Hi Swanky friends!
This year more than any other year, people are choosing to stay home for the holidays rather than travel to see family & friends. This is a hard, but necessary, choice to keep ourselves & our loved ones as safe as possible- but that doesn't mean anyone needs to go without some festive gifts!
Sure, it's super easy to do a couple of clicks online & get gifts shipped straight to your loved ones doorsteps, but Swanky team member Emily decided to take it a step further!
Emily took full advantage of shopping from small businesses for the bulk of her gifts and decided to decorate her shipping boxes! A card would probably do the trick- but it's so much more fun to think of the extra smiles for friends & family opening a decorated box with their gifts inside.
After compiling (and DIYing!) her gifts, Emily took to the internet to find some inspiration to decorate the inside flaps of the boxes she planned to send home.
These boxes turned out SUPER cute & were so easy to make with supplies you probably already have & some good dollar store finds.
Box 1- Miss you snow much
Supplies:
-Construction paper
-Glitter snowflake foam stickers
-Glue stick
-Printer paper if you prefer to type your message
Just cut out the construction paper to the size of the inside flaps (any excess will hinder the taping of the box & may become an issue in shipping), glue the paper down, & go crazy with the stickers! This is such a simple design with a lot of heart. Seriously, this took like 10 minutes and will be such a great surprise for the recipient!
Box 2- Merry COVID-mas
Supplies:
-Construction paper
-Red/green marker or Sharpie
-Red/green pom poms (extra points if they're sparkly)
-Christmas themed glitter foam stickers
-Cardstock paper
-Hot glue/hot glue gun
What better way to celebrate this unpredictable year than to add a touch of COVID to your gifts home. It's the whole reason you're stuck states away anyway, right? Same process as the previous box, but she did go ahead and use hot glue for the pom poms. These did make the box a little more difficult to close and the pom poms may end up arriving a little smushed up.
Box 3- 'twas the FORTNITE before Christmas
Supplies:
-Wrapping paper
-Glue Stick
-Christmas themed foam glitter stickers
-Printer/paper
-Markers or crayons
We all know a gamer kid (or adult!) that loves Fortnite (it's Emily, she's the gamer adult). Gluing wrapping paper to the cardboard was surprisingly easy and actually looked so nice. Even this simple touch is an unexpected surprise for inside your shipping box that is sure to wow! Emily printed out some coloring pages of popular Christmas themed Fortnite characters & the logo, colored them, & glued them down on top of the paper. Add a few of the glitter stickers for extra sparkle and you're done!
Box 4- Snowcial Distancing
Supplies:
-Construction paper
-Glue stick
-Snowflake foam glitter stickers
For this box, Emily... went a little crazy. She hand cut out the snowmen & their accessories from construction paper & glued them to the base of the flaps. On the other two flaps, she printed out the states where she would be spending Christmas away from family & cut out a shape like the Google Maps pin to demonstrate the distance. Added some glitter snowflakes and done!
Box 5- Presence Presents
Supplies:
-Construction paper
-Wrapping paper
-Snowflake foam glitter stickers
For this last box she decided to do a play on the words "presence" and "presents". Emily's husband's family is super into word games and writing so it seemed fitting! She cut out some wrapping paper into different sizes and shapes of presents & glued them to the construction paper base & added some snowflakes for some extra decoration. So easy & cute!
We just love the idea of an unexpected surprise when the packages are opened. Staying home is tough, but the thought that friends & family will be extra excited about their boxes is super cool. We are all wishing you a safe & Merry Christmas!
-The Swanky Team