The Ultimate Christmas Box (TM)

Yes, ladies, it is finally done! So here are the pictures as promised. As usual, they aren't very good, but they might give you an idea of the gorgeousness of reality.

Let's start with the finished box; closed, with the lid on, it looks like this:



I realized too late that - since I gave my oriental-looking windows a black frame - I should have made the lid from back paper, too. I chose the same blue as the basic box and forgot that it wouldn't be visible with the box closed. Well, the bottom is the same blue, so it isn't entirely clashing, but still, black would have been better.

Now let's take a closer look at the lid with the triple-star-pattern:



(The glittering grid pattern is exactly the same colour everywhere, I'm just a rubbish photographer.)

This is the basic inside design with the angels that gave me so much pain yesterday. Particularly the fastening of the little bells was a real challenge:



And this is the finished version, with the manger and the Baby Jesus in the middle. (Needless to say that the blue of the inside ought to be the exact same shade. This lighter blue version is closer to reality.):



Needless to say that I only realized I made the lid just a bit too tight when I tried to close the finished box. So I had to trim every single panel by a millimetre or two, with the whole decoration already in place. It was a nightmare. But now it's done, and I love it to pieces, despite the little flaws.

Thank you, lindahoyland, for the excellent suggestion. This perhaps isn't what you had in mind, but this is what I was able to do with your idea.

Aside from this, I made an excellent garlic chicken today and created some tags for the last unfinished box. When that one is complete, I'll turn back to my writing for a while, if the muses cooperate. *fingers crossed*