Emily Nguyen
Emily Nguyen
This is my process for creating the Christmas Blind Box for my family.
I specifically made these for 8 people, my older sister and her boyfriend, my younger brother, my cousins, Lisa, Jack, and Daniel, and my boyfriend and I. We all relatively like (or obsessed with) the concept of blind boxes or mystery figurines. Every Christmas, they would all come to our house to celebrate, and we usually do Secret Santa. I wanted to make something special for everyone since I had just gotten back into crafting and making clay figurines again.
During the brainstorming phase, I considered various themes and characters that would appeal to each family member. I wanted to ensure that each blind box would contain a unique and exciting surprise. So, I decided my sister would be a decorative christmas tree, with her boyfriend being a decorating Tree Elf. I decided this because during a DnD campaign, my sister wanted to be a tree, and her boyfriend is always supportive of her and made sure she was having a great time still. So, I thought the idea of her being a tree that he, an elf, was decorating would be a cute matching couples concept.
My cousin Lisa is obsessed with the Grinch, so I had to make her a Grinch figurine. However, compared to the other ideas, I found this concept a bit conflicting as most of the concepts/designs made it personal, or had a personal touch of each person. However, the grinch itself was just the grinch, it didn't have any of her personal touches to it as adding wavy brown hair to him would seem silly, and she didn't wear any distinct accessories. However, she is relatively tall, which the grinch was already himself, so I just made the figurine the tallest of all the figurines.
My cousins Jack and Daniel are brothers, with Jack being the oldest brother and the eldest person in the group. We always referred to him as Santa Jack as he loves christmas and gift giving, so I had to make him as a santa figurine with his iconic gold glasses. Daniel is the younger brother, and I honestly did not know what to make him as. I was not close to him nor knew what christmas concept would fit him best, so I made him as a snowman with his iconic black glasses.
My younger brother, aka Bubbie, is born in the rat year of the Chinese zodiac. Given that he usually hangs out with my boyfriend and I, I wanted his concept to relate to ours but still be unique. So, I made him as the Rat King from The Nutcracker, which reflects his mischievous and contagious laugh.
For my boyfriend and I, we recently went to The Nutcracker ballet show, and I wanted to incorporate that into our design. My boyfriend also did marching band, so the Nutcracker was the perfect fit for his figurine. I had difficulty making mine match while still feeling personal. I chose to be Clara, but since her outfit is typically a light pajama gown, I instead based it on an outfit I wore to the show—a dark green puffy tube dress with half-up, half-down ribbon hair.
I used clay to sculpt each figurine, carefully shaping and forming each character by hand. I then painted each piece to add color and personality, making sure every figure felt unique. After painting, I applied a gloss finish to seal the pieces and give them a polished, smooth look.
The final blind box collection successfully reflected each person’s personality while maintaining a cohesive Christmas theme. Each figurine felt personal and intentional, and the variety made the blind box experience more fun and exciting. Overall, this project allowed me to explore creativity, storytelling, and craftsmanship while creating meaningful gifts for people close to me.