Mary Engelbreit Treat Box

Here is my first attempt to create with Mary Engelbreit’s most beloved character – Ann Estelle.  When I was going through my painting phase, Mary Engelbreit was one of several artists who inspired me to not be afraid of color. I painted most of my mother-in-law’s house with black and white checkers filled with little rosebuds and cherries. Thank goodness she loves Mary’s style, or I would have been in trouble.

This little basket of goodies definitely makes a great gift for any Mary fans out there.  I hit the motherlode at Michaels the other day. I had no idea the dollar bin was filled with M.E. branded notebooks, notepads, pens, stamps and lots more in dozens of different patterns with pithy quotes. I purchased the set with the colors and quote I liked best, but they didn’t have a stamp that matched. There wasn’t any patterns with Ann Estelle on them either. That’s OK though, I think she goes good with this set and stamp.

The box is number 9 from the Caddy Essentials kit. This kit is perfect for those little “thinking of you” gifts. Caddy Essentials come with 12 boxes with blank fronts to add your own flair. The first six are for smaller items like nail polish, whereas the last six are for bigger items. Although in full disclosure, I did stretch the box wider to be able to fit the spiral notebook. I left the height the same so it would fit on the 12×12 mat. I don’t want anyone to make number 9 and wonder why it’s not as big as shown here. 

You can see from the picture above, it’s a good size. Also, can you see my mistake? Look at the back tabs. Yep, when I widened the box I didn’t take into account the sides would get longer too. So if you enlarge any of the caddies, make sure your sides still fit. Or you can just make another score line on the fly like me. 🙂 Hey, I gotta roll with the punches!

You know the real reason why I like Ann so much? She looks just like a darling friend who’s birthday was this past week. Maybe that is why I created this project, she was on my mind. I hate that I don’t talk to her like I used to. I miss the sweet fellowship we had. So I’d like to say, “Happy birthday, Sonya! I love and miss you.”