Lovely things!

Two lovely things for you today - first off the bunch of scraps I have sorted out for my cousin Alice who is just venturing into the world of sewing.

What is it about photos taken in the garden that makes simple things look lovely?!

And secondly, a container for lovely things. 

This is my latest make and was an experiment. If you fancy having a go at a cute keepsakes box like this then the abridged version of instructions are as follows (and the learnings are at the end!)

1) I started with a box that was left over from one of James' Christmas presents (he's not a box keeper). 

2) I measured it and cut a cross shaped template, with little flaps at the top and on one edge of each side.(I used white sheeting, but paper would also work)

3) I transferred my template to fabric

4) I used spray glue to stick the fabric to the box, tucking in the flaps to give a neat finish on the edges (note that I'd tried white fabric before the blue, which didn't work because the glue showed through)

5) I then repeated the process for the lid

6) For the label, I used my favourite technique of ironing a piece of cotton to quilters paper and then using my printer to print my chosen words onto the cotton.  This label uses a free font I found online which I think makes the box much more quirky

7) Finally I machine stitched the edges of my label and glued it in place

Ta-dah!!  fabric covered box!  Did I make it look easy?   Here are the bits I missed out:

• Don't use pale fabric for this, I found the spray glue shows through
• Don't forget to cut the flaps when you do your template (doh!)
• Don't cover the box in too thick a fabric - the lid won't fit on afterwards (doh again!)

Anyway, your honest views would be appreciated on this before I embark on making a few more. Do you think these boxes would sell at a craft fair?  or are they just glorified cardboard boxes?

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