Easter celebration boxes...

Alpha Stamps has a new monthly kit out today and I helped design it :) Since Easter is on April 1st (April Fools Day, lol) this year, March's kit is Easter themed. Some of the things in the kit are gorgeous papers from Bo Bunny, an adorable Happy Easter collage sheet from Catnip Designs (me), and a sweet shadowbox with an egg shaped cover. Here's a photo of the box I made using the kit along with some other goodies...

Isn't it sweet? There are three other shadowboxes and lids available, in the Easter theme, that get progressively larger in size. I, of course, had to make one of each...

I used paper from the new Jubilee 6x6 pad for this cute bunny box. In the box is a nest I built with eggs from the kit nestled inside it.

This adorable chick box has a vintage bunny girl ornament holding a fuzzy yellow chick and Easter basket inside.

*Note: It's a good idea to reinforce that little piece of die-cut chipboard between the chicks legs. I just glued a small piece of toothpick to the back of mine.

 This chocolate bunny box is my favorite! I made an Easter tree decorated with vintage colored eggs, a vintage basket and vintage look bunnies that are available at Alpha Stamps :)

Look how cute that bunny is...

And, yes, I did add Easter grass and colored eggs to that tiny basket!

Here's a photo of the whole group...

I bet you're wondering what that thing in the middle is, am I right?

Here's a closer look...

I love the the shutters we recently got in from Prima so I had to incorporate them into my Easter group. Amazingly, the rabbit cover from the Easter Covers for Mini Shadowboxes set fits inside the shutters perfectly. How cool is that :)
Now, I wanna share a little tutorial with you on making your shadowboxes deeper than they actually are. Although the depths range from 7/8" to around 1 1/2" and may be just fine to accommodate a paper collage or thinner multi-media vignette, I chose to use fatter items to create my vignettes. This made me scramble to create more space! Here's how I did it...

 Build your shadowbox and ink or paint any areas that may peek through the paper you cover the box with.

 Cover your box with paper inside and out.

 Paint your box cover on both sides as well as the edges. Notice I removed the tabs used to make this a removable cover.

 Paper your cover and cut out the egg shaped window with a craft knife. Then carefully fold the edges of the cover around the shadowbox to ensure a proper fit.

 Cut up a small cork, dowel or piece of balsa wool into four equally sized pieces. Mine are 1/4".

 Create a cute vignette inside the shadowbox. Hot glue the four pieces of cork/wood to the corners of the shadowbox so they don't stick out beyond the outer edges.

Lay the cover over the cork/wood pieces and fold the edges down into place.

Holding the cover in place, as shown above, lift up one flap and run a strip of hot glue along the shadowbox edge. Press the flap down until the glue cools. Repeat until all four sides are permanently glued down. That's all there is to it.
So who's ready to start making some cute Easter boxes?? Come on! You know you want to!
You can find my complete supply list at this link. 

Pussy Cat Theatre...

The new kit this month at Alpha Stamps is called Pink Valentine Theatre Kit. As a fan of the color pink I immediately fell in love with this kit and begged to make a sample! For said sample, I went back to my roots a bit and made a cat headed ballet theatre...

and it has lights!

The lights were so easy to add because the Punch & Judy Theatre (that I used as a base for my creation) has a lovely cubbyhole on the top, perfect for hiding your lighting controls.

I used a Mini String of Fairy Lights and hot glued them to the ceiling of the theatre and threaded the wire for the controller through a tiny hole in the ceiling so it could live in the cubbyhole.

You can just see the fairy lights in the photo above.

Here I am with my controller out ready to turn the lights on!

It looks so pretty all lit up!

If you're wondering how I got all of my scenery and dancers to stand up, here's my secret. After cutting out the pieces I wanted to use I glued them to 1/8 Inch Wooden Dowels then I made holes in the theatre floor, with a craft knife, where I wanted them go.

To keep them in place I used hot glue.

I think they look clean and uncluttered this way.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings. I hope you will try to create a theatre for yourself or a friend. If you're interested in the supplies I used, you can find them HERE.

Go make something!