This fancy paper lantern with a cross on each panel is my version of a bomboniere favor box someone posted on a Silhouette Facebook group I belong to. It would make a pretty table decoration for a christening, Communion, or Easter celebration.
You could also use it for a candy box or treat box, with or without lining the panels.
The bottom folds closed and stays closed without adhesive. The top is closed with a ribbon threaded through slots.
Mine is much larger (just under 4" on a side) than the sample I saw for sale, which was laser cut. I don't know whether the Silhouette Cameo could cut the design that tiny, but I do know I did not want to try to weed it! If you cut it successfully at a smaller size I'd love to know.
I lined mine with vellum (template not included in the file set, you'll have to wing it) and lit it with a battery operated tea light.
How to make the cross lantern
Download file set: Silhouette Studio, PDF, SVG (how to use my SVG files in Cricut Design Space). Files download for free; pay what you wish for the tutorial and to support this site. Suggested contribution for this project is $1.99.
Cut on black lines, score on red lines.
If you are using Cricut Design Space:
-- Resize to 8" wide.
--On each page, once you have ungrouped the pieces, set the top two pieces in your layers menu to score. (Change the color of the large (black) outer edge cut to white so you can see everything. That piece is down near the bottom of the layers menu.)
Assembly is pretty much self-evident. This is the order of assembly I used.
If you're planning to use vellum backing squares, adhere them now.
Crease all score lines.
Adhere the lantern pieces together, using the long vertical tabs.
This Dedham pottery bunny plate inspired frame is a design I've worked on intermittently for several years, mostly because I wasn't sure what it was going to become when I was done!
What it became was a card topper or frame, with a separate backing circle (mine is cut from crackle-design paper).
Here is the square card I made from it.
Suitable for Easter or maybe Valentine's Day.
I think the sentiment should be "Some-bunny loves you." Too corny?
I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to connect the elements to the frame, and editing the small white brushstroke details on the rabbits. Too many and too small details didn't cut or weed well. Even after I was "done" designing, it took 7 tries at cutting it to get it right, with adjustments to the design after every cut.
Let's not discuss the long period during which I was trying to add the crackle lines to the plate in a way that could be machine cut. So incredibly time consuming to draw and not workable in the end.
Easy to assemble now that I've done the design work for you :).
Cut the bunny circle from card stock (blue is traditional for Dedham pottery) and back with a circle of distressed-looking off white or taupe to look like a crackle glazed plate. (Xyron Creative Station
is my secret weapon for adhering intricate cuts like this one.)
I have cleaned up the files for this paper sliceform egg and added template cutting files for Silhouette Studio and an SVG that works better in Cricut Design Space.
Also suitable for hand cutting using the PDF file.
This is a good beginner project if you have never tried a sliceform construction before.
In this post I am revisiting the torus, a fascinating kind of paper sliceforms, with inspiration from Peeps marshmallow bunnies.
This torus Easter wreath has gone through numerous iterations. I started with only rabbits, but the front rows covered too much of the back ones, so all you could see were the tips of the ears. It looked odd. I tried eggs (terrible) and finally settled on tulips for the inner rounds.
The torus files are in two sizes. (Note that you cannot scale sliceform templates significantly as the slots can become too wide or narrow. 10% in either direction is probably the limit.)
The smaller one fits 4 template pieces on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of card stock and has a finished size of about 6" in diameter. This is the size shown in the video below.
The larger wreath fits 2 template pieces per 8.5" x 11" sheet of card stock and has a finished size of about 11" in diameter. This is the one shown in the assembly photos.
How to make a Bunnies and Tulips Sliceform Torus Wreath
Files download for free; pay what you wish for the tutorial and to support this site. Suggested contribution for this project is $1.99.
Please, please, I beg you, practice by assembling a plain one like this one before you attempt to make my Easter bunny and tulip torus.
Keep calm, and remember you will always slot like pieces together--like pieces from the same side of the two pieces. So a right-hand smaller bunny attaches to another right-hand smaller bunny; a left-hand larger tulip slots together with a left-hand larger tulip, etc.
Low tack (painters) tape can be your friend! Once you place a piece you may want to tape across the slots to adhere it temporarily.
I used four colors of card stock.
--For the smaller wreath you need 4 sheets of card stock, one sheet per color. --For the larger wreath you need 8 sheets of card stock, two sheets per color.
Cut 8 pieces with slots at the bottom (4 each of two different colors), and 8 with slots at the top. Alternate the colors as you assemble the torus.
I started by slotting together two pieces together at the center bunny.
Then a piece to the center bunny of that piece (purple attached to pink).
You will be able to fold the whole thing flat if you are slotting the pieces correctly.
Continue to alternate, adding to the side, then the middle, until you have used all of the pieces. I do this with the torus flattened, just lifting up the top layer and sliding the new piece into the proper slot.
And now the tricky part, that you more or less need to power through and make it happen in a way that works for you.
Expand the torus, pulling the ends toward each other to form a loose ring shape. Find the two card stock pieces whose large bunnies are still unslotted. Those two need to slide together.
Once those are hooked it will look like a big mess. Courage! Handle it gently, and start looking for obvious places that should slot together. Look for matching pieces that are near each other and join them. Resist the impulse to pull things apart and start over. Most things are still either slotted in the right place or nearly so.
Here is my big mess sitting in my lap. You can see most of my bunnies have slipped apart, but not completely! They are still in the correct place, just need tightening.
Work around and around, finding unused slots and matching them up.
For example, here you can see the green and blue tulip are matching up, and behind that the smallest green tulip will slide into the pink.
Work around and around the circle, joining anything that is still loose. Eventually it will all come together.
Pull all the pieces until the slots are tight. Be sure to turn the wreath over and do the other side.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting has a new domain name! All pages now redirect to extremepapercrafting.com from extremecards.blogspot.com.
I had to pull out all my crafting tools to construct this Easter chick and egg sliceform snow globe pop up.
The globe is acetate. I used overhead transparency film and cut it on my Silhouette Cameo. The base is Bazzill card stock.
The chick, egg, and snowdrops are vellum. I cut two sets of everything except the flowers. I ran them through my Xyron Creative Station (remembering to mirror one of each pair) to add adhesive.
If you print out a copy of the design you can lay the acetate circle on it and use the printout as a guide to placing the pieces.
I adhered the pieces to one side of the acetate circle, then flipped it over and put the matching pieces on the back. I left the flowers as a single layer to make them more translucent.
The snow dots are white gel pen.
The snow globe template is adapted from a commercially made pop up card I received from a friend. Since it's not my own design, I cannot share it. However, you could easily use this one from Elaine Wolfe. You would need to modify one large circle--the one with the slots at the top, on the outside edge of the circle--by not cutting out its center. You want a solid, filled in circle of acetate.
The chick and egg are from here. You could use any circular designs. Adjust the size to fit your snow globe circle.
It folds flat for mailing.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting has a new domain name! All pages now redirect to extremepapercrafting.com from extremecards.blogspot.com.
You may want to preview this assembly video (for a slightly different card) for help gluing together the panels. The assembly part starts about 7 minutes into the video. (The beginning is mostly die cutting and gluing decorations on the card). I suggest changing the order, however, and gluing the decorative eggs on after tabbing together the egg-shaped accordions, so the glue tabs are hidden under the eggs.
How to Assemble the Card
Cut out panels, as many as you like (I have 4). Watch your paper grain! I cut mine sideways and got cracks on the panel creases (oops!). You want the grain of your card running vertically, parallel to the crease on the long tab of the panel.
Cut out egg shaped liners. Cut out panel liners. I used 8 egg liners (front and back of the eggs: red, blue, orange, green) but only 2 panels liners (That's the paper with the leaves and flowers, which is visible on the front and back of the card when it is closed. I thought it was too busy to cover the entire card with it.)
Glue together the panels, using the long side tabs. You will have an extra one at the end of the card that you won't use. Cut it off. Photo below shows the tabbed together panels.
Mountain and valley fold the panels to form a zigzag. Pre-crease the small vertical creases at the tops and bottoms of the eggs.
The eggs need to zigzag in folds opposite of the panel folds. See that the red and blue egg join comes forward while the card goes backwards? The blue and orange tab join is behind the panel fold (which comes forward) and the orange and green join is, then, to the front (as the panel folds to the back).
Adhere the little side tabs on the eggs. In the photo below you are seeing the finished card. Glue the tabs before adding the decorative eggs, so they are hidden underneath. There will be an extra tab at one end, which you don't need. Cut it off.
Pop the eggs creases into a zigzag that is opposite of the card zigzag. Close the card. The top and bottom tabs will collapse on the creases as the eggs turn, allowing the accordions to fold flat.
Open the card and add decorative eggs and panel liners.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting has a new domain name! All pages now redirect to extremepapercrafting.com from extremecards.blogspot.com.
Here is a lovely spring pop up card for Easter or Mother's Day.
This is an easier and more versatile version of the flower diagonal box previously posted.
The basic form has two curved surfaces for you to add whatever decoration you choose.
How to Make a Circle Back Diagonal Card in a Box Download file set: PDF, Silhouette Studio, DXF, SVG.
Files download for free; pay what you wish for the tutorial and to support this site. Suggested contribution for this project is $1.99.
Cut box pieces from card stock. Cut embellishments and flap liners as desired. (Black=cut, red=score.)
Adhere left and right box pieces at center front.
Adhere center front V-folded crescent: Match center front points and side folds to card center front point and folds. Apply adhesive to the tabs on the V-fold and adhere them to the inside of the card front.
You may wish to adhere this front piece with the card opened out (top photo), or folded in half (bottom photo). Do a dry run with the pieces and see what feels more comfortable for you.
With the card semi-open, creased at the center front, curl the hooked pieces into the center back.
Insert the hooked pieces between the front and back flaps, at the side corners of the box.
Fold the card flat.
Open out one back panel and adhere the inside panels where they touch. Do not adhere the two hooked crescents together!
Decorate as desired. Do not glue anything across the center fold of either crescent or the card will not open and close properly.
You can extend items a little bit forward on the front fold of the front crescent because of the direction it folds. See how my orange flower petals stick forward a little? That works.
Keep everything clear of the fold on the back crescent, however.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.
(remembering to mirror one of each pair) to add adhesive.
