Free-For-All Friday: Kids Mailbox

I bought this mailbox months ago, it sits on a little bookshelf in our loft.  Every now and again there's a "Special Treat" inside (typically a lollipop) whenever Little Man's behavior has been extra good.  My original idea behind getting it would be to put little notes and treats and things in it, and to decorate it for different seasons/holidays. 

You know what they say about the best laid plans...so I had never gotten around to decorating it.  This morning I decided that I would use the cardstock and some of the scraps left over from Cosmo Cricket Salt Air kit I got from Apron Strings to add a little color and fun to it. 

12x12 paper wasn't long enough to cover the whole thing, which was just as well, because the little mailbox flag was in the way.  So I trimmed a piece to fit right up under it as much as I could.

Next I created a little notch (you can just barely see it in the upper lefthand corner of the paper) to fit around the pin that keeps the flag attached to the mailbox, so that the papers line up flush to one another.

Then, flip the whole mailbox on its front end, and trace the front "door" part on the backside of whatever paper you are using as the base.  Cut that out carefully and adhere to the door.  You can choose to cut a trim piece around the door or not.  I opted not to in this case, as the little hands that are constantly opening and closing this would rip it off in about 5 seconds flat :)

 Lastly, decorate as you see fit!  I created this out of scraps from one of my kits, so I just took that scrap paper and one of my trusty Marvy Uchida circle punches to make as many circles as I could out of the scrap.  Some Thickers for his name (like he had any question as to whose it is!) and a pop-dot under one of the kit stickers for the door.

Keeping things simple, I used Stickles in hues of the colors of whatever circle I was working on, to create some little dots on each one and give it some sparkle.  'Cause who doesn't love things that sparkle?!  That's all there was to it, a simple little mailbox, fit for some "Special Treats".

**Sidenote, after I was finished and had taken photos, Finn wanted to "decorate it too!" so all that lovely yellow paper is now covered in 2 year old marker scribbles.  I mean artwork :)  See you next week with a new Yummy Monday recipe that'll sure to "oohhhh" and "ahhhh" you!