These darling pink Martha Stewart Cosmo Garden favor boxes sparked an idea -- to use them in a pretty bouquet that can be used for birthdays, Mother's Day, May Day, baby or bridal showers! And since these sweet boxes just fold together at the top to close them, you can reuse them over and over again . . . a "green" project, in honor of Earth Day this week! It's very simple to make, so let's get started.
I started with a Cornet Refill for a vase to hold my bouquet -- these are sturdy cardboard cones, about 7 inches tall and 3 inches wide at the base. I stamped my own patterned paper to cover it, by using CHF's Fiery Floral Scrapblock and Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters Distress ink:
I stamped onto an aqua print in the Scrapblocks Layers Paper Pack. Then I covered the Cornet with the paper, using an aggressive liquid glue.
TIP: These Cornet "cones" don't come to complete point -- they have a hollow tip. I've discovered a 1" round paper punch punches the perfect size to cover that smaller end. Once covered, I added a trim at the top, using Spellbinders 12" Classic Lace Large Border to cut more of the Scrapblock Layers paper, a pink pattern this time:
Then I started on the Cosmo favor boxes. I stamped them with Tattered Rose Distress ink and CHF's Climbing Floral Backgrounder stamp:
Next, I bent a piece of doubled 24-gauge beading wire into a swirled circle at one end:
Then I inserted the wire into the box bottom and taped it into place. This gave me a "floral stem" to work with and to use to insert the Cosmo box into the bouquet:
I wrapped the wire stem with green floral tape. Next, fill your floral box with birthday favors for guests, perhaps birthday money for a teenage girl, jewelry for Mom on Mother's Day, mints for a bridal shower, or small baby items for an expectant Mother.
Closing up these boxes can be a bit tricky, so I thought I would show you how. First, start by folding down the larger portion of each "flower petal". The smaller scored "V" portion (next to my thumb, on the left) gets folded down onto the previously folded petal:
Keep working your way around the box (here, I'm working my way to the left, or clockwise). The last few petals may be a bit tight of a fit, but they will interlock! You may need to push the petals down into the center of the box, to get them to interlock.
You can leave the petals pushed down, for a different look:
Or gently lift them back up to get them to look like the ones in my bouquet.
I decided my bouquet could use another type of flower in it, so I played around with the Spellbinders Dahlia flower die and came up with this three-dimensional daffodil or Narcissus-type flower:
To make them, I used cream and yellow patterns from the same Scrapblocks Layers paper pack. You'll need to die cut two of the second-to-largest size of flower in this die set (the cream paper below) and one of the second-to-smallest sized flower in this set (yellow in the photo below):
Next, only EMBOSS the smaller die into the centers of the larger flowers:
This will give you a guide for cutting the flower. Cut one petal totally out. Then cut the remaining petals only up to the embossed flower line:
Then bend the petals on either side of the cut out one, so they overlap . . .
Secure one petal on top of the other one, with adhesive, and bend back the petals:
You'll get a coned, three-dimensional shape! Layer another white flower underneath the first one and then poke your wire up through the center of the flower and twist it into a circular shape, same as with the Cosmo favor box above:
Secure with tape and/or a glue dot and bend the petals of the smaller yellow flower, that will become your flower center:
Cover the wire with the flower center, and you'll have this:
And a view from the side/back, so you can just how dimensional this flower is:
Finish with some greenery. You can make a hanger for this bouquet by attaching ribbon or cord either to the back or sides of the Cornet, or display it as I have in a small, simple vase or in a larger vase filled with glass stones, or maybe rice for a bridal shower.
I hope this bouquet helps spur some other ideas for you with these favor boxes. Thanks for visiting today!
