Party in a box

A couple of weeks ago I had two friends with birthdays who live out of state. And while I always mail their presents, I had seen this idea from Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky of a "party in a box" to make the arrival seem a bit more special. So I figured I'd give it a shot. And while my photos are not as cute or professional as those of Elizabeth's, hopefully the fun paper and confetti still put a smile on my friends faces when they opened their boxes.

Here's what I used:
• pretty, colorful tissue paper
• fun birthday themed confetti (& wedding themed for Casey for her recent engagement!)
• candy
• a special local item from Birmingham (since they both used to live here)
• a "real" gift

If I had more time, I would've a) remembered to also take a photo of Emily's box and not just Casey's and b) looked for better tissue paper since that is what I think makes the most significant impression when you first open the box. Instead I was shopping at Dollar Tree at 9 something before they closed and then putting these together at 10:00 pm the night before they needed to be mailed. That's just how life seems to be these days though.

I would still recommend buying the confetti and candy items from Dollar Tree because it's such a good deal. But if there is a paper or wrapping store in your area, I think really great tissue paper would be a nice splurge.

Once you line your box with the paper, then all you have to do next is sprinkle in some confetti and start placing your items in the box. I also added more on top once everything was in because you can seriously never have too much confetti (says the girl who didn't have to clean it up when the box was opened!).

After the box is taped up and ready to go, you could wrap the box in brown Kraft paper and then use stamps, stickers or your own marker creations to decorate the outside of the box as well. I thought I had this paper at home already, but was sad to learn later that I did not. I was bummed but figured that I'd rather get the boxes out in time than wait another day to get paper and decorate the outside. Next time ladies!

Basically this is an easy, fun and inexpensive way to brighten someone's day that you don't get to see as often as you'd like!