At this time of year many of us will turn our heads to making gifts and thoughts of plans for Christmas and so for my make this week I have altered a MDF Notelet Box creating a perfect box to tuck special thank you gifts for your Christmas dinner hosts inside.  

The texture on the top of the box is my attempt at faux birch and is relatively easy to achieve. For this technique you need the Pentart Fibre Paste and a dark brown paint (mine came from the Rust Effect Paint Set). Start by applying a thin layer of the Fibre Paste over the box lid and let it dry before adding rough horizontal lines of dark brown paint.

Once the brown paint has dried add another layer of the Fibre Paste and make horizontal scratches and scrapes in it to reveal the brown paint below. Leave to dry.

Cover again with brown splodges of horizontal lines.

The add another layer of Fibre Paste and scratch back in areas  until you are happy with the over all effect. Then let it dry again.

Having created the top of the box I chose to decorate the outside of the rest of the box using a one component crackle medium - there are lots of them on the market and the That's Crafty! Crackle Glaze will give the same type of effect. Simply paint the base with the dark brown paint from the rust set let it dry then add a thin layer of the crackle medium and let dry before using a sponge to dab on two shades of green paint such as Evergreen and Green That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints. The paints will crackle on their own as they dry - do be careful not to go over areas you have already applied paint to or you will disturb the layer of paint disturbing the glaze and lifting off the paint layer you have applied first..

For the focal imagery on the top of the box I cast the two deers in the Wonderful Season mould with resin and once these were set primed the surfaces with Black Primer Paste. Once the primer had dried I used brown paint from the rust set to cover the deers and green for the grass areas. Once the top layer of paint had dried I dry brushed the pieces with White Primer Paste and then added a little gold wax. 

Whilst the wax was out I also added it to the edges of the box.. The deer were then adhered in place on the box lid using Heavy Body Gel Matte. So that the deer were not floating in mid air I added natural green moss, pine cones and faux berries dusting these lightly with white primer paste.

To decorate the inside of the box I selected papers from the Cosmos Infinity 12 x 12 Papers cutting them to size and edging with brown Distress Oxide before adhering them in place. Finally I added the deer from the Ephemera set and words from the printed chipboard set. 

I hope that my make this week encourages you to think about making some handmade items for your special family and friends and that you enjoy some precious crafty time as it is so good for our mental health.