Crafting Personalized Gift Box Ornament with CriCut Mini

When I was a child, my grandmother handcrafted an ornament for us each year out of all different craft mediums: clothespins, plastic canvas, paper, yarn, beads, and even pop tabs.

I always thought they were super cute, but didn’t truly appreciate their importance and significance in my life until I was in my mid-twenties.  Now, each year at Christmas time I rejoice in the cherished memories as I hang these lovely keepsakes on the tree.

Sadly, my grandmother is no longer able to craft ornaments due to her failing eye-sight.  Certainly, I cannot replae my grandmother’s touch or amazing creativity, but I am determined to keep the crafting spirit alive in our holiday celebrations by handcrafting ornaments each year.

This year, I admit I was a little pinched for time and didn’t get started as early as I would have liked, but thanks to the CriCut Mini and a few embellishments I was able to whip up some adorable gift box ornaments that I personalized with favorite colors, paper patterns, stickers, bows, and mini tags with names and dates.

From cut to finish, I was able to put together the first four gift boxes in about a 1/2 hour – a lightening fast project that you can complete easily if you are still looking for last minute ideas!

From the online CriCut craft room, I chose a simple box shape.  Any box shape will do, but I stuck with the traditional square present shape where the cuts and folds are very simple and easy to quickly tape or glue together (I used double-sided tape.) 

After taping the bottom and top box pattern, put them together, add a little ribbon and a tag… and an embellishment or two and viola!  Instant cute, personalized ornament.  (If you haven’t guessed, the hugs and kisses are for my hubby!)

I wrote the date on the outside of the tag, and the recipient’s name on the inside.  You can easily write a “to” and “from,” a quote, or even the children’s ages on the tag.  Also, I happened to have a bunch of mini tags on hand, but could have easily cut them with the CriCut Mini, too.

With this simple pattern, you can achieve many different looks depending upon the embellishments you use.  I like the “classic” style of these gift boxes, but by simply altering the paper patterns (such as the writing paper above that I used to create one for my son’s teacher,) you can create a customized look.  When you are finished, use a standard ornament hanger (available by the box for uber cheap!) or ribbon or thread to create a loop to hang the ornament with.

Stickers can also be used to personalize with sports teams, favorite characters, to create a baby’s first Christmas ornament or for just about any customization you need. And you could certainly cut more custom die cut shapes with the CriCut to embellish the boxes.

Have you tried a CriCut machine yet?  I’m still fairly new to my CriCut Mini, but loving every mini-minute of it!  What craft projects are you working on this holiday?

For more information on the Cricut Mini, visit http://www.cricut.com