Mini Coffin Boxes (for Candy, Gift Cards or Other Small Items

Last blog, I described how I made a coffin candy dish.  I was so enthused that  also made a set of mini coffin gift boxes.  I started with a cute set of paper mache coffins.  Although my goal was to cover them with paper, I found you couldn’t close them once you did, so I covered all of the coffins except the part of the lid that goes over the edge of the bottom and the part of the bottom that is covered by the lid.  I painted the inside edges of the lid and the outside edges of the bottom.  It is good to paint the edge of the lip on both so if your paper doesn’t quite make it to the edge then it looks great.  Then you simply cover the remaining surfaces.  I affixed the paper with Ranger’s new Glue n’seal.  (If you need tips on this see blog from 10/7.)  The 6” x 6” pad of paper works great on these small coffins as the designs are smaller.  

Each of my coffins is made with different papers and I used a few of my favorite techniques to add a little extra.  Here’s a few of the extras, I used.

 

• I added a stripe of black glitter all around the outside of a coffin decorated with black and white paper.  This is really easy.  Put a 1/8” strip of InkEssentials Wondertape around the outside of the box.  Remove the tape on the other side and roll the coffin in Stickles Black Diamond Dry Fine Glitter.  Even if you don’t like using glitter with glue, try this technique.  You get perfectly straight lines.  And to make it even better if you don’t like getting glitter on things, ScapbooksPlus has a cloth that picks up all the pieces of this glitter.

• On a coffin lid that was covered with  the small version of reverse side of Grey Damask paper (from the 6 x 6 pad), I put little dots in each diamond with Orange Peel Stickles on the top and along the lip of the lid.I glued a strip of small ribbon  around the lip of the lid on one. 

• I stamped a skull using Stampers Anonymous Tm Holtz Stamps Mini Blueprints CMS 136 inside the lid of one.  (Check out this stamp set.  It include four stamps for each Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• I stamped the spider web from the Mini Blueprints on a piece of solid paper.  I tore the edges, glue it to another piece of paper, tore the edges and glued to the top of a coffin. 

• One that I thought turned out well, I distressed the lid.  After painting it black, I sanded it and inked it with Forest Moss Distress ink, which made it look old. (The top of the lid and inside bottom were covered with paper, so it was just the edge of the lid that was distressed.  On the bottom of this coffin, I used stickers from the Alpha Sticker sheets.  (This sticker sheet is fabulous – it has all kinds of things, letters, words, and insects.)

The final  step was sealing the surfaces by painting the entire coffin inside and out with Glue n’seal. 

I really had fun with these and didn’t want to stop making them.  Everyone I know may be getting a coffin for Halloween.  Your options are almost endless.  You could make all your coffins with the same paper, but add different accents.  You can make them with different papers, but the same colors.  Or you could make them all with the same accents.  One option I didn’t use was adding rhinestones or buttons.  I encourage you to  make some coffins! Now that’s something I never expected to say.