Give me an "H"

Well, in last month's Eco Emi DIY post, we asked you to give us a cheer with our tissue paper poms, so this month, we made an "H" for Hayden, although you can follow these directions to make whatever letter you'd like.

As you know, Hayden and I try to do a DIY project with the extra packing materials, decoration, etc. in each month's Eco Emi box (in case you've missed them, here's January, February, March, April, May, June and July). This month, we had two shades of purple tissue paper and some greenery, as well as some cute mesh bags, the printed Eco Emi card and its shipping box. That's all we needed to make this craft, with the exception of scissors and glue.

Inspired by Mr. Kate's decorative letters (I just love Mr. Kate), I opted to make an "H" for Hayden's door to her room (she has a princess theme, so this was perfect for her), using the contents and actual box from our August Eco Emi. The goal was to make a craft that you'd be able to make, too, without having to come up with any extra supplies (most people have scissors and glue).

To start, I deconstructed the shipping box, making sure not to cut up the two perfect rectangle shapes.

Then, I used some of the scrap pieces to create the "H." I just glued them onto one of the rectangles. Look, it says, "please recycle." Don't mind if I do.

Next, I cut the base rectangle to match the "H" shape.

Once the "H" shape was cut into the base, I glued on the top rectangle, making sure the white side was facing up.

You probably guessed the next step; I cut the top rectangle to match the "H" shape.

Then, I had an idea; I decided to take apart the large purple mesh bag to use as the fabric covering for the "H" and to take advantage of the ribbon ties.

Thank goodness the glue was still wet, because I was able to separate the tops of the "H" enough to glue the ends of one of the ribbons inside.

Voila! Now the "H" has something from which to hang.

For added interest, I cut out the princess balcony from the Eco Emi description card and glued it to the "H." I then, glued the purple mesh fabric on top.

 

I flipped the "H" over and cut/glued the excess mesh fabric to the back to secure it to the "H."

Here's how it looked from the front once the fabric was fully attached (you can tell that my lighting kept changing throughout this DIY project).

Fairytale castles always seem to be covered in some sort of greenery, so I covered much of the exposed area of the "H" in the greenery from my Eco Emi box. I glued it on just like I would with glitter.

To ensure a happy ending to our fairytale, we livened it up with some purple tissue paper flowers. Just cut out some teardrop and heart shapes, and wrap them around each other to build up a flower (about 3 or so teardrops in the center and 4 or more hearts around the outside).

I attached the tissue paper flowers and the other piece of ribbon where I saw fit. Then, we waited for the glue to dry overnight.

Here's the finished product, hanging sweetly for all to see.

Hope you enjoyed today's DIY. What projects are you making?