3D Twisted Origami Tree

Here's a nifty papercraft, an origami Christmas tree made from a map.

The base is square and the folds spiral around, tucking in at the top.

I looked through a discarded atlas to find a map with a lot of green.  You can boost the color by sponging some green ink on the map if you need to.  You will see a tiny bit of the back side of the paper at the very tip of the tree (the beige part on my tree).

The finished size of the tree depends  of course, on the size square you start with.  I used a 9" square of atlas page and ended up with a 3" tall tree.

The origami tree fold was designed by Jannie van Schuylenburg.
Link to folding directions by Leyla Torres.

I've made a bunch of other projects from one discarded atlas--the Dutch apple sliceform, and this rolled rose wreath.  (THAT took forever to assemble, but I love it.)

Back to School Papercrafts

The weather at my house turned cooler yesterday, and it's back to school soon here in the northeast.

Here are some school-themed papercrafting projects from the archives.


Box of Crayons Pop Up Card
This might be my favorite box card of all time!

French School Room
Fair warning: this school pop up card is challenging and time consuming.

Pleated Apple Box
There's also a pumpkin version of this little container.

Sliceform Apple
Surprisingly easy to put together.

Little Red Schoolhouse
Put a tealight in this little house and set it on your shelf.

Crayon Box Pop Up Card

Crayon box cut files and printables for a cute and colorful card-in-a-box type of pop up card.  It folds flat!

This papercraft 3D crayon box can be machine cut or hand cut.  Finished size approximately 5" tall.

How to make a crayon card-in-a-box

Skaters and Houses Shadow Box Card

This papercraft project is sort of a shadow box, sort of a pop up card. It doesn't exactly pop up, although it is possible to ship it flat.

It reminds me of a painting of people skating on the canals in the Netherlands.

This is what it looks like when back lit.

The skaters and houses are slotted through the floor of the shadow box.  The backing is snowflake printed vellum paper.


How to make a skater shadow box card

Paper Box Gingerbread Advent Calendar Part 3

Several weeks of work and a LOT of paper later, I have completed my gingerbread advent calendar from paper boxes. 

The front has a tall door with dimensional snow paint outlining it.  The wreath is made from punched branches.  I covered the gable end with a triangle of brown paper and scalloped trim.  Windows are cut from yellow waxy paper.   The candy sticks are made from striped paper rolled diagonally into a tube.  Drawer pulls are small brads fastened through each drawer front.

The roof is decorated with snow writer paint and melted pony beads.

I cut the tree from a piece of scrapbook paper and then cut it apart to fit the drawers.  It is decorated with Stickles glitter and jewels.

How to make a gingerbread advent calendar from boxes

House of Boxes Advent Calendar Part 2

If you've been following along the last couple weeks, you know I've been working on a gingerbread house advent calendar constructed of boxes.

I have finished making 25 boxes and have put them together to build a gingerbread house.  Now it's all about the decorations.

How to make a gingerbread advent calendar from matchboxes

Gingerbread House Advent Calendar Part 1

Yes, you guessed it, the mystery paper craft project is going to be an advent calendar.  The design consists of 24 or 25 matchbox type boxes, stacked into a 3D house.

Depending on how you stack the boxes, you can make a chalet type gingerbread house (a cube), or a farm house (a rectangular prism).

My 25 box gingerbread advent calendar house is still in progress. If you want to work along with me, start making your boxes!

How to make a matchbox advent calendar

Mystery Project Work in Progress

About a month ago I put out a call for ideas and got some great suggestions (see the comments on this post).

I'm hard at work on this paper craft--can you guess what it might be? 

If you think you know AND want to play along AND you live near an A.C. Moore you might want to run over and get 25 pieces of 12" x 12" card stock in the color of your choice while it's still on sale (that would be TODAY).

Once I finish making my 25 boxes I'll post an update with the templates so you can get started.

Pigs in a Barn Pop Up Card

A few years ago when these free standing pop up cards were a cardmaking fad, I saved a picture of one with side flaps that opened, thinking I would make one...some day. 

Fast forward 5 years or so.  I was looking for a barn-themed card for my daughter who is interning at a swine farm, and found by this one by Lisa Bullock to use for inspiration.  I particularly like the use of the side flaps to create the barn interior.


The box base of the free standing pop up card collapses upward to fold flat.

When you pull the tab at the top, the barn emerges through a slot, and the base becomes a box.

The barn doors open to the sides and lock the card in the popped up position.

For my card I used pig illustrations from children's books, drawn by Paul Galdone.   

Library Thank You Card in a Box

I made several of these box greeting cards to thank my volunteers at my real-life library job.

The large window and boy reading on the window seat work perfectly for this type of pop up card.

When the card is closed, you see a bouquet of roses, shelves of books, and a glimpse of the arched window.

This is the back of the closed card.

The illustrations are by Margaret Bloy Graham, from The Plant Sitter.
The large yellow rose is a freebie from SVG cuts.


It took me about 4 hours of cutting, pasting, duplicating, stretching, and shrinking, to fill the card.

I make these box cards with an box-shaped interior strut.  See this post for details.

The boy reading a book is on the back cross piece.  The dog and piles of books are on the front cross piece.

How to Make Pop Up Card Boxes, Cut Separately {Throwback Thursday}

Welcome to Throwback Thursday week 4! Here is another updated post from the very beginning of Extreme Cards and Papercrafting.

This is Lesson 4 in a series of step by step lessons for How to Make Pop Up Cards.

Pop Up Boxes, Cut Separately

In the first three lessons all of the pop up mechanism were cut into the base card. This leaves a hole in the base card, and limits the appearance and shape of the pop up.

In these examples the pop up boxes are constructed from separate pieces of paper.

The assembly of the cards is self evident. Match a folded corner of your box to the center fold of the card and glue the box wherever it touches the base card.

You can add additional boxes to the first one, any place where you have a right angle.  Here, the front of the basket and the left-hand side of the (green) base card form another 90° angle.

 
The picnic basket is glued in first, fitting the crease of the box into the crease of the card.  It is glued everywhere it touches the green card.  (It is not glued to the blue base!)

The soda carton is adhered to the front of the basket where the two touch, and to the green card.





Examples Box Pop Up Cards, Separately Cut Boxes

Lantern with Petal Swirls

This intricately cut paper lantern with filigree swirl petals and flowers is another version of a bomboniere favor box someone posted on a Silhouette Facebook group I belong to.

Small, it's a candy holder; large it's a pretty table decoration or centerpiece for a wedding or party.

See this previous post for a Christian version with a cross in the center panel of the lantern.

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 cut mine with my Silhouette Cameo at a size that was easy to weed!

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 petal 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.

Close the bottom as shown on the daisy tea light lantern post.

Thread a piece of ribbon through the slots at the top and tie a bow.

Hint: When you turn your tea light on and off it is easier to open the bottom than to untie the top!

Filigree and Cross Lantern

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.

Close the bottom as shown on the daisy tea light lantern post.

Thread a piece of ribbon through the slots at the top and tie a bow.

Hint: When you turn your tea light on and off it is easier to open the bottom than to untie the top!

Valentine Tea Light Lantern

A little present for your Valentine, an open top tea light paper lantern with hearts.

The hearts are a modification of the lowercase "o" from a dingbat font called SexyRexy-Smitten.

 

Assembly is the same as for the daisy tea light lantern.

Download Cutting Files: PDF, DXF, SVG (how to use my SVG files in Cricut Design Space), Silhouette Studio.

Files download for free; pay what you wish for the tutorial and to support this site. Suggested contribution for this project is $1.00.

You may also like these other tealight lanterns:  Halloween ghost  lantern, Halloween pumpkin and cats, Christmas tree lantern.


Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Daisy Hexagonal Card in a Box Tutorial

A card in a box doesn't have to be square!  Any shape with an even number of sides can be folded flat for mailing.

This daisy petal pop up card is 6 sided.

How to make a Hexagonal Card in a Box

Download file set: PDF, Silhouette Studio, DXF, SVG.

Cut box and strut from card stock.

Cut liners from decorative paper as desired: 6 squares (cut twice to cover inside and outside of box) and petals (cut 6).  I did not line my petals.

This green paper is on the outside of the box.  The inside is lined with yellow.

If you are lining the inside of the box leave the left-most liner unglued on its left edge.  This allows you to hide the box tab when you put the box together.

Construct inside strut: fold the tabbed strip on the score lines, curl strip into an open rectangular box, and adhere the tab end to the inside of the other end of the strip.

(Note: when I made and photographed this card I had a semi-circular shaped top on one long side of the strut.  I didn't like it, so I cut it off.  Pretend it isn't there!)

Adhering the Strut

The strut is adhered to the box before the box is constructed.

Lay the box piece open, wrong side showing.

On the second box to the left from the tab, measure in from the crease edge of the box 3/4" and mark a vertical line. (This is the vertical midline of the box.)  Line shown in dark grey.

Collapse the strut and lay it on the card as shown, to figure out placement.  Make sure one of the short sides of the strut is visible on the left, and the other short side is underneath, on the right (where the arrows are pointing).

Lift the strut, flip it over, and apply adhesive to that short side that was hidden.   Flip the strut back over and adhere it, re-aligning  the right-hand creased edge of the strut with the grey line.



Apply adhesive to the other short side (on the left-hand side), shown in red squiggles below.

Close the left side of the card, folding at the second crease from the left (right under the t of the "extremecards" watermark).  This adheres the second short side of the strut to the inside of the card.

Gluing the Box Together

If you lined the inside of the card, spread adhesive on both sides of the box tab on the right.  If not, spread adhesive on the tab only on the right side.

(This picture, with the green paper, is showing the right side of the box tab.)

(This picture, with the yellow paper next to the tab, is showing the wrong side of the box tab.)

Close the right-hand side of card, adhering the tab to the inside (the wrong side) of the card, sliding the tab under the inner lining if you used it.

 The card will only fold flat one way--the way you constructed it.  If you try to fold it across the other diagonal the strut will tear off.
 

You may notice that the strut does not sit exactly straight across the hexagon.  It can't.  (Without deforming the opening into a rectangle.) 

See how the strut is closer to one corner than the other?  You can't "fix" it.  That's the way the geometry works.

When I was making this card, that's why I cut off the semi-circle on the strut.  It seemed to draw attention to the skew in the strut.

I bought the butterflies and bugs from the Silhouette Store.  On sale this week for $.50 a file!
Most are glued to the struts or each other.  A few are glued to thin strips of acetate cut from some old overhead projector sheets I had lying around.



Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.