Birthday Explosion Box

I've been totally in awe of the beautifully embellished explosion boxes created and shared by Monika on her blog, and was excited to try one for my mil's birthday.

I only wish I had the time and skills to have created my own paper roses for this card, but since I was pressed for time, I used Prima roses and blossoms and leaves from All Natural Accents from my stash instead.

Butterflies were cut from Cheery Lynn Designs Small Exotic Butterfly set and put to flight above the blossoms with a strips of clear acetate. Box sides were embellished using a Martha Stewart doily edge punch and fancy labels with sentiments cut on the Silhouette. On one of the sides I created a pocket with a tiny pink vellum envie for a gift card or cash. Very simple, but the element of surprise you get when the cover is lifted and the sides drop is very cool.

And here's the box closed up with it's lid in place...unfortunately I couldn't get the lid to fit snug enough so I ended up tying it up with some sheer ribbon and a bow to ensure the lid would stay put until it was ready to be opened. Had lots of fun putting this together...now I need to start practicing on making some paper roses so I can try this again!