YET ANOTHER USE FOR CUT 'N DRY FOAM...A MATTRESS AND PILLOW!

Yep...you read that right! You can use Cut N' Dry Foam for a mattress and pillow! Maybe not for yourself...but for a matchbox mouse!  Maybe I better explain ...

After making the Halloween and Christmas Configurations boxes in Tim Holtz' classes at Absolutely Everything last weekend, I had some left over compartments.  Six to be exact. Tim told us not to throw them away because there were all sorts of uses for those little leftovers. He was so right! USE YOUR IMAGINATION WITH YOUR CONFIGURATIONS!

I took one of my large squares and one of my large rectangular boxes and turned them into Santa with a shadowbox tummy and Matchbox Mouse.

My vintage Santa is a retro Christmas card that I sized to fix the box. I printed it out on cardstock and backed it with chipboard for strength. Then I lined the back and bottom (thanks Tim) of the inside of the Configurations Box with little snippets of Tim's wonderful seasonal paper. Now, Santa had a shadow box tummy! I added Tim's rosette, stuck a little "Merry Christmas" on it, cut off the edges of the rosette to make it fit in the box where I wanted it and glued it in place. Next, I added some "ornaments" to the little bottle brush tree. I had to cut the bottom of the tree off to make it fit, but no worries. It hot glued in place just fine. I added a little sled with a package stuck on top next to the tree. Then I glued some vintage silver tinsel garland around the outer edge of the box and added three vintage corsage bells and a thin piece of metallic candy cane striped ribbon to the upper corner. I painted two wooden spools black and glued them to the bottom of the box to represent Santa's boots.

A top view of Santa shows how I cut his arm away from the rest of his body and laid it on the top of the box, partially to hide the pipecleaner ends on the bells and partially for added interest to the top of the box. I popped the "A Merry Merry Christmas" ornament with a pop dot for added dimension. Finally, I added a little gold glitter snowflake with a wooden train on top.  Santa was stickled with Tim's Distress Stickles: Peeled Paint, Fired Brick and Picket Fence.

The Matchbox Mouse was made using a large rectangular Configurations box. I love "The Night Before Christmas". 

"...not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse!" I found my little mouse on the internet and sized him to fit my box. I printed him out, stickled his hat with Distress Fired Brick and the rest of him with regular Stickles; Fruit Punch, Stardust and a little Platinum.  I sized the vintage book cover to fit the box. I printed it out, leaving enough paper on the sides to wrap around the box, forming a matchbox cover. I inked inside and outside with Tim's Distress Inks: Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Black Soot and glued the outer cover together around the Configurations box, leaving enough space so the cover can slide off and on the box. I used Rock Candy Stickles all over the top of the book for a really cool understated glittery vintage look.

Here's where the Cut N' Foam pad comes in. I cut it to fit into the box. I used two layers of Cut N' Foam for the mattress. I covered the "mattress with a scrap of fabric and put it into place using double sided tape. I made the pillow the same way...just using one Cut N' Foam layer. Next, I stuck a little piece of Cut N' Foam in the middle of the bed to look like Mr. Mouse's tiny little body.  I covered him up with a different scrap of fabric and held it into place with double sided tape.

These little boxes can now be little cha-cheese to sit around or add a little hanger of some sort and they can be Christmas ornaments! The possibilities are endless!

Have fun and take time to play!  It's SOUL food!