Christmas Carol Book Box and The Gentleman Crafter's Luminary House
When I saw Jim The Gentleman's Luminary House, I knew I had to get my hands on his kit and make one! I searched for the kit at the scrapbook store in New Braunfels, Texas. They didn't have them yet and then I checked Jim's website and he was sold out! So I called around and found them at the Bigmouth Scrapper in Forney, Texas. I ordered 4 or 5 of the kits in case I wanted to make more than one. But one is all I got done so I'll have them for next year. I wonder if Jim will design a different style house or maybe a church. Anyway, I assembled mine a bit different than what the kit instructions called for because when I got started on it, I decided I wanted it to go inside of my Christmas Carol Book Box.
Only thing is....if I made it the way it was supposed to be made with the base for the luminary candle, it would not fit in the book box. So I made it without the base and instead of putting the back on the back, I used the back for the "base." Granted, if I'd known when I made the book box that I was putting a little house in it, I would have made it about 1/2" taller to give the house plenty of room. But it's okay for me, I added ribbon to tie the book closed when the house is inside. I love how it turned out and have it displayed in my dining room as part of my Christmas decor. The inside of the box is decorated with more of the Graphic 45 Christmas Carol paper collection. You can see a bit of the inside of the book box in the photo below.
To decorate the house after I assembled it, I used white Ranger crackle paint for the sides and chimney to make it look like stone and then I lightly colored it with Walnut Stain distress ink. The roof is papered with some of the 6x6 Christmas Carol paper and then I glued on some little brush Christmas trees I bought at Michael's. The snow is a combination of Prima Snowflake Paste and Bo Bunny Sugar Glitter Glue. It's really prettier in person as it is all sparkly with the glittered snow. Here's a closer view of the book box. It has a lot of fussy cutting from the 12x12 Christmas Carol papers plus snowflakes and snow from the Snowflake Paste and pretty flowers.
I have a tutorial on YouTube that I shared the end of November on how to make the book box. You can find the first tutorial of the series >HERE<. I will also be uploading a showcase video on this project to my YouTube channel in the next few days or after Christmas.
I have so many Christmas projects that I'd hope to work on this year but looks like I'm going to run out of time unless I just keep working on them and have them for next year. I am planning on starting on a December Tutorial project but guess I'll be starting it the end of December. It will be an altered composition book planner/journal with plastic inserts. I made one last year and have had several ask if I'd do a tutorial on one. Anyway, I hope you are all nearly ready for Christmas--it will be here ready or not!
Happy Crafting,
