Moxie Fab World: Holiday Food & Treat Wrap Challenge + Holiday Gift Wrap Challenge

Hi!  I wanted to make something for Moxie Fab World's Holiday Food & Treat Wrap Challenge, but I couldn't quite bring myself to make our typical holiday treats.  They're somewhat labor intensive and it's still hot enough outside that I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time with the stove and oven on.  Then I had a breakthrough this week.  I've been doing major cleaning in the "messy room" (which is unfortunately what my toddler calls the room I craft in...even when it is clean).  As I was dumping the little prima flowers out of their bottles I realized they would be perfect for packaging treats...itty-bitty marshmallows to be exact.  My mom just sent some out for my son and they are perfect for hot chocolate, so I decided to put together a little hot chocolate kit.

I started with the bottles.  I wanted to dress them up a bit, but not so much that they would be hard to hold and use.  Even the little chalkboard labels can easily be unclipped if they get in the way or if the bottles get refilled with something different.  But then I decided that I couldn't just bring a bunch of bottles over to a neighbor.  They had to be put into something, but not just a typical package....they were so bright and cheery I wanted them to be seen right away.  And so the wheels started turning...

The idea for this somewhat unconventional packaging came to me at about 5:00 this morning.  I probably should have just looked for a template, but true to how I usually do things, I decided to do things the hard way and figure it out myself.  I'm not gonna lie, the holder was a bit time consuming, but mostly just doing all the math to make sure the dimensions of the box were correct and that it would be strong enough to hold the bottles..  The box is divided into four little compartments that the snuggly fit each bottle. It's made out of chipboard, covered with some cute Christmas papers, and there is lots of reinforcing on all sides and especially the handle because the bottles are quite heavy.

And since the ideas for the bottles and the packaging came to me separately, I decided to enter the packing into Moxie Fab World's Holiday Gift Wrap Challenge as well.  This little box would actually be a great way to gift wrap lots of other things besides treats...I'm thinking lotions, body sprays, and soaps...things I love to get and therefore give as gifts.  It was so fun to make a non-card project.  I forget how much I like them.  Oh, and here's one last shot of the bottles in their holder, ready to go to one lucky neighbor. ;)