Altered $ Spot Mailboxes

I picked up these three mailboxes from Target back in January, and it only took me until September (!!) to get around to altering them and sending them to my nephew and two nieces! It wasn't for lack of trying; I'd pulled them out on a few occasions and got total scrappers block. I think I'd made these mailboxes into some big, momentous project that had to contain some incredibly meaningful scrapbook, and that my first try at altering them had to have the absolute best results ever. Don't do this -- it's no fun and doesn't work!

You know what finally got me to altering these puppies? I got some super-good news (finally got a job offer for an awesomecool job at the beginning of Sept!) and in my euphoria, I sprinted to Target and enjoyed the heck out of shopping for gifts for the kiddos. I went wild, but not too wild (had still been out of work for two months, after all) and picked up some Hello Kitty goodies in the dollar spot for the girls, and a Lego Bionicles for Christopher.

My design approach (heehee that makes it sound so fancy and professional!) was to keep it fun (=easy) for me and geared for the kids' interests.

1. Pull out the special scrapbook papers I had previously purchased specifically with the kids in mind. (Do we all do this, or is it just me? No idea what I'm going to use the paper on at the time, just wanna get it cos it reminds me of the kids and I think they'd like it!)
   
2. Match up a pattern of paper with a mailbox for each kidlet.
3. Pull out coordinating items like Dora and Hello Kitty stickers.
4. Pull out fun 3D or bulky embellishments I had to own but don't use often enough, and decorate as desired to go with the mailbox.
   

Here is the bold, cheery, and outgoing mailbox tailor-made for Jory -- suits her personality to a T I think. :) The scalloped circle is lilac-coloured and has a fun butterfly background (from VLVS) stamped on it in Moonlight White. Chipboard butterfly is from Technique Tuesday. I applied the purple glitter by first coating the butterfly in liquid glass (like Crystal Effects), burying it in glitter, and then after letting the liquid glass dry and brushing off the loose glitter, I sealed it up with another coat of liquid glass. The monogram (and the two other monograms) were from a blue and silver self-adhesive monogram letter set I got at Walmart last Christmas. I'd previously used the only J on a birthday card for Jory, so I cut the letter U from the set to look like a J, covered it in two coats of Versamagic Aloe Vera chalk ink, then put on two layers of sparkly embossing powder.


I kept Christopher's mailbox very streamlined because I didn't think he'd appreciate the aesthetics of a camouflage mailbox with giant sequins or flowers glued on. :D I applied Coffee Bean Brilliance ink to the edges of the front and back panels of patterned paper for interest, and applied Graphite Black Brilliance ink to a holographic silver C for his monogram. Because the outside was so "streamlined" I added a more personal touch on the inside by sticking a pic of Christopher's Nichda'a and Uncle Sheldon on the door. (That's us in the Land of Milk and Honey, aka San Antonio on the Riverwalk. **LOVE** that city!!! My parents took the photo for us.)


Last but certainly NOT least is this sweet and cute mailbox for the sweet, cute, and smart Grace! All of the mailboxes were fun and easy to make, but this one especially came together quickly because I LOVE HELLO KITTY TOO!! Too bad I didn't buy a fourth mailbox for myself, so I could make one like this for me too!!!

Anyways, that was the result of my adventure with altering mailboxes. It was fun!