Wednesday, December 16, 2015

A Laughing Cow Christmas


I went on a dig through my blog archives the other day and ran across this tutorial. It is one of my favorites and I think you will love it too. If you have been around a while, you may remember it. If you are new, you may be totally unaware and missing out on a really cool project. Therefore, I repost it today with greetings for a wonderful holiday season. 
I'm in full out Christmas mode this weekend.  My kids and grand kids expect, want, and ask for money for Christmas.  Each year, we give it but I must have fun with it and present it a little different each year.  This year, I discovered The Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss Cheese. Oh my it is so yummy.  But the little boxes are adorable and I just could not throw them away.  Soooooooo,
.........today was the day.  Here is what I did.  I drew a circle around the inside lip of the opened box.  This is so I could get the smallest circle.
Since I don't want the text to go all the way to the edge, I cut it out using the pencil guide but cutting it smaller.  It doesn't matter if it is exact or not.
Then I used Golden Matte Medium #3530 to glue the text on the top and bottom of the box.  I painted the inside of the box with Lumiere #561 Metallic Gold.  It is very pretty because the inside of the box was white.
Now for the napkin.  I want this circle to be larger than the box so I held the pencil next to the lid to mark the circle.
 Then, I tore the napkin following the pencil line as best as I could. Again, it doesn't have to be exact.
Here is another.  I think right now would be a great time to find some beautiful Christmas napkins.  I happen to have this one in my huge napkin stash.
 Make sure you only use the top layer of the napkin.  Most napkins have three layers.
It is very important that you use Golden Matte Medium to glue the napkin down with.  I'm sure something else will work but it should be very runny. Other Golden gels are too thick and don't absorb through to the top side which make them more transparent.  Paint a generous layer of the medium on the box and then lay the napkin down onto it.  You can't move the napkin so place it carefully.  Then, with some medium on the brush, smooth the napkin out.  You might even use your finger a little but the napkin begins to deteriorate quickly so work fast and then stop.  Let it dry.
Notice how I let the napkin go over the edge and also notice how you can see the text through the napkin.
Today, I made four. Here they are drying.  I painted on two coats of Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel. It gave them a very nice high gloss finish which is what I wanted.  I might even add a third layer tomorrow.
Next, I designed a little strip label.  I wish I could have been more clever but it has the recipients name on it which is really sweet.
I'm holding the label in place and showing that I brushed a layer of Lumiere #553 Brass which is very very translucent onto the label.  It gave the label a beautiful gilded finish.
I haven't shown you the last step because I don't have the big bucks in the house yet.  But when I'm ready to close up the gift, I will run a red thread around the groove that is left when the two box parts slide together.  Then I'm going to use a glue stick to apply the label.  A red thread tail is left out so the beautiful little box can be unzipped. You will see how that works when you open your Laughing Cow. So cool!
Supply List:
Laughing Cox boxes (eat the cheese)
Text page
Golden Matte Medium #3530
Napkin
Lumiere #561 Metallic Gold
Lumiere #553 Brass
$500.00 (gift) or any other small gift
Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel #3001
Label strip designed by You!

Have fun.  If you make a gift box, I would love to see it so come back and leave me a comment.

3 comments:

  1. Wow, I am so impressed by this creativity but am NOT going to copy it because it looks like a lot of work! The personalised strip is the perfect finishing touch, I hope the recipients will be suitably delighted.

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  2. Hey Sharon! Your boxes are darling. I decorated Laughing Cow boxes the past two years for an ornament swap. (I have a jillion of them - don't you love that creamy cheese?) Instead of print and a napkin on the top, I collaged pieces of wrapping paper. And I didn't think of the little red string - you're so much more clever than I - but I'll swipe that idea and try the napkins next time. I used ribbon and lace to hold the lid on but a personalized strip would be great! Don't know how to attach a photo here or I'd show you one of mine. Thanks for sharing. Your old buddy, Sallyt

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