Gift Boxes to Colour and Make: A Year of Celebrations by Eilidh Muldoon
| Gift Boxes to Colour and Make: A Year of Celebrations by Eilidh Muldoon | |
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| Category: Crafts | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Twenty four boxes for you to colour and assemble - and the cost works out at just 42p per box. It's fun and practical too. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? No |
| Pages: 50 | Date: October 2017 |
| Publisher: Nosy Crow | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1788000093 | |
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Have you ever tried wrapping a small gift, or those handmade sweets or biscuits you've prepared for a friend? It's not easy, is it? If you use wrapping paper the gift tends to lose presence and once you start to use glass jars the gift becomes really quite expensive and less easy to transport. Do you find colouring relaxing and rewarding but somehow it feels just a little bit too indulgent if all you do is turn to the next page and start colouring that? Would you get more out of it if you could use what you've coloured for a practical purpose? The ideal solution to both problems is Gift Boxes to Colour and Make: A Year of Celebrations by Eilidh Muldoon.
Each box is just over 10cm/4 inches wide, 8.5cm/3.4inches long and 6cm/2½ inches high at the base and about 2cm/¾ inch wider and longer at the top. The paper is substantial with plenty of overlaps (so no peeking inside to see what you've been given...), a hook and slit catch and a gold foiled sticker gift tag. Coloured or plain, the result is reassuringly substantial. Construction of the box is easy, even obvious, and doesn't require any great dexterity. All the points which need to be folded are scored so you're bound to get the fold in the right place: all you need to do is fold sharply to give a crisp edge. Honestly, it's a lot easier than I've made it sound!
You get a wonderful selection of boxes to colour: I spotted Easter bunnies, Christmas trees and winter snowmen, Valentine's hearts and love birds, bon voyage, new home and lots more. They're suitable for giving to, or colouring by, adults or children and with colouring on every visible surface and a space to sign your work one box could well occupy you for several hours. The results are good, even for someone like me who has few artistic skills. Nothing is too intricate and there are no vast spaces where the colour needs grading to make it look right, but the results are still stunning. You even get recipes for peppermint chocolate truffles, gingerbread men and coconut macaroons if you need inspiration for what to put in the box.
I like that you can tear pages out of the book and give one each to the kids - with a cover price of £9.99 that works out at just 42p per box and it might just give you several hours when the children are involved in something they want to do and producing something they'll be pleased with. It's a great boost to their confidence. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag. That's my presents wrapped for some time to come!
If you'd like a good supply of Christmas gift boxes we can recommend The Colouring Book of Beautiful Gift Boxes: Christmas by Sarah Walsh.
Gift Boxes to Colour and Make: A Year of Celebrations by Eilidh Muldoon is in the Our Top 10 Colouring Books for Lockdown.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Gift Boxes to Colour and Make: A Year of Celebrations by Eilidh Muldoon at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Gift Boxes to Colour and Make: A Year of Celebrations by Eilidh Muldoon at Amazon.com.
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