Matchbox Party Favors

With my demonination's local office, I helped to organize an event for the minister' wives in our area that is being held today. One of the things that I made for them was a little party favor box. These boxes can be made for any kind of special event, birthday parties, anniversaries, weddings, and on and on. I put M&Ms in mine but you can put anything that fits your event, even confetti or rice. Think our much fun the guests would have throwing the rice from these little boxes at the newlywed couple as they leave a wedding. People always say how easy these type of things are but then you have to figure it all out. I don't know about you, but sometimes it takes me a little bit to get it all figured out so I'm going to show you how to do these today. You will need a Big Shot Die Cut machine (#113439), the extended cutting pads(#113478) and the Bigz XL Matchbox die(#114890). I've found that you can make one complete matchbox with one 12x12" sheet of patterned paper. For this one I used the Rich Razzleberry DSP from the Brights Collection DSP Patterns Stack (#117155). Since I had to make so many, I also used some old patterned papers that I've had around for years. A double sided paper works best. Cut the paper in half so it's 6x12."

1. The matchbox die cut is just about a 1/2" longer than the 12" paper so you will want to position the paper so that one sheet is on the top part of the die and the other sheet covers the bottom part of the die. You will have enough paper left over to use for 2 card fronts! Build your die sandwich like you would for an original die. You will have paper sticking out both ends. Run your sandwich through your Big Shot machine.

2. After you pop the pieces out (actually, they just fall out), you will want to creased all the score lines with your bone folder(#102300).

3. To make the outside of the matchbox, after the edges are creased, just apply your adhesive to the shorter edge and fold them together.

If you have a stiped paper, like I did with one side of my patterned paper, it is more difficult to see the score lines. They seem to blend in with the lines, so be aware of that. Now, you are ready to make the inside part of the matchbox. After you've folded all your score lines, fold it again to see exactly how it goes together, including the little diagonal lines that make the folded part under the ends.

4. I placed adhesive on the top folds of each side. Fold the long sides in first. Then fold in the ends. You might need to use your fingernail to crease the corners on the inside after it's together. It will stay together without adhesive but I just like the extra security the adhesive gives. Now it's time to put the matchbox together.

5. Now it's time to decorate the outside. When you ran your paper through the Big Shot, it also cut out some labels that you can use to decorate. If you used double-sided paper, you can turn them over. I stamped "thank you" on the smallest of my tags from Teeny Tiny Wishes (#115370). I then wrapped a strip of organdy ribbon from the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad Pack(#127279) and tied a bow. This ribbon & brad pack is currently free with a $50 purchase. You can find it in the Sale-a-Bration catalog until March 31.