Lunchbox Love

I love my kids.  I adore my kids.  And I suffer from a lot of mommy guilt being a working mom.  Loads of it.  Tons of it.  They don’t even have words for the measures I’m talking about.  We’ll talk working mom philosophys some other time–right now let’s talk cards. 

That’s right, card-making.  One of the first reasons I got into stamping was because I love being creative, but I’m not at all artistic.  I think there really is a difference.  I wish I was.  I try to be.  But I’m not.  I can’t even draw a stickman that my kids don’t laugh at.  BUT..…You don’t have to be with cards and stamps because they’ve done the drawing work for you.  All you do is dip it in the ink and off you go, looking great.  I love it!

The second reason I got into it was because I’m a working mom.  I don’t have much time with my family and I have to make the moments count.  Cards are a great way to be there, with your family, when you can’t be there with your family.  Enter lunchbox love. 

One of my most prized possessions is a note from my mom when I was in 3rd grade.  All it says is “Bug, you forgot your lunch money and I know it’s chicken nugget day.  I love you”  with a little yellow smiley-face sticker on it.  The school secretary delivered it to me with my $0.65 (yes, I suppose it was a long time ago).  It still makes me feel so warm and loved all over I’m tearing up just thinking about it.  So my first set of stamps was called Sending Love, because I could actually picture using it to make lunchbox notes and love notes for my family. 

Yes, it took me a little while to get the hang of wiping something up with practically no time to speak of, but the first time the Ladybug came home and gave me that sad, puppy dog face and said “you didn’t send me a note today” was the beginning of the end for me.  So I’m here to tell you it doesn’t take but a few supplies and you can be off and running too.  I’ve added some measurements to help if you’re new to this (and to help you see that these are small, quick, and use scrap supplies not loads of products), but I don’t really measure everything–just eyeball it.  We’re not talking about professional art critics here.

This one uses a large circle punch, a scrap of two-sided paper, and one felt flower sticker left over from another project.  Just fold your paper and punch the circle out, leaving the folded edge, and stick the sticker on the front.  Voila!  I have a smaller circle punch I used to add the contrast on the inside, but you don’t even have to do that.  Just write and stash in the lunchbox or backpack.

 

 

This one actually took about 6.5 minutes (peeling all those little alphabet stickers is harder than it looks).  Cut the card from brown construction paper (or cardstock).  Just remember to pick your size and make the length twice the width for a square card, since you fold it in half.  This card is 3 inch x 3 inch so the rectangle was 3 x 6.  Again, this was left over paper for me from Valentines Day projects.  Cut a red square a little smaller than the card front.  Cut a green square a little smaller than the red.  Glue. Glue.  Add bug stickers (from a birthday party goodie bag).  I even used stickers for the inside message.  Cheesecake. 

This was another 3 minute one, with the Sending Love stamp set I mentioned.  I eyeballed the stamp size, cut out the pink rectangle to fit it, folded it, and stamped the front.  I used a regular hole punch through the end and tied it with a scrap of ribbon left over from making bridal shower favors for someone.  Presto!  She really liked this one with the ribbon opening.  Kids get a kick out of the simplest things!

There’s lots of companies out there cashing in on this great idea.  Google “lunchbox notes” if you feel overwhelmed by the make-it-yourself part.  I love the creativity of making them and personalizing them to my family’s favorite things, colors, etc. but  I don’t think that matters as much as just doing it.  Sending love…doesn’t that just say it all?

 

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