Blessing Mix

It is that time of year when we think about all we are grateful for.  Not only what we are grateful for, but who.  I was given this Blessing Mix a few Years back, not exactly sure if it was one or two years ago, by another stamper friend of mine (thanks Linda).  I have changed up the stamp set and embellishments a bit to make it fit the stamps that I have, but it is pretty much the same as hers.  I started by making a box out of the Fancy Favor box die and my Big Shot die cutter.  I then stamped my leaves randomly around the box.  The set I used is called French Foliage.  I used a technique called the Rock and Roll technique.  In this technique, you first stamp you image in one color ink, then roll the edges of the image in another color ink.  This is a great way to add more dimension to your stamped images, and its perfect for leaves.  








After I put my box together, I filled it with the items mentioned in the saying.  The Blessing Mix saying goes like this:   The bugles are a symbol of the cornucopia, a horn of plenty.  The pretzels represent arms folded in thanks and prayer.  The candy corn reminds us that during the first winter,the pilgrims were allowed only five kernels of corn per day because food was scarce. The fruit is a reminder that Thanksgiving is the celebration of the harvest.  The peanuts represent seeds, the potential of the bounteous harvest of the next season if they are planted and well tended.   There are probably a few other versions out there.  This one uses a bugle shaped corn chip type snack that was somewhat hard to find.  If you cant find it near you, you could search for another saying that doesn't use bugles.  I used sugared orange slices as my fruit.  I tied up my bag in a More Mustard scalloped ribbon, and added a few more stamped leaves that I cut out as further embellishment.  On the first box I made, I added the saying on a panel on the front of the box.  I later decided that the saying covered the leaves too much, so on the second box I added the saying as a tag. 

These boxes will be going out to some of the people I am thankful for. 

This is the version the children in my church class will make to give to someone special to them. They are 4 and 5, so I don't quite trust them with my stamps and ink :)

I hope you liked today's project.  If you have any questions please feel free to email, I am happy to help.  All products used are available from me, from Stampin' Up!