Explosion of Hawaiian Blossoms for Grandma

The majority of my family lives only about 45 minutes from me, a fact that I'll forever be grateful for. It's pretty rare for me to miss a family gathering, so I was really disappointed when allergies-turned-cold kept me from the Mother's Day party last weekend. Luckily, I rallied enough to finish and deliver Grandma's present - yaay.

My Grandma is adorable. There's really no other word for her. She's smart and sassy and a total flirt (a trait that she successfully passed on to me, or so I've been told!). She also has an exceptionally green thumb. She has an amazing sun room full of plants and flowers and an entire windowsill full of orchids in her kitchen.

When we were in Hawaii, I tagged along with Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Auntie Karen to a gorgeous botanical garden on Maui. As I ran around doing my best to avoid the mosquitoes, I managed to snap quite a few close-up shots of orchids and other tropical flowers. My plan was to make a photo album for Grandma for Mother's Day.

The pictures all turned out great and as I was prepping my materials for the album, I saw a blurb on the local news about an "Explosion Box." It looked fun and easy to do and after a quick Google search for instructions, I got started. The box consists of three layers of cardstock, paper and pictures. Each piece is cut to a specific size and when all four sides are folded up and the lid is placed on, it looks just like a little square box. The "explosion" occurs when the lid is removed and the sides fall open.

I'm sad that I didn't get to see Grandma's reaction, but this picture tells me that she loved it. Isn't she cute?!