Eileen Hull Tea Box Caddy

Hello Fans of Eileen Hull, let's make a Tea Box, wohoo! I am moving on with the sneak peak that was shown last week. So today I have the tutorial of a great gift idea, making a Tea Caddy. You can so customize this for the gift receiver with whatever paper you choose. Imagine, mixed media, shabby chic or themed.  how about Alice in Wonderland?  *Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.

 

I made this with 3 sections but you could add as many as you like. Hum what about a jewelry or Lego holder? Candy? The sky is the limit. 

Let' Get Making!

I made this box by decorating both the inside paper & the outside at the same time so I will give you those instructions. As always the supply list is at the end of the post. I will also give you a 2nd option that may be easier as a hot tip. Start with the Stacking Drawer diecut. I cut a part of a drawer & wrote the dimensions & notes on the piece as I engineered my caddy. Cut 3x strips of mat board 10"x2.5". If you want to cover the box in paper you will want 3 pieces for the inside & 3 pieces for the outside the same size 10"x2.5".

 

I used a lighter weight single sided paper for this so it would not be difficult to bend etc. Cover the mat board with double sided adhesive or a good glue stick like UHU. Here is a photo to show my strip of mat board on the die portion that cuts the drawer. I have my outside paper toward the die cut. The mat board piece with directions is just to a guideline. Cut 1 drawer at a time.

Here are my 3 drawers cut out. You can see that the paper that will show on the outside is a bit directional with the postmarks etc. If you have directional paper make sure it lines up with the half circle shape that is the top of the drawer.

You will also want to cut 3 of the bottom drawer pieces which are the rectangle piece on the die. Here is a pic of how they look in the finished sample. I just covered one side with the same paper line as the inside paper. I have had it for awhile & not sure but it may be Paperstudio. Assemble the drawers as per the directions using Redline tape. Glue the drawers front to back to create 3 sections. Hot Tip: Instead of adding the outside paper before you assemble the boxes, add it after. Assemble the boxes & glue them together then add the side pieces as one long cut. Use the die to cut the front and back pieces and adhere. That way your caddy will not look like the sides are sections. Just an idea!

 

Time To Make the Tea!

 

 

Using the new Teacup die let's make the best part of this project. I wrote the dimensions on a sample cut. I wanted to emboss the handle so I did not need my paper to cover that, just to cover the edge of the cup. The paper I used is a digital from Allegradigital on Etsy. The paper collection is called Tea Junk Journal. Adhere paper front & back with double sided adhesive to a piece of mat board. Place the paper you want showing on the outside of the project, down toward the die. 

 

 

For the second tea cup I decided to turn the handle in the other direction. All that meant was I put the paper that was facing the front (the girls & macaroons) side up on the die.

 

 

How About Some Embossing?

Gilding the handle & top of the cup seemed a good way to go & Eileen has the perfect embossing powder, Golden Rod. Simply sponge Clear Blends or Embossing fluid with a foamie around the edges. Then heat set. This is a view of the backside of the tea caddy.

 

 

Before it is time to add the teacups I felt my caddy needed some feet. This was accomplished with large wooden beads. Coat in embossing fluid & add Aqua Splash embossing, heat set & pow. Some of the edges were showing so copper paint was added to give it that antique look. You can see from this photo that linen tape was also added around the bottom. Yes I may be a detail girl!

 

All that was needed was some embellishing. I sized down some of the ephemera pieces from the digital kit, cut and adhered to the sides of my caddy. You can also do this before you assemble the boxes.

 

 

For the front tea cup the word "moments" was cut out. This was done by making a layer of card stock, double sided foam adhesive & DecoFoil & cutting out the word with Eileen's thinlet. I cut a 2nd one in black card stock & adhered them to the cup to form a shadow. It helps the word stand out from the background. The flower is also Eileen's. Also don't you love that kitten from the digital kit?  

 

The Cups were adhered using Redline double sided tape & we are done!! Here is the other side of the caddy. Thanks so much for joining me. I really hope I can inspire you to make your own caddy. I would love a comment if you enjoyed this post & please follow me on my social media links on the right side of the page. I post almost daily on Instagram.

Supplies:

• Eileen's diecuts Teacup, Stacking Drawers, Floral Arch & Words, Journaling Flowers & Leaves.
  
• Eileen's Redline Tape, Foam Adhesive
• Eileen's embossing in Aqua Splash & Golden Rod, Clear Blends or embossing fluid.
  
• DecoFoil in Rose Gold. 
• Linen Tape by Tim Holtz
• Digital Tea Party Emphemera by Allegradigital on Etsy.