Easing into August

We are going to ease into this new week and new month.  Grandma Heitz, who would have been 92 years old tomorrow, passed away last week.  So, we spent last week in Indiana.  At first we thought about writing a tribute to Grandma, but she didn’t like a lot of attention – especially the online kind.  She loved our blog, and she would want us to get right back into it.  She was a religious, hard-working, loving, and patient woman, and she was always saying it’s time to “get around and get going.”  So, we are going to get around and get going right now.

 

 

As is the custom around here, we repost a popular blog post at the beginning of each month, and we found a good one from last August.  We hope you enjoy revisiting DIY French Matches.

 

*****

A while back my daughter-in-law gave me a great-smelling candle along with a little box of French matches. They would be allumettes for all of the Francophiles out there.

 

 

When I saw the sweet little box, I thought it would be fun to recreate it for those big boxes of kitchen or farmers’ matches.

 

You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that cost under three bucks for three boxes totaling 900 matches. Since fall is in the air, and outdoor evenings by the fire aren’t too far off, I decided to get my rear in gear and make my version of that cute box of matches. By the way, DIY French matches would be a great hostess gift along with a candle.

 

This is what you need:

 

Matches

Pretty paper (I used scrapbook paper cut to size)

Glue stick

Scissors

Now, anyone who knows me knows I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to graphic design, so I made my graphic design in Word. I chose a font that resembled the one used on the original match box, but I couldn’t get it to curve. So, my lines are straight.

 

 

Once I had the lettering set-up in the correct size, I simply cut out some scrapbook paper the same size as computer paper and printed it out with my fingers crossed. Then I trimmed it down to fit the box exactly, covered the box top with the glue stick, and pressed the print-out onto the box.

 

I even did a monogram for the back, but it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to at all. It’s back to the drawing board for that one. You monogram experts out there know it needs major work.

 

 

I made two versions. One is yellow, and for the second one, I used burlap paper. It’s my favorite for fall. (Now that I’m looking at this photo, I see I need to do a little trimming.)

 

This took just a few minutes once I completed the graphics. If any of you would like a copy of the graphics, just send us an email, and we’ll send it right out to you.

 

 

Before we close, we want to show you this photo of Grandma on our wedding day.  She loved my friends, and they loved her, and it was fitting for her to join in on the champagne toast that we did before I put on my wedding dress.  This photo was taken in the house my parents owned before they down-sized.

 

Cheers!