Really Easy Cupcake Box Tutorial

So do you remember these cupcake boxes from the last day of school?

They are SOOOOO easy and I have had a few people ask how I made them...  So here is my short, and very informal tutorial.  Please don't judge my diagrams, I made them quickly in Paint instead of super perfect and accurate in Photoshop like I really wanted to do.

The box is super simple (especially with a scoring tool or scoring blade on your trimmer) it's just a square that you score into 9 equal sections. (Yes I know mine aren't equal... I told you it wasn't going to be perfect)

Then cut off the corners, and score from the inside square's corners to the middle of the cutoff section. Fold on all score lines. The corner flaps inside the box will stick straight into the center, but once there is a cupcake in there you can just tuck them to the side so they don't stick into it.

If you want to fold over the top sides of the box (for double sided paper, and if the box is a little too tall), cut the corners down a little farther and score about 1/2 inch lower on each side. Then fold them over and glue.

Like I did on these ones...

The insert (to hold the cupcake centered) and the Lid are basically the same.

You need to glue the flaps on the Lid, but not on the insert (I actually just cut the corners of the insert all the way off).

To make the cutout in the center of the lid I used Design Studio and placed a square (the same size as my lid's center) on my DS mat and centered an image into it. Load your cricut mat with your lid placing the center part in the same place on your mat as the DS mat (I usually do it towards the middle at about 4 inches in and 4 inches over). Then delete the square from the DS mat and press cut on your computer.

I just cut some plastic from a page protector that I glued on the inside of the lid to make the window in the box.

I hope this isn't confusing or missing any important steps...
Good Luck!

And if you make one using this tutorial, I would love to see it!! Leave me a comment so I can check out yours!

Baby Onesies... with the CRICUT!!

Some friends and I got together for a craft night and wanted to learn how to make "freezer paper" shirts.  We used onesies since two of the women just had babies!!  There are tutorials all over the web for using freezer paper as a stencil and having the Cricut cut out your design to use. Just Google "freezer paper shirts" and you'll see...

Here's how we did it:

1. (Not pictured) Cut your design out of freezer paper using the Cricut or other die-cutting machine.
2. (Also not pictured) Iron your freezer paper stencil (shiny side down) to your fabric using the cotton setting, no steam. Iron a scrap piece of freezer paper to the inside of your fabric with the shiny side up, this creates a barrier so the fabric paint doesn't bleed through to the other layers. We also put a piece of cardboard inside to give it stability.

3. Dab on fabric paint using up and down motions instead of brushstrokes. Paint a thin layer, don't use too much... Like I did, or it will soak through the edges of the freezer paper and look bad. (Don't worry, it can be fixed if yours does this too.)

4. Let dry for at least 15-20 minutes, then do another coat of paint. Let that dry another 20-30 minutes, then paint on any details you want and let dry again. (I know, it's a lot of waiting!)

It can take several layers of paint to get something like this adorable Poodle onesie my friend Carolyn made:

5. Finally... carefully peel up your stencil, maybe enlist an extra set of hands to help hold the fabric.
6. Ta-Da! Then you can add your fine details (we used puff paint) and iron on jewels.

365 Cards Day 52 & 54

Day 52- Tuesday's Trio

The Challenge was to use a Brad, Blossom, and Circle. I made a circle chipboard album with a paper folded blossom. I made the album using up cereal boxes. I really did double duty with the circle part of the challenge because not only is my album and pages circular, the blossom is also made by cutting out and folding 9 smaller circles. I'll show you how at the end of this post.






Next up is Day 54- Recycled Elements

I hope it doesn't matter that my project wasn't about making a card, for this challenge or Tuesday's Trio, but I love playing with paper so this is what I came up with.



I have been holding onto these little boxes that EmmaLee's medical supplies come in FOREVER!! Well, finally I have a reason to use them. I've wanted to re-cover them for a while but I guess I just needed a good push, like playing along with 365 Cards Blog!! I love it!
...And I made it coordinating to hold the little circle album.



Once I finish the album with pictures and stuff, I will add a title to the front of the box. I was thinking something simple like "friends" or "my friends", then I can use up all my random pictures of friends on the inside with some journaling about them or something.
(Wow, my ribbon is really wrinkled!! Ignore it, I'll fix that later.)

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Short Tutorial- Paper Folded Blossom



Start by cutting out 9 circles, you will use 8 for the blossom, the 9th is just a base for gluing the others onto.
1. Fold all 9 circles into quarters. ( In half one way, then in half the other way) Then on 8 of them make score lines from the left and right horizontal line down to the bottom vertical line. (see picture)



2. Turn paper over and fold up on score lines.
3. Turn paper over again and fold the flat edges you just made by folding, into the center lining it up with the vertical line. Do on both sides and press down firmly.



Then just arrange and glue them to your last circle by fitting two "blooms" into each quadrant that you folded, matching the tips with the center.

Glass Etching

It is actually sooooo simple to do, and the results can be stunning. The only drawback of glass etching that I can see is the cost of the etching cream. It is EXPENSIVE! Oh man! A small 10 oz bottle of it was $34.99 at Michaels. Of course you should use a 40% off coupon and save yourself $14.00 to help ease the cost. I also purchased my mirrors at Michaels, for quite resonable prices.

Seriously I got a little carried away once I discovered how easy it was! I started with this small coaster set. Here's how:

Supplies:

piece of glass or mirror

plastic or paper stencil

etching cream

repositionable spray adhesive

flat bristle paintbrush

1. Clean your glass with Windex first, wipe until dry.

2. Spray the back of your stencil with the repositionable adhesive. ( I laid down scrap paper underneath to catch any overspray from the can.)

3. Position the stencil on your glass. Don't worry if you place it crooked or wrong, just peel it back up and position again.

4. Rub the stencil firmly to ensure complete contact with the glass, especially on any small pieces in the design.

5. Using the paintbrush, apply a thick layer of etching cream onto your stencil making sure to completely cover all open areas of the stencil. *Also be careful not to brush any extra cream in unwanted areas!!

6. Let cream stand for 5 minutes. ( I have found that adding additional time is not neccessary and doesn't improve the darkness of the etching very much, but it doesn't hurt if you accidentally leave it on too long.)

7. Wash cream completely off under running water. Dry, and clean with Windex again.

That's it! Just think about all the possibilities with all the stencils out there!

Glass Etching on votive holders is a little more difficult but worth the trouble for the beautiful outcome. When you think of all the glass items in your house that could be spruced up with some decorative etching I hope you'll be as excited as I am!