Before telling a little about the chocolates, I should share about the swap. The swap is a special event this year within a group called From Trash to Treasures, a subgroup of ravelry. Ravelry.com is a free, online organization that boasts a membership of more than one million international knitters and crocheters (with some weavers and spinners, too). Through ravelry, members document their projects, share patterns and ideas, participate in subgroups from among thousands of choices, communicate with like-minded crafters, and, in general, extend their handcraft skills. I belong to five ravelry sub groups; most ravelry members belong to many more.
Before joining ravelry, I had never heard of the word amigurumi. Amigurumi is a Japanese word that combines ami, which means crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, which means stuffed doll. Amigurumi often refers to small, stuffed crocheted or knitted animals but can also be used to apply to items of other representational shapes that are aesthetically pleasing but particularly that are cute or fun.
Above is a box of amigurumi chocolates that I made as part of my swap items. I crocheted the chocolates (and the chocolate dipped strawberry) from regular worsted weight yarn and embroidered some of the tops with embroidery floss.
The folded box, just over four inches across, is comprised of two pieces of 12 inch square paper: one for the top and one for the bottom. However, I trimmed the bottom box (the white part) by about 3/8 of an inch on two sides (side and top) so that the paper was a slightly smaller square. When folded, this smaller size made it possible for the top of the box to fit snugly down over it.
I purchased little candy wrappers from the grocery store to hold the amigurumi chocolates and adding to the fun and to suggest that the sweets are real. Eventually I glued ribbon on the box top so that it appeared on the outside but did not have to be removed to lift off the top but I did not take a photo of the finished box.
February 10, 2011:
Here's a second box of chocolates I finished yesterday. By adding this set my purpose is to share two things: an acknowledgment to a friend and a great hint for anyone wanting to make a box of chocolates, too.
First, I want to acknowledge Christina, a friend of mine, who made amigurumi chocolates for her mother-in-law for Valentines. Over the phone I walked her through the process of making a box for them to fit into and then when she was done and I saw the pictures of her chocolates, I was impressed with a few that she embellished with tiny crocheted flowers. I told her that if I made another set I was going to add delicate little flowers, too, because hers were so perfect. Well, I had a few chocolates already crocheted and thought it might be good to finish the set to put into another box and put little flowers on a few of them. Now for the great hint: This set of chocolates was embellished with puffy paints. I happened to have a few colors on hand, one of which was brown, perfect for the swirls and drizzles on some of the milk and dark chocolates! Then, with a few of my pastel colors, I created tiny little decorated flowers on the tops of two of the chocolates. This is a super duper hint because:
1.) it is a fast and easy way to embellish amigurumi chocolates and
2.) the puffy paint glistens like real icing
Of course you have to wait several hours for the puffy paint to dry (I let the chocolates dry overnight) but then they can be positioned in a box without fear of disturbing the finishing touches on the tops.
Thanks, Christina, for your idea of tiny little flowers on your chocolates. It's great to have creative, sharing friends.
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