Altered gift box (celebrating birth)

Hello all !

I have been crafting a little lately, but not enough to be able to publish another article sooner. But here I am !

I have been making a gift box for my manager, as she leaves on a maternity leave soon. We wanted to make her a gifts basket, so I took the charge of the basket :) : 

I bought a big round box in a shop and wanted to alter it. It was my first round box and I was very excited at the beginning. Then my feelings changed : I became a bit more reluctant to the idea as I had absolutely no clue on how I would handle it, ah ah. But I didn't give up and started working on it, going through my paper stash, thinking about what papers I already had. I also bought a few new ones.

I wanted ocre tones, but couldn't resist the idea of putting some pink on it. And it ended not being ocre at all :D. I wanted kind of a patchwork effect, so I cut out some wide bands of different kinds of paper and glued it onto the box. I did the same on the lid.

Then, I noticed some parts were a bit clumsy (I didn't glue the paper perfectly straight, for instance. I am so bad at this : cutting straight, putting things straight, measuring etc. Really bad). so I decided to hide them with some lace (on the bottom of the box) and I also wanted to hide the rough edges of the box with another ribbon.

I added some flowers onto the lid and onto the box, using a Stamper Anonymous Stencil within the Tim Holtz collection and some ranger texture paste. I must confess one thing : I have this stencil for 10 months now. It was supposed to be a present for my sister's birthday last year, but I didn't see her for a long time (she lives in France with my parents). I wasn't supposed to use it, but it was exactly what I needed for the box. And I wanted it so BAD. I should probably get my sister another stencil I want less :). But -second confession- : I have ABSOLUTELY NO REGRET. This stencil is amazing, so pretty. I want more of this collection.

Finally, I got busy with the center piece of the lid. After prepping a little rocking horse with white gesso, I painted it with Romance pink metallic acrylic paint by Finnabair and added so white gold withe on it. I glued it on top of the lid with some fabric flowers, an handmade bow. I added some butterflies die cuts (I used the same paper as fo the box plus another one, and Alterations Detailed butterflies thinlits dies by Tim Holtz. I love those, they are so delicate !).

In the end, I am so happy with the box, even though a few details could still be better. But I love it. I think it is pretty delicate and cute. What do you think ? See below more details so you can have a clear idea of the complete box !

Don't hesitate to let me know what you think in the comments !

See you with for another creation !