With the year flying by I have some project ideas using pine cones collected from trees at the far end of our property. Unfortunately after ignoring that area for too long the grass is now about two feet tall making getting to the trees a challenge. So rather than wade through on foot I decided to tackle two tasks at once and mow a path through. My subsequent trip around the garden also revealed signs that autumn is on the horizon and it inspired me to create this acorn-decorated package.

ALTERED PILLOW BOX

For today’s project I began with a 4-1/2″ x 6″ piece of Soft Suede Card. Then using the largest die from the Pretty Pillowbox Dies I ran it through my Cut & Emboss Machine. This die cut and ‘scores’ the card to make pillowbox that opens with a flap like an envelope. However this results in a 3D package that can’t be stored flat, so instead I wanted it to open like a traditional pillow box.

At its simplest all I had to do was stick down the ‘envelope’ flap and leave the sides unglued. Experience tells me though that pulling open the inner flap can be challenging, so I decided to add thumb notches to make that process easier. This really was an easy fix using one of the label-style dies included in the Pillow Box Dies set.

With a thumb notch cut into the two side sections attached to the back of the pillowbox I was ready to start assembling. First I used my thumbs to shape the curved sections, then I switched to a Bone Folder for the the straight lines. Finally I folded over the flap and secured it in place with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

For a little rustic detail I wrapped some Linen Thread three times around the flattened box and secured it on the front with a little liquid glue.

AUTUMN ACORNS

With the box prepared it was time for me to make up the decoration for the box.

I began by choosing the acorn and single leaf images from the Fond of Autumn Stamp Set. Using Early Espresso ink I stamped three leaves and two acorns onto some scraps of Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then I coloured them in very simply using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

First I used dark Granny Apple Green over the nut part of the acorns. Then I added small dots of dark Soft Suede on the acorn cups. Finally I coloured over the complete acorns with light Soft Suede. On the three leaves I started by colouring roughly along the veins with dark Daffodil Delight. Then on one I added dark Granny Apple Green around the outside. For the other two leaves I finished them off with dark Pumpkin Pie.

Once the colouring was complete I used coordinating dies from the Autumn Bouquet Dies set to cut out the images.

Assembling the decoration was simple using liquid glue to layer the leaves and acorns, before adding a small bow of Linen Thread. With that done I attached the arrangement to the front of the pillow box with Stampin’ Dimensionals and I was done.

I have to say I love how this project turned out and they will make great table favours / gifts for Thanksgiving. What do you think?

Here’s a simple reminder of the colour palette I used:

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Fond Of Autumn Stamp Set and coordinating Autumn Bouquet Dies using a single ‘bundle’ item number. Buying the two products together as a bundle saved me 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the Fond Of Autumn bundle in case you want to compare these options.