One of my childhood best friends is getting married this weekend! We've been friends since age 9, so I couldn't just give her any old card. I decided to make her a cigar box mini-book celebrating all of the crazy things we've done over the years. Here's how I made it...
1. Begin my selecting a cardboard or wooden cigar box. Most cigar stores and smoke shops sell cigar boxes for $3-8. 2. Remove any extra pieces from inside the box and choose how you want to decorate the inside. I chose to cover the bottom of my box with thick watercolor paper. I adhered it with rubber cement and then used strips of drawer liner contact paper to seal in the inside edges. I filled in the letter circles using Prismacolor markers. You could try using patterned scrapbook paper or even painting the inside of your box! 3. Next, select the paper you want to use for the inside-lid book pages part. I used thrifted record sleeves because I love the paper texture. Cut the paper 1/2 inch smaller the lid of the cigar box. 4. Now it's time to bind your book pages together. You could use washi tape, contact paper, or even masking tape to adhere the pages together. Stick one half of the long side of a strip of tape on one edge of the paper and then use the next page of paper and stick the edge of that to the other half of tape. Do this for as many pages as you would like your mini-book to be and trip the edges down once you are completely done.
5. Then, use a thicker piece of tape to adhere the back of the book to the inside of the top lid of the cigar box (with one half of the tape on the very back page of the book and the other half of the tape on the left side of the inside-lid). 6. Use three small strips of tape to adhere the top of the mini book to the lid by sticking the tape over the edge of the lid. 7. Now, add all of your content to the mini-book pages . I typed out "Remember when?" memories and glued them to the individual pages. You could fill your mini-book with journaling or other images. 8. Now it's time to decorate the top of your box! I used the same thick watercolor paper again and doodled on the "I <3 you".
The very last step is to fill the box with photos and mementos!
Thanks so much,
Kara! This project is really inspiring. xo. elsie
SUCH a great idea! It would make a great birthday gift aswell! :)
http://vivikstyle.blogspot.com
Posted by: Vivi K | May 05, 2012 at 04:57 PM
That is such a sweet idea!
Posted by: Danielle | May 05, 2012 at 05:00 PM
This is one of the BEST DIYs I've ever seen... I'm pretty picky with the DIY posts I read, some are so overdone, some are so easy, but this... This is truly unique, special and oh-so-pretty. Amazing job!!!
Posted by: Angie | May 05, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Super cute idea!
http://pinkscriptblog.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Essie | May 05, 2012 at 05:56 PM
This is such a beautiful idea for a present!
Posted by: Stacey | May 05, 2012 at 08:37 PM
this is pretty adorable!! what a terrific idea and gift. :)
Posted by: Shaina Longstreet | May 05, 2012 at 09:17 PM
This is so sweet! Amazing project!
Posted by: Viveca Johansen | May 06, 2012 at 12:21 AM
Wow, this is a lovely idea.
Posted by: Julia | May 06, 2012 at 02:16 AM
What an amazing idea...
and of course greatly executed...
Sheena
http://bit.ly/DIY_Bag
Posted by: Sheena | May 06, 2012 at 02:36 AM
Such a lovely idea!
Zoe
http://gypsiesister.blogspot.co.uk
Posted by: Zoe | May 06, 2012 at 07:18 AM
such a wonderful idea!
I really love it!
much love,
xxx
Posted by: Sanne | May 06, 2012 at 02:31 PM
elsie, soy cubana, visito tu blog y creeme que ha sido una agradable sorpresa encontrar esta caja de habanos transformada por tus ideas. eres toda una inspiracion.
Posted by: monica | May 06, 2012 at 02:58 PM
Hi! Does anyone know if it is possible to have tilt shift using the Camera FV-5 app? Which settings should I tweak? :)
Posted by: Donzzy | May 06, 2012 at 08:37 PM
nice work kara. this is great
Posted by: kim | May 07, 2012 at 04:34 AM
I did something just like that about six years ago for my bfriend. He still keeps it with a lot of our papers from that moment. Cute, nice and useful!!
Posted by: Tania | May 07, 2012 at 07:16 AM
so adorable!! i'd love to receive something like this as apresent. super-cute!! x
Posted by: Julie | May 07, 2012 at 07:30 AM
Oh My--the Fred Myer comment in the cigar box project had me laughing out loud.
Posted by: April Mae | May 08, 2012 at 12:02 AM
This is so cute!
Posted by: Joanna | May 08, 2012 at 01:24 AM
This is such a beautiful idea and is exactly the inspriation I was looking for. Thank you so much for sharing!
Posted by: Angela | May 08, 2012 at 01:28 PM
Great idea! I'm planning to do this for my baby with the box from his "its a boy" cigars, instead of the traditional baby book.
Posted by: Emily | May 09, 2012 at 07:36 AM