Punches and paper

Today I wanted to show you two Halloween items I made recently using absolutely no stamps. Now, you know I still love my stamps, but sometimes you can make really cute stuff and never even reach for ink.

The first item is a 2-4-6-8 box made to look like a monster mummy (it's not a real mummy because her skin, peeking our from beneath the bandages, is green). Anyway, the inspiration for the box was a card front I received in a swap at last year's Convention. I love the card front, so I just translated it to a treat box. The only problem was that when I used the 1" and 3/4" punches to create the largest eye layers, the 1" punch was just too big, so I had to cut it down freehand after I attached the "white." To keep the box closed at the top I added a bit of narrow basic black grosgrain, which also made the mummy look like a girl with a bow. Cute.

The candle next to the treat bag could not have been simpler. It's a large tea light candle (about 2 inches in diameter). I found these at Big Lots last before Christmas and they just happen to be old olive in color. So I just grabbed one and wrapped the outside edge with some Ghostly Greetings designer series paper and slipped it into a glass large tea light candle holder I found at Ikea. Super easy way to add a touch of Halloween to any room in you home!

And, of course, you can use the large tea light candles for any occasion. Here is a photo of one that I decorated for a craft show last year to serve as a quick Christmas gift.