You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from #9 Denise Hoepfner at The Mountain Magpie on the Pals Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all of the amazing creations.
This spring, I'm thinking of babies. My niece is due any day now and her and her husband didn't want to know the sex of the baby and want it to be a surprise. Her shower was last week, so I opted for a gift card holder in the form of an exploding box! I knew the beautiful colors of Lullaby Designer Series Paper, Something for Baby Stamp Set + Baby's First Framelits Die bundle would be perfect for this project!
Remove the lid and box explodes open, revealing adorable baby images in neutral green & yellow. I will admit, this project did take a little time to create, but it was so worth it and so much fun.
The inspiration for this exploding box is from Agnieszka of scrappassion. Her exploding boxes are works of art and I'm astounded by her talent. Unfortunately, I believe it's in Polish, so I can't read her blog, but I still enjoy gazing at the photos of her creations.
I'll try to walk you through the process on how I created it:
- I started with a sheet 12" x 12" Whisper White Card Stock.
- Score at 4" on all 4 sides. Score on the fold lines and cut out the 4 squares on each corner.
- Cut 10 pcs. of pattern paper measuring 3-7/8" x 3-7/8" and adhere to 4 to the outside of the box and 5 on the inside, reserving 1 for the lid. I used Stampin' Up!s - Lullaby. All items I used to create this box can be viewed at the very end of this post, unless otherwise noted.
- I found this wonderful tutorial for baby shoes for either a boy or a girl from Tara's Craft Studio. They are so precious! I chose the Mary Jane pattern and printed it on the wrong side of my pattern paper. I cut the shoes using my Paper Snips, which by the way, are the bomb for fussy cutting.
- I glued a little lace around the bottom, because I'm secretly hoping for girl ;)
- I also found an awesome tutorial for making tiny roses using punches by Kathy Orta Files.
- Lift the flap where the baby shoes are attached to reveal a sentiment and spot for a gift card or cash.
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- For each of the 4 flaps, I cut a 3-1/2" scallop circle using the embossed Irresistibly Yours Speciality DSP, currently free with a $50 purchase during Sale-A-Bration. If you don't own a 3-1/2" scallop circle die, you could substitute a plain circle using the Circle Framelits.
- The inner circles measure 2-3/4" and I cut two in pattern paper for each flap, tearing one in half and adhered to the center.
- Most of the images, I stamped twice and cut using the matching framelit. To give it dimension I popped up the 2nd image using Stampin' Dimensionals.
- I stamped the images in Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding and So Saffron onto Whisper White CS. The color yellow in the Lullaby DSP is actually Hello Honey, which I thought was too dark and So Saffron was a nice substitute.
- A few little pearls are the finishing touch.
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- To make the lid, I cut a piece of Whisper White CS that measured 6-1/8" x 6-1/8". Score 1" on all 4 sides. Cut on the 1" score lines up to the intersecting score line on one side and then repeat on the opposite side.
- Attach 3-7/8" x 3-7/8"pcs. of pattern paper to the center. Cut and attach 4 pcs. 7/8" x 3-7/8" for each side.
- Add adhesive to flaps and assemble lid.
- Add doily to the center with a mini glue dot.
- Tie bow using the 5/8" Whisper White Satin Ribbon and attach to the center.
- The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped in Pistachio Pudding ink onto Whisper White CS and punched out using the Oval Punch. Layered it to Pistachio Pudding CS I punched out using the Modern Label Punch and layered again onto So Saffron Oval.
- I added a pearl and punched a small hole on the opposite end using a paper piercer and tied to the bow with Whisper White Bakers Twine.
I will definitely make more of these exploding boxes and I hope that I may have inspired you to make one too!
- Susan Itell at Simple Stampin
- Angela Curry at Kindred Stampers
- Sherrie Gross at Stampin' Sunshine
- Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
- Jackie Diediker at Stampin' Jackie
- Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
- Amy Whelan at Amy's Inklings
- Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts By Patti
- Denise Hoepfner at The Mountain Magpie
- Beth Beard at My little craft blog
- Natalie Bradley at Soiree by Natalie Bradley
- Michelle Gleeson at StampinMojo
- Debbie Crowley at expressively deb...
- Jane Knudsen at see jane stamp
- Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
- Nicole Watt at Pixel Maven's Retreat
- Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
- Sue Becker at RnR Stamping
- Candy Ford at Stamp Candy
- Karen Hallam at Karen's Blog
- Susan Lankford at Stamp and Create With Susan
- Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
- Kerry Willard Bray at Peonies and Paper Chains
- Kim Jolley at Stampin' Artfully
- Martie Pollard at The Crafty Bandit
- Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin'
- Benjaman Turner at He Stamps
- Lynn Kolcun at Stamping with Avery's Owlery
- Liz Gautreaux at Kind Deeds Stampin
- Amy Hoptay at Inking of You!
- September Gray at septembergray.com
- Katie Ferguson at Cottage Paper
- Becky Volpp at inkblossomwithbecky.com
- Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
- Brian King at Stamp with Brian

Please click on Stampin' Up! product images below for more details about the product and easy on-line shopping:
This is completely stunning. Thank you for the directions!
ReplyDeleteAdorable Beth... Gorgeous explosion box... Love the lift up bootees...
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely precious! Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteWow! Simply love this! A Lot of work but what a wonderful gift to give!!
ReplyDeleteThis is totally beautiful!!!!!! What a great sense of style you possess. Love it!!!
ReplyDeleteThis had to be the hit of the Baby Shower! Mom-to-be had to be delighted!!!
ReplyDeleteBeth, this is the best baby gift card holder EVER! It is absolutely stunning! Love, love, love!!!
ReplyDeletePerfection, Beth! That is the absolute cutest thing I've seen in a long time! I know it was appreciated and will surely be a treasured keepsake!
ReplyDeleteThis is over the top fabulous. The immediate response to seeing it is WOW. Any new mom receiving this card would be overwhelmed by the time and attention to details. Simply fabulous Beth, you out did yourself.
ReplyDeleteMy HEAD exploded with this box! This is absolutely beyond fabulously amazingly wonderful! WOW!
ReplyDeleteI know it's not a competition, but you win the hop! :) Super cute! Gonna CASE it soon (but for a little boy)!
ReplyDeleteOh Beth, this is just the most beautiful project I've seen in a long time. Absolutely stunning and whatever other superlative adjectives you could think of. You definitely win the hop!!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely stunning, Beth! This is an incredible project!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! Thanks for all the great instructions too. Outstanding job!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Love your project.
ReplyDeleteOver the top beautiful Beth! Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing....another GREAT Beth bow but this is the most clever, most special masterpiece I have seen....this will be cherish for a lifetime....thanks for making me smile!
ReplyDeleteQuite the adorable project, and I have never had the inclination to create one of these exploding boxes before. Now, I just HAVE TO MAKE ONE!! All the sweet little details, and I love the green color.
ReplyDeleteOver-the-top CUTE!!! This would be so nice to give. I hope to try this soon!
ReplyDeleteSo fabulous!!!!!!!! What a great gift/gift card holder!!!!!!!!!!! Your colors and the whole box are really wonderful....those shoes on top of the lace are the favorite part, for me anyway! Hope you will share the reaction of your niece when she receives this most delightful gift....and hope she displays it...as it should be!
ReplyDeleteBeth, there are not enough words to describe how awesome this card is! This is the cutest card I have ever seen. The detail in this card is perfection.
ReplyDeleteFabulous project Beth. What punches did you use to make the min roses on the shoes?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous project, love the colors, thank you for all of the detailed instructions!!!TFS
ReplyDelete