DIY 30th, 40th or 50th Birthday Gift

My good friend, who shall remain nameless, recently reached the 40th birthday milestone. (Happy Birthday friend.) To celebrate, I wanted to do something fun for her to make her laugh. I saw something similar to this online a while ago, and I filed it away in my cluttered brain. Somehow I remembered it, and I knew it would make her laugh.

This was super easy to create. While I didn’t take any pictures of the process, here’s how you can make your own.

Supplies:

• Sturdy cardboard box. (I upcycled a box that a baby gift came in, but you can use any box.)
• Pretty paper
• Modge Podge & small foam brush
• Foam block (available in craft store near floral arrangements)
• Shredded paper
• Vinyl (or letter stickers)
• Lollipops (You can use any pops you want, but we love Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops and I know she keeps organic so I choose these. If you use Blow Pops, you could change the text to 40 “Blows”)
• Small tag with ribbon

Step 1 – Unless you have a pretty box, you will want to cover your box with the pretty paper. If you haven’t worked with Modge Podge before, it is great and can be used for everything. You will want to apply it with a small spunge brush (available at craft stores). Apply a coat of Modge Podge to your box, and then lay the paper on top. Next cover the paper in another coat of Modge Podge. This will give you a nice finished look.

Step 2 – While your Modge Podge is drying (preferably overnight), go ahead and make a tag. I wanted to soften the 40 “sucks” with something friendly, so at the last minute I made the oh-so-simple tag for my gift “But You Make it Fabulous.” When I make this again, I will do something a little nicer, maybe something printed – I hate my handwriting. But you can make this as simple or complicated as you like.

Step 3 – After the Modge Podge is dry, apply your letters. I used my Cricut to cut the letters out of vinyl (because I LOVE vinyl), but if you don’t have one, you can just use letter stickers.

Step 4 – Place foam block in your box and place your lollipops. After the lollipops are placed, fill in with shredded paper for some color.

Step 5 – Attach your tag, and you are good to go.

See, simple 🙂