A Little Vintage Suitcase

My Dad celebrates a milestone birthday this month and a big gathering with family and friends is being planned. Being the crafter of the family, my role will be to make the bonbonnières. With approximately 80 guests attending, these won't be the most elaborate boxes I've ever made but they will still look good because they will be personalised to suit the era my Dad was born in.

I'm using the suitcase die from Sizzix and plain white cardstock. To make them more personal, I've printed the cardstock with a newspaper from around the time he was born.

To get this "paper" to fit through the Big Shot I've had to cut it down but once I worked out the right size to cut it to, cutting took no time at all.

Score the suitcase along the sides of the base, the back flap of the lid, down the middle of the catch and along the handles.

Next you'll need Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a sponge.

Age the printed card with the ink to take away the starkness of the white card.

Assembling the suitcase is pretty easy. Firstly, fold the base, handle, lid and catch. Fold up the walls of the suitcase and line up the holes with the flaps on the inside. Insert small brads through the two layers of each flap and open the brad out to secure in place.

Apply double sided tape to the back of the remaining pieces and then attach them to the suitcase.

Next, wrap chocolate coloured ribbon around the suitcase on either side of the handle and secure in place with double sided tape. Adhere 2 "studs" along each ribbon on the front.

Colour some silver charms with alcohol ink to take away the shininess and thread them on ball chain. Attach to the handles. Simple, but effective!

Like I said, it's a simple bonbonnière, but it looks really effective.

You can search online archives for old newspapers or visit your state library to search the microfische for the paper you are after. Imagine the headlines for the day you were born; I promise you, it will make interesting reading!

Happy crafting........