Wow, I've been having lots of fun getting the Pi together. First off, I think it looks great in its new little box. Considering I had roofers pounding flecks of tar into my loft, I was mighty thankful for the protection. Between hooking it up to a monitor and attaching a keyboard and mouse, I started to have a memory recall. This felt just like when my brother and I were connecting our first computer, a Timex Sinclair! You can laugh, it's okay. My brother and I spent many a late night sneaking onto the computer when my parents were asleep. Anyway, I merely followed the Element 14 tutorials for set-up, and I'll say right now that the NOOB (New Out Of The Box Software) was perfect for me. I chose the Raspbian OS, and in a few minutes I had a start screen, with some fun surprises -- games, games, Python games! I can tell you right now that I love "Squirrel Eat Squirrel". Check out the "omega" squirrel that got created.
After getting sidetracked with that, I moved onto another program I like -- Scratch, from MIT. I've been wanting to play with this for quite some time, as I heard it's good for teaching code to young people. In fact, some use it as an intro to writing games, and I can see why. Moving the cat around is instant gratification, and I know I'll certainly be spending more time here once my project is finished. If you are a parent, definitely get your kids involved with this one and they'll be ahead of the curve. Finally, it was time to unplug from the games for some craft work.
I wanted to house the Pi in an appropriate Valentine fashion, so a traditional candy box seemed best. Of course the stores didn't have any in stock yet, so I had to order mine from a professional box company minus the chocolates. It was a tragedy, yes, but I'll get over it. 
The box I chose has a gold matte finish, which I thought would be easy to cover with paint. In fact, it is probably best that I ordered my box this way because most boxes have a ton of branding on them making them more difficult to cover. I chose some acrylic matte paint in a Pearl White color and used a sponge brush to make sure the layers would be thin, as cardboard doesn't like to be wet. I made it through three coats so far, but the color is a bit too silvery for my liking. I want the box to be a frame, not the focus of the piece. So, I will purchase some pure white paint next time I go to the art store. It's a minor issue, and I have two other heart boxes just in case this one fails. I'm all about choices, and so far, so good.
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