DIY Decorated Boxes (Part 2 of 2)

On Part One of my DIY Decorated Box guide, I focused on decorating the outside of a box. For this Part Two entry, we’re focusing on the inside—filling the box up with goodies! You can fill your boxes up with whatever you want, depending on what it’s being used for. For today, though, I’ll be looking at different, fun ideas for a bridesmaid proposal.

Get Inspired

Between my love of Disney and my nickname (Princess Allison), finding a theme for my boxes was pretty easy—Disney princesses. I matched each girl to a princess, based on their personality and their preference. This allowed me to make personalized cards for each one based on that Princess. I took a well-known lyric or line from that princess’s movie, and reworded it as a reason for why they are special to me.

For instance, my Maid of Honor’s favorite princess has always been Cinderella. I made her card light blue with an image of Cinderella and “You make my life divine,” which references a lyric from “So This is Love.” On the inside, I tied in more of the Disney theme using a free font I downloaded based on Walt Disney’s handwriting. Personally, I use www.dafont.com—it’s a great website for free non-commercial font downloads of almost anything you can imagine.

You can also tie in the proposal theme into the ceremony itself, when it comes time for that. As a way of personalizing each girl’s bouquet, the stems will be wrapped in the color ribbon that matches their princess.

Find Goodies That Match Your Theme

Determining a good theme that works for you and your girls is the hard part. Going out and getting the goodies to fill it is the fun part! Here are the items I have in my boxes.

Plastic Tiara. I picked up these plastic tiaras at Party City, conveniently in a pack of six. Sure, they’re meant for kids, but what princess doesn’t love a tiara? They come as little combs girls can put in their hair. 

Princess Jelly Beans. I found these awesome jelly beans on Amazon themed to Disney princesses. I wanted to include some candy for the girls to munch on that still fit the theme, and these came in whatever quantity you need for a great price.

Ring Pops. Speaking of candy, I picked up some Ring Pops when I was at Party City. After all, it is a proposal, and what’s a proposal with a giant ring? The bag came with ten when I only needed six, so  yours truly may have eaten the extras...

Party Poppers. This was one that I found for cheap at Party City. There those things where you pull 

the string, and a punch of confetti pops out of it. I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate our friendship.

Pixie Dust. I actually just got these in today! I found a seller that has little tiny bottles of glitter "pixie dust," and they happened to come in six colors that perfectly fit my six princesses. It’s the one little gift that can’t really be used, but it’s just a little prop that goes along with the Disney theme. Pixie dust is all about making your dreams come true!

Stress Relief Hand Sanitizer. While not exactly princess themed, these little bottles are a great, useful, inexpensive gift to include. Bath and Body Works always has these on sale, and I got theme for a dollar each. Stress Relief is one of my favorite ever scents, and it will help them out if I ever happen to become a Bridezilla. I’m going to add small tags to bottles explaining this, as well.

Disney Pins. These are the most expensive parts of the gift. Steven and I love Disney pin trading, and we will likely be incorporating it into the wedding somehow. Each girl gets a pin specific to their own princess. Disney pins can be very elaborate and beautiful, like this one of Belle themed to a painted, framed portrait.

Personalized Card. Of course, on top I’m putting the customized card with their princess quote, and the official, “Will you be my bridesmaid?” question. There were designing in Photoshop, printed out, and adhered to blank cards I picked up at Michael’s. Each envelope addresses the bridesmaid as Princess to continue that theme, and make them feel like the princess they are to me.

No matter what your theme, you can find fun ways to fill up your decorated box. Think outside the box a little (pun somewhat intended), be creative, and you’ll find plenty of options that fit your personality and work for all your girls. Maybe a simple necklace with their birthstone, a framed photo of the two of you, a small flower that you made out of something meaningful to you. There are so many possibilities!

Fill It Up!

Now that you have all this great stuff, load it up in the box! Depending on the size of the box, you might have a lot of extra space still. It’s just another opportunity to add to the experience! For my boxes, I used some paper crinkle that I picked up at Michael’s for a few dollars. A big bag filled all six boxes pretty well.

Some other options might be to fill it with wrapped candy in the colors of your wedding, fake flower petals, or some craft rocks. Just make sure if it’s something heavier that the box you got can still support everything.

I’ll have to do another update when I give these boxes to my girls and post their reactions! We’re also working on something smaller and nerdier for my fiancé to ask his groomsmen (think Pokemon related).

How did you propose to your bridal party? Was it simple, or something unique and elaborate? Leave a message in the comments!