too!

Marsha said...

Really, really nice boxes. I love the color.

Loraine said...

How adorable! Thanks for the tutorial. I'm definitely going to have to make some of them soon.
So sorry I've missed so many posts. I've loved reading about your family and your trip! You are so lucky.
Hugs to you!

Jennifer said...

Beautiful Cathy. And you know I just had a birthday too.
Jenny

Anne said...

Love your monogrammed boxes!! Thanks for the pictures with the steps to make them. Maybe one day I will try to make one since I do monograms from friends too but only have finished them as pinkeeps.