There is no cuter sight than a new baby, dozing away in their crib in an adorable nursery! Nowadays safety calls for less bedding in cribs, but Mattress Protectors and Sheets are always a must. But, despite some super cute sheet prints and patterns, bedding supplies aren’t always the most exciting thing to buy for a new baby. So I set out for a cute way to package these essentials so that they could be both beautiful and a useful set that every new mother needs!

With the Bedding Essentials Bento, I decided to display these necessary items in a minimalist style, with the sheets framing the rolled up mattress protector, tied into a cylinder with a dapper ribbon! This bento displays one standard Crib Mattress Protector and a Crib Sheet 2 Pack, which are not only very needed for a new baby but fun for personalizing with different sheet colors and ribbons! My ribbon actually came with the items in the bento, but you could use any you have on hand to add another dimension of color and pattern to this streamlined gift box.

These boxes are also great as mailable presents to your mama’s to be, a lovely way to send a personal and thoughtful gift  from near or far! The best part of this box is there is no extra tissue paper or stuffing required to keep it safe in shipping, all the items fit perfectly with no room to spare! For these and other Baby Gift Box Bentos, I used a 10 inch square box to house our gifts and it was the perfect size for this Bedding Essentials Bento. While you can use other sizes of boxes for this project, you will have to play around a little with the first foldings of the sheets and mattress protector to make them the right width.

Supplies:

- Standard Crib Mattress Protector
- Baby Sheet 2 Pack
- Ribbon
- Square Gift Box

- Tissue Paper (Optional)

SHEET FOLDING

My sheets came prefolded to the perfect size for these gift boxes, but since they are standard crib sheets I learned how they folded them so you can use any sheet set you like!

1. Start with your sheet face down. Fold the sheet in thirds width wise, such that it is the width of the gift box you are using, with the extra fabric from the sheet smoothed over at the ends to form an almost rectangular packet.

2. Fold the ends of the sheets inward, such that the height of the fold is slightly lower than the height of the box. Once both ends of the sheet are folded in, fold it over once more to make a small rectangular packet that is the width and height of the gift box.

MATTRESS PROTECTOR FOLDING

While the mattress protector didn’t come fully folded and ready for this bento, it did come at the proper width of my gift box, so if you are using a similar size you will be able to skip the steps folding it into a rectangular packet and move straight to the rolling up and tying portion, but just in case I learned how it was folded and outlined it below.

1. Start with the mattress protector face down, folding it in thirds width wise such that it is the width of your gift box.

2. Now fold the protector into thirds again, width wise, to create a shorter rectangular packet as shown below.

3. Place the ribbon to secure your mattress protector centered under the rectangular packet running lengthwise. Starting on the open ended side, roll the mattress protector into a tight cylinder as shown in the photos. Secure the cylinder with the ribbon, tying it into a bow.

BENTO ASSEMBLY

Now you are ready to assemble your bento, which is simple and easy! Start by placing one sheet inside the box along the top edge, and secure it in place with the mattress protector cylinder. Finish the bento by inserting the last sheet under the mattress protector,and top with your box lid and your bento is ready to gift!