Less Than Three Chrissy: craft

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Origami Gift Box Tutorial

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, my old computer died and I wasn't able to buy a new one until now. I promise though I'm still doing this blog! Today I have a tutorial on how to make an origami box with a lid from scrapbook paper or card stock. You can use them as gift boxes for your jewelry, to hold craft supplies, or just to hold small items around the house. They're really easy to make once you get the hang of it!

1. First you will need some colorful scrapbook paper or card stock. Don't use double sided paper since you will only end up seeing one side of the paper when the box is done. You can use a thinner paper like printer paper but it's better to use a thick card stock as it makes a sturdier box. Take a 12x12 sheet of paper and cut it into four 6x6 squares, you will need two squares for one box and one lid.

2. Turn the paper so the plain side is facing you.

3. Fold it in half vertically.

4. Then fold it in half horizontally.

5. Open it back up and you should have two intersecting creases.

6. Using the creases as a guide, fold one of the corners into the middle.

7. Repeat this for all four corners.

8. Now take the bottom and fold it up to the middle.

9. Fold the top down the same way so both ends meet.

10. Open it back up.

11. Fold the side into the middle the same way.

12. Fold the other side the same way so both sides meet.

13. Open it up again.

14. Take one of the sides and open it up.

15. Now to make the corners, this is where it starts becoming a box. Use the creases you've made earlier to fold the corner towards yourself.

16. Crease these new folds until it looks like this.

17. Open the other side of the paper and fold in all four corners.

18. Now take your open ends and fold them back over your corners. Tuck edge of the paper under the other pieces to make it stay.

19. Do the same for the other side and you have a box!

20. To make a lid for the box, take your second square of paper and repeat steps 1-7. But now when it's time to fold the sides to the middle, don't fold them all the way to the middle. Leave a little bit of space between the two ends so they DO NOT meet.

21. Do the same for bottom and top, folding them towards the middle but not meeting. Then continue the rest of the steps.

22. Now you should have a box (left) and lid (right) that look like this!

23. If you did it right the lid should fit snugly onto the box.

Experiment with different colors and patterns of paper! Make them extra special with some tissue paper and ribbon, use the same paper to cut out a gift tag so you can write the receiver's name on it. These boxes are simple to make but the possibilities are endless!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Decoden Basics

Hello lovely readers! Today I am going to break down the basic components of "decoden" and tell you where you can find all the ingredients to start making decoden yourself!

1. Deco Cream

The real stuff: You can find tubes of Japanese deco cream on many Etsy shops. The downside is that these can be really expensive (as much as $50 a tube!)

The cheap alternative: You can use silicon bathroom caulk or crack filler and get the same effect. All you have to do is buy a star tip from the bakery section of the craft store and pipe the caulk through a sandwich baggie. The upsides to caulk is that it dries fast (totally dry in 2 days tops) it's cheap (about $3 a tube) and you can find it at most department or hardware stores (Walmart, Target, Home Depot, etc.) The downside is that it can have a toxic smell, so open a window and/or have a fan going when you use it.

2. Cabochons

Buy them: You can buy plastic cabochons to decorate your cream from many Etsy stores. Search for "cute, kawaii, japanese, or decoden cabochons" under Supplies. You may also be able to find Japanese Erasers in cute food shapes at the craft store. Or use any beads, rhinestones, charms etc. that you like.

Make your own: You can also make your own cute candies and sweets with polymer clay (Sculpey, Fimo, etc.) You can make them free hand or with molds (this blog will feature how to make several miniature sweets with clay). You can find molds on Etsy shops like miniaturesweet.etsy.com

You can also make your own molds with Scupley mold making clay (found at the craft store) to make your own clay cabs.

3. Hot Fudge

This drippy sauce you see is actually colored hot glue sticks. You can find them in colors on Etsy shops or at the craft store.

4. Deco Sauce

To decorate your cabochons with yummy sauces you can use simple 3D puff paint. You can find them on Etsy stores but they're cheaper at the craft store.

5. Finishing Touches

Sprinkles: DO NOT USE REAL SPRINKLES!!! Real food sprinkles you'd put on cupcakes will melt in the deco cream and ruin your decoden. If you want sprinkles on top, you can make them with polymer clay by making a really thin snake and cutting it into individual sprinkles. You can also buy fake sprinkles from Etsy stores or use really small seed beads from the craft store.

Glitter: You can use any kind of glitter to top off your deco cream. Though you may want to put the glitter on first before the rest of your cabs because the cream could dry and then the glitter wouldn't stick.

6. What to Decoden?

Anything you like! If you want to make an iPhone case like the one in this tutorial, eBay is the best place to find them cheaply. You can also find DS cases, compact mirrors, brushes, boxes, anything you can think of!