Jackpot!

Have you noticed how the number of sites that offer cutting files for electronic cutting machines has grown? One of my favorite places to visit that I only recently discovered is the SVG Cutting Files site. If you enjoy making treat boxes and other cool 3-D items as much as I do, you really need to check this site out! I promise you won't be disappointed! This little One Armed Bandit treat box was one of the first projects that caught my eye...and I knew I just HAD to have it!

Putting this together wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. I used Tacky Glue to assemble it which allowed me time enough to move and adjust the pieces to fit just right. Finished size was about 3-1/2 inches tall and 2-1/2 inches in depth and width.The funniest thing is that the first thing everyone who sees this box wants to do is to pull down on the handle. Unfortunately, as real as this slot machine may look, the handle can't be pulled up and down like a real one. It's a good thing I used strong glue! The lid is at the top and the box can be filled with treats...how about chocolate gold coins or $$$ for friend going to Las Vegas on vacation?

I originally made this as a fun way of presenting my mil with her Christmas gift last year. Would have been even funner if I could have figured out a way of having the handle go down and have money fall from the bottom! But since I was short on time, here's what I did instead. First I used an exacto knife to cut an opening at the bottom of the slot machine where the money would normally fall from. Next I printed our message onto a piece of paper slightly narrower than the cut opening and rolled it onto a thin strip of cardstock slightly wider than the opening. The rolled message was then dropped into the box from the top and fed through the cut opening. Lastly, I adhered another thin strip of cardstock wider than the opening to the other end of our message. (The cardstock strips glued onto both ends of the message prevents the message from pulling completely out of the box or completely falling back into the box.)

Here's what it looks like with the message pulled out. LOL...*SORRY* No automation here!...the recipient has to manually pull out the message from the bottom. Pushing back on the message strip allows it to roll back into the machine. I was just thinking that it might be kinda fun to roll up one or more $$$ bills attached end to end to be pulled out instead of a message. Now, if only someone could figure out a way of having the handle pull down and push the message out...oh, wouldn't that be so cool!