Hello! Shellye McDaniel along with you today with a darling recycled/upcycled “Elephant Valentine Treat Container”! It may appear a little complicated, but it actually came together quite quickly…and I even designed the project as I went LOL!
First, let’s take a look at the completed project and then I’ll give you the directions for creating your very own:
This handy Keurig-style coffee box comes in a variety of sizes depending on the count of coffee that you purchase.
This particular K-Cup box held twelve pieces, so the box was rather small. Even if you don’t have a ‘recycled’ box to use, if you have a coffee lover on your Valentine list, simply open the box, remove the contents and then place them back inside once the container has been decorated!
I started by tracing the box shape (in sections) onto a dark grey Doodlebug cardstock. For the two side panels, I used a grey dot patterned paper from Echo Park Paper’s “Blowing Kisses” Collection. I found that the easiest way to add adhesive was to run the individual pieces of paper through my Xyron Creative Station; it holds permanent adhesive and gives a complete, even coat.
For the “trunk” of the elephant, I drew on four horizontal lines. Next, I punched small holes at the end of each line and then stitched grey/white baker’s twine through.
Now for the details and embellishing! After all of the sides were covered in cardstock or patterned paper, I chose to shade around the edges with Grey Flannel Memento Ink with a sponge applicator. Next, I added a white pom pom trim around the bottom edge of the box.
For the eyes: Two 1.5” ovals were die-cut from white cardstock. The ovals were the scored about ¼” from one end to create a tab for gluing down. Next, two 1” ovals were die cut from a turquoise cardstock and attached to the white ovals. Two black enamel dots were added to complete the eyes. The pieces were glued to the top flap of the box.
For the cheeks: A 2” circle die was used to die-cut the shape from a dark pink paper. The circle was cut in half, inked around the edges with Love Letter Memento Ink and then the pieces were adhered to the sides of the flap as shown. I further embellished the cheeks with two heart stickers and iridescent gems.
For the ears: Two 4.5” hearts were die-cut from the same grey cardstock. Next, a 4” scallop die was used to cut two pieces of red/pink dot patterned paper. The smaller hearts were adhered to the grey pieces and then inked around the edges with the Flannel Grey Memento Ink. Each of the ears were gently folded in half and then attached to the very back of the flap. If you don’t have similar heart dies on hand, you can find patterns to trace online or use svg files.
I further embellished with a large pink dot ribbon bow with a red button center.
Fill the box with K-Cups, candy, cookies or just about whatever your heart desires!
I hope that you enjoyed this sweet Valentine treat that I created just especially for my friends here at Scrapbook & Cards Today!
XOXO
~ Shellye
To see more of Shellye's beautiful work, follow her...
on Instagram @shellye819
on her website: http://www.shellyemcdaniel.com/
on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/shellyemc/
Ohhhhh this is great way of reusing the box! Super cute :)
Posted by: Helen Gullett | February 08, 2016 at 09:20 AM
OMG!!!!!!!!
This is the CUTEST thing!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: {vicki} in ga | February 08, 2016 at 09:24 AM
Wow! You really did think "outside the box" for this project. So cute
Posted by: Sue Alg | February 08, 2016 at 09:41 AM
Thats adorable !
Posted by: Pam Sohan | February 08, 2016 at 09:50 AM
Very cute! The recipient will never forget this gift!
Posted by: Sandy | February 08, 2016 at 09:52 AM
How sweet!
Posted by: Jean Marmo | February 08, 2016 at 10:21 AM
Holy moly, how cute is that!!! Too bad I throw my coffee boxes out :(
A super great project :)
Posted by: Gisèle | February 08, 2016 at 10:50 AM
oh my how totally fun and creative.. thanks for sharing
Posted by: Annette Allen | February 08, 2016 at 11:21 AM
Soooooo adorable! Love it!
Posted by: Christie Gruppe | February 08, 2016 at 11:36 AM
That is so amazing and so adorable! So creative. Too bad I just threw one of those away the other day. Will have to remember for next time. Great project and thank you for sharing!
Posted by: Virginia Schleich | February 08, 2016 at 11:44 AM
This is too adorable!
Posted by: Tona | February 08, 2016 at 12:14 PM
Totally adorable!! Will be asking my neighbor for her boxes so I can create a few of these!! TFS!
Posted by: barb macaskill | February 08, 2016 at 01:22 PM
This is just so sweet for gift giving.
Posted by: Linda Tupper | February 08, 2016 at 01:42 PM
Such a cute idea. :)
Posted by: Nina Oelke | February 08, 2016 at 03:08 PM
Love this idea. This is so cute and so clever. Great idea
Posted by: Dorina D | February 08, 2016 at 03:17 PM
This is just too
cute! Love it.
Carla from Utah
Posted by: Carla Hundley | February 08, 2016 at 03:29 PM
So cute!
Posted by: fusiafscrapping | February 08, 2016 at 04:21 PM
Fantastic job, it's so adorable, love it!!
Posted by: Brigit | February 08, 2016 at 07:24 PM
Is this ever cute!! So clever and a great way to recycle!
Posted by: Birgit | February 09, 2016 at 07:10 AM
How cute is this?! Love how you repurposed the box. Absolutely adorable!
Posted by: Teresa Medeiros | February 10, 2016 at 06:32 PM
This is so stinkin' adorable!! Love how clever you are!
Posted by: Beverly Jordan | February 11, 2016 at 10:18 PM
Just so adorable! Love it
Posted by: Marianne C | February 13, 2016 at 10:09 AM
I wonder what other box might work? This is just too cute!
Posted by: Deborah Rikard | February 13, 2016 at 10:44 PM