bugaboo, mini, mr & me: Have a yummy, sunny day!

I can't explain to you how much I love lemon bars. They are delectable. They are irresistible. They are my favorite color! mr loves them too. There was a period when I made them literally every week - which likely explains why I gained 50 pounds when I was pregnant with bug.

The only thing better than the perfect lemon bar? Not having to make it yourself. Seriously.

So I've combined these two seriously awesome ideas into one very handy gift tutorial that can be tailored to your liking. Don't like lemon bars? (WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??) Make some brownies or something. (BOR-RING. Just kidding. Didn't you see the recipe yesterday?) Don't like yellow? (WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?) Make the box brown. Or zebra striped. Or whatever.

Essentially, you can take this tutorial and do whatever the heck you want with it. I'm giving you the basics - how to make perfect lemon bars + how to make a treat box with stuff you already have - all you have to do is run with it.

Let us get started, shall we?

We'll begin with the bars themselves, because without them, there is no reason for a treat box. These bars? They are delicious AND easy to make. Yea!

If that doesn't whet your appetite, there's something wrong. In fact, I'll just take a little bite...

I make my bars super lemon-y. If that scares you, you can knock the lemon juice down by about 2 or 3 tablespoons. I won't be offended.
Here's the printable recipe card for you:

Now that you've made the most delicious dessert on Earth, you need a pretty way to package them. You COULD run out to some specialty type store and buy treat boxes with cute little windows, but I didn't want to spend the money. So I made my own.

Here's what I DID have, and what I used to make mine:

These gift boxes were kind of deep squares, and I wanted a shallow window box. So I needed to make some alterations.

1. Open up the bottom of the gift box.
2. Use a scissors to cut down about halfway, then cut around the box.
3. The folded in corners look wonky and flappy. Stick on some double sided tape,
4. and pinch the corners together,
5. so the flaps are on the inside, stuck securely.
6. Do this to all the corners and you have a stable box bottom.

7. Line your box bottom up with the top you haven't cut yet.
8. Use your scissors to cut down to the right height (depth?).
9. Cut all the way around the box lid.
10. Use the double sided tape to secure all the corners. Now the lid and bottom are the same depth.

11. Use your box cutters or exacto knife to cut the inside out of the top. Just make a basic square cut out. You can use a ruler and marker if you want to be precise.
12. Take out the middle part.
13. Cut a square of cellophane gift wrap to slightly larger than the window.
14. Lay down double sided tape all around the window on the inside of the box lid.
15. Lay your cellophane down over the opening and press along the tape. Move from one corner diagonally across the opening to minimize wrinkles.
16. Now your window is complete.

BUT here is where you need your washi tape AND that circle punch to punch a bunch of circles out of the yellow cardstock:

You'll need to leave some circles whole, cut some in half, and cut others into slivers of circles.

17. See, the outside of your box top doesn't look awesome. It's the box cutters fault.
18. Use yellow washi tape to make a border around the window on the top of the box.
19. Lay your circles/pieces of circles out in a random pattern all around the top and sides of the lid.
20. Use double sided tape to secure them.
21. Use two if the circles for a "tag" and overlap them on the top by the window.
22. I just hand wrote mine. They say "when life gives you lemons... have a sunny day!"

Now, you just need to lay down a little parchment paper in the bottom, and slide your lemon bars in...

I have a confession. I made these lemon bars as a gift... for myself. I couldn't help it. I did share a few with mr. And you know what? They did make my day sunny.