Noah's Ark Valentine and Matching Game

There are so many cute Noah's Ark things out there.  Charlotte (my daughter's niece) has a cute stuffed one and a Little People Ark, too.  One of my favorite books when I was little was Noah's Ark and I had a fabric one as a baby.   When I opened the email from Keren with this darling Valentine, Kitty got scared!  Why?  Because I squealed like a little girl,of course!  It just couldn't be any cuter.  Keren (Free Pretty Things for You) and I are happy to bring this free image to you today.

Of course, the animals are in pairs and I started thinking about Two by Two and came up with an animal matching game to go along with the Noah's Ark.  I found the perfect animal stamps at Dorky Prints.  There are 6 adorable little animals.  So easy to print and cut into cards.  I printed them onto 110 lb. paper.

I cut them into 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles and rounded the corners.  I also stamped a heart background stamp on the back.  You could print a patterned paper on the back of the animals before you cut them out.  

This box is really easy to make and is perfect to hold a box of crayons to color the animals, the matching game, and some treats, too.  In fact, this is a great package for all kinds of things!  Here's how:

You need two pieces of patterned paper.  One sized 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 and one sized 7 1/4 x 8.
This paper is from The Digi Rainbow.

Score the larger piece of paper.  With the shorter side at the top, score two inches from the left and two inches from the right.

With the longer side at the top, score at 5 1/2 inches and 7 1/2 inches.

At 5" don't score all the way from the top to the bottom.  Make two separate scores, stop at two inches (you'll see your earlier score mark) and start again at your other score mark and score the remaining two inches.  I use a ruler to ensure that I pick up the right scoring indention.

Now cut away both sides on the 2" score mark stopping at the first score mark. Also make the 4 slits shown above to create the tabs.

Now the top needs to be rounded.   If you don't have a circle die or cutting machine, trace around a circular object and cut.  If you do have a die, place it at the top and roll it through your cutter, being sure to stop so that the entire circle isn't cut out!  Repeat on the other piece of patterned paper.

To create handles, you can cut or punch out a shape.  Repeat on the smaller piece of patterned paper.  

Now fold on the score lines and glue to create the box.  The smaller piece will glue right onto the back tabs.  I think you'll find a lot of uses for this cute box!

A couple of other fun ideas for this project would be to change it into a birthday present or use it for a Sunday School class.  I think it would work well for both.  

Download the Noah's Ark Valentine HERE.    Be sure to visit Free Pretty Things for You to see all kinds of wonderful images free for you!

I also have the Two by Two Matching Game tag available.  It's printed in a blue square so that you can die cut it into any shape you want.  Download it HERE.

So glad you stopped by - have a wonderful week!