Mini Milk Carton

I know you won't cry if you never see another milk carton again...they usually mean school lunch.  Maybe if you are a super nice parent, you don't mind going back to your child's school to eat with them..but I only liked milk cartons when we made candles out of them (cut off the top, poured melted crayons in, and added a wick...l-o-v-e-l-y Mother's Day gift) or little gingerbread houses (perfect size for gluing icing on graham crackers)!

But I got the new Stampin Up! idea book for 2011-2012...and it is wonderful! : ) I went through the entire book circling and *hearting* my favorites, dog-earing pages, and taking notes about great ideas. One of the ideas I love is a little card stock milk carton to use as a little treat box-or anything! : )

bottom left-little orange cutie! : )

I decided I had to make one.  There is a Big Shot Die Cut Machine (and the little die cutter for the mini milk carton) that you need, but I decided to measure one out myself.  It only took three tries till I was happy! : )

Here is the finished product:

the circle stamp says, "hugs & kisses", and the tags are "love" and "4 you"

(Do you want to try it too?  Scroll down to the bottom for the directions!!)

The entire time I was tinkering and crafting last night, I was wondering what drives me to be crafty.  I mean, really.  I think it's an Escape.  I get to not think about diabetes or blood sugars or groceries or my laundry for a while.  I get to just be me, and be creative, and inventive ..and use math ; ) and when I give it away, someone is happy, and the focus isn't me.  I certainly don't keep what I make, but I don't need to.  I never did.  I just got to make it, and Escape.  Ending point reached.


Yesterday did get totally better, BTW.  I had a great nap (sleep makes mommas better), and then we had fun at the Walk Kick-Off and Naturals game (the Naturals are the farm team for the KC Royals).

first trip to the balloon design man: pirate sword!

They have a little baseball diamond for the kids to play on, with a Naturals employee pitching and running the game-it's awesome!  Clay was playing second base.  Hard to see, I only had my phone!

enjoying dinner at the ballpark : )

We sat in the Bullpen Cafe in the outfield-and he's just waiting for a ball. (Hopefully a Naturals homer!)

The Evans playing a game (throwing cheese on burgers!) along the third baseline during a break...and they won!

Mary Claire and Emma swinging-I really wish I'd had Mary Claire change into shorts!

and Aiden and Ethan swinging too: )

Trip two to balloon man!  Emma got a flower, and...

Mary Claire got a pony!  I didn't get one good picture of the girls together-they either blinked or weren't looking.  I'll try again next time!

*****Making a Mini-Milk Carton*****

You'll need a piece of heavy card stock, a ruler, and a bone folder (something with a pointy rounded end...like a dull pencil or the top side of a butter or plastic knife would work also).  Your milk carton will be about 4.5" tall when finished.

1.  Use a 6 x 11" piece of card stock (8.5 x 11" with 2.5" cut off)

2.  Use your ruler to mark at 1.25" from left (bottom of milk carton), and .5" and 2.25" from right (top of milk carton).  Fold on those lines, using the mark as your crease.

3.  Turn it with the two lines to the top (top of milk carton farthest away from you).  Measure and draw lines at 2.5", 5", 7.5", and 10" from the left.  (These are the corners of the milk carton, and the extra 1" is for gluing.) Fold on all lines.

4.  Now, at the top along the first fold, mark the center point of each 2.5" section.  Then draw/make a line down to the outside corners of the sections on fold two and crease.  This will fold the top angles of the milk carton, so you can open it.
5.  Above each center point (that you marked on #4), make a line up to the top of the paper and crease.  This is so they can fold nicely.

6.  It's ready to put together.  Make a "tube", and staple, tape, or glue (if you are mighty patient) the sides together.  I like the staple method!  Then, fold the bottom flaps down, and tape together to seal the bottom of your carton.
7.  Now...the top.  You will figure it out super easily.  This is where all the creasing and pre-folding comes in handy.  I closed up one side of my carton, and stapled.  I knew I only wanted one side to open.  You can use a fancy clip on the fixed side, like in Stampin' Up's picture.  Open and close the other side (like a school milk carton!) a few times to get it really working. : )

8.  Wrap in paper or ribbon and decorate! : )  You could also decorate it pre-folding, but it would take some planning.  You could even print things on it before cutting/folding, but I used some stamps and scrapbook paper.  I also added bows over my staples up on the top.


9.  Fill with a fun treat.  I used mini Twix bars, but I tried crayons first.  If you only add a few, it'll close.  Other options?  Jelly beans, granola, goldfish, paper clips, hair elastics, soup or cocoa mix, etc.  Enjoy! : )