shell ornaments and their packaging.

I made these ornaments as a thank you. They are from shells I picked up at Cape Cod this summer. 

It was really fun to come up with simple, elegant designs.  I made four the "same", as the same as shells can make something. Then I made each a special ornament. Included in the final package is 2 of my beechnut ornaments as well. As you can see, I have a really great time with wire. I love the shapes and forms you can make. The simple, elegant lines that can be created with both practice and a little bit of luck.

 Now, on to the packaging!

I had a lot of fun with the packaging. I guess I figure If you are going to do it, do it well (and don't be afraid to go overboard!).

When I put together the packages, I wrapped up each ornament in newspaper. I used pages and parts that were highly text intensive, I thought it would have a more interesting look to it. I used a fun stamp of some camels and a blue ink pad on the news paper then folded the ornament in and tied it closed with some jute (something I can never have enough of!) On the ornament that was all the same in each, I put the place and date, since that was the point to begin with!

On Pintrist, I found a way to make boxes out of the plastic gallon milk jugs. I traced it back to Comparte Tus Ecoideas. Yes, it is a spanish blog, but luckily pictures don't need to be translated. So I was able to figure it out just fine. It took me a few times to really get it down, but now I'm a pro.  

Instead of milk jugs, I actually used Lipton Tea plastic gallon jugs. At first, I was skeptical. I wasn't sure it would work the same way the milk jugs worked. They are shaped a little different and the plastic isn't quite the same. But I gave it a try. And they worked! I used a hole punch and put two holes in each layer of the closure so I could tie the box shut.

If you want to try to make these cool boxes for yourself check out the tutorial. I can think of so many cool things to use them for! I think I'm just going to start making them and saving them, after all, Christmas is coming up soon.