Finish-ed Card Box

I'm finally posting my "Finish-ed" Card Box.  We ended up going out of town last week, and this week our dog, Hercules, has not been feeling well and needed constant supervision -- so time got away from me. 

I used an empty box of "Finish" diswasher detergent, cut off the top closure flaps, and made a cover box out of cardstock by tracing around the perimeter of the box. 

Because most commercial boxes have a coated finish on them, I used sand paper to scruff up the coating to give the box some "tooth" so my paint/paper would adhere securely.  I then added a coat of paint for extra durability, before adding deco cardstock -- I used Mariposa by DCWV. 

I adhered cardstock to the inside of the box to give it a finished look, then added cording around the bottom of the box to hide the layer of felt I added to protect surfaces from the roughness on the bottom of the box.

This picture shows the back of the box & the paper adhered to the inside.

I used decorative trim & buttons my Mom had given me years ago to secure the handle & the sides of the cover.  The sides of the actual box can be seen through the cover, as the cover is 6" x 12" cardstock.  I doubled the layers of cardstock for the box cover to give it additional stability, and sandwiched the ribbon between the two layers.  I continued the ribbon on the front of the cover for both a decorative element, and to add continuity.  The buttons were attached with The Ultimate Glue, after I snipped off the shanks. 

You could use this box for all sorts of great gifts, but I found that invitation sized cards (A2) fit perfectly (though the envelopes did have to be folded in half).  So that's what I'm using this one for.  And it's already designated for somebody's birthday.   =)

I'll try to get back this weekend to show these Cal Cards a bit more closely.  Isn't it a wonder some times what you can do to repurpose something that was originally meant for the trash bin?!  =) 

Thanks for stopping by today --

Lisa