By Carol Duvall
Make these holiday greeting cubes of wood or of card stock. Decorate with rub-ons, stickers, die cut letters, stamped letters, stenciled letters or draw your own. Buy the boxes, die cut them or use a CD to form whatever size you want and then use them to decorate a mantle or a tabletop or send them through the mail to deliver your holiday message. These are easy to make, fun to have and versatile in their use. Gold 'N-O-E-L' Materials: four pieces gold moire card stock
four round metal rim tags (1-9/16-inch diameter)
four 8mm gold paper fasteners
alphabet rubber stamps (to fit inside tags)
length of 1/8-inch wide red ribbon (enough to make four small bows)
hot glue or tacky glue
long-reach, 1/8-inch diameter hole punch
silver pigment ink
black marking pen
scissors
Steps: Tags
1. Stamp one letter on each of the four metal rim tags to spell N-O-E-L using silver pigment ink (figures A and B). Set aside to dry. Boxes
1. Using a box pattern of your choice or a die cut machine make four 2-3/8-inch square box cubes out of the gold moire card stock. 2. Fold one of the boxes. Decide which side of the cube will be the front panel. Place one of the tags on this panel positioning it where you think it looks the best. Carefully (without smudging the wet ink) mark a dot through the punched hole in the top of the tag. Remove tag and unfold the box. Punch a 1/8-inch hole in the box front where you made the dot. Ours is 3/4 inch down and 1-1/4 inches in from the left side.
3. Place the unfolded box with the hole on top of each of the other unfolded boxes. Mark the spot then use it as a guide to punch holes in each of the other boxes. Set aside. 4. Tie four small bows (about one inch across) from the 1/8-inch red ribbon (figure C). Set aside. Assembly
1. When tags are dry (about 10 minutes) insert an 8mm gold paper fastener through hole in tag and then through hole in gold moire box. Open the prongs of fastener to secure tag to box. 2. Fold boxes according to pattern directions. 3. Attach a small red bow on tag above fastener head with hot glue or tacky glue to each box (figure D). 4. When the season is over, unfold boxes and store until next year.
Figure D
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"MERRY CHRISTMAS" on red boxes with patterned paper
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Patterned paper 'M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S' Materials: pre-made die cut boxes (figure E)*
patterned paper
Better Letters Chunky Alphabet stencil
holiday buttons and bows *The red boxes are available at many party stores or they can be ordered in large bulk directly from the Acteson Paper Company (see resources). Steps: 1.Trace letters from alphabet stencil onto the wrong side of patterned paper (turn stencil over so that letter is backwards when traced). Cut out letters.
2. Fold boxes (figure F) and adhere letters where desired. Letters may be applied with glue or run through a Xyron machine using the adhesive cartridge. 3. Add holiday buttons or any other small holiday notions. 'H-A-P-P-Y H-A-N-U-K-K-A-H' Materials: die cut boxes onto blue card stock
rub-on letters in silver
silver gel pen
scrap card stock
craft knife Steps: 1. Cut out boxes on die cut machine using blue card stock. Measure one panel of box (ours measures 2-3/8 inch square). 2. On scrap card stock make a template by cutting a 2-3/8-inch square. Measure the size of rub-on letters (ours measured one inch square). 3. Use a craft knife to cut out a 1-1/8-inch square that is centered on the 2-3 /8-inch square of scrap card stock. This is your template for easy and exact placement of the rub on letters. 4. Place the template on the panel of the die cut box that will be the front panel, lining it up to match the panel exactly. 5. Follow the directions on the package to apply the rub-on letters to each die cut box. 6. Use the silver gel pen to add accent lines to the front panel. We used a bordering template for scrapbooking to do ours. 7. Assemble the boxes.
'J-O-Y' Materials: Fit-It custom template computer software for box making
patterned paper
sticker letters
scissors Steps: 1. Create box pattern in the size that you want from computer program (we made our boxes one-inch square). 2. Print out box pattern onto patterned paper. 3. Cut out boxes. 4. Decide which panel will be the front. Adhere sticker letters to that panel. Assemble box. Secure with glue or double-sided tape. Red, green and gold 'M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S' Materials: Accu-Cut die cut boxes in red and green card stock
Ellision die cut letters in gold card stock Steps: 1. Adhere letters to boxes. We used Xyron high-tack permanent adhesive.
Red, green and gold "Merry Christmas"
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Wooden block "Merry Christmas"
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Wooden 'M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S' Materials: 14, one-inch wooden blocks
white acrylic paint
foam paint brush
rubber stamp alphabet
Rocket Red Brilliance pigment ink pad Steps: 1. Paint each of the wooden blocks with two coats of white acrylic paint. 2. Stamp one letter on each block to spell out "Merry Christmas" using red pigment ink and the alphabet set. Let dry. Wooden 'M-E-R-R-Y'
Wooden block "Merry"
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Materials: 1-1/2-inch wooden blocks (enough to spell message)
3/4-inch wooden letters (to spell message)
Wood Stain Markers
sandpaper
wood glue Steps: 1. Sand wooden blocks if necessary. 2. Stain each wooden block with green 'wood stain' marker. 3. Stain each wooden letter with red 'wood stain' marker. 4. Attach one letter to front panel of each block with wood glue.
RESOURCES :
sticker letters - Sandylion
Sandylion Sticker Designs
400 Cochrane Dr.
Markham, ON L3R8E3
Canada
Phone: 905-475-0523
Fax: 905-475-1165
URL: www.sandylion.com
die cut boxes
Ellison
Website: www.ellison.com
die cut letters
Ellison
Website: www.ellison.com
silver gel roller pen - Staedtler
Available at local office supply or art and craft shops.
Staedtler Inc.
Chatsworth, CA
US
Phone: 818-882-6000
Email: info@staedtler-usa.com
URL: www.staedtler-usa.com
metal rim tags
Avery-Dennison
Brea, CA
US
Toll Free Phone: 800-462-8379
Fax: 800-831-2496
URL: www.avery.com
Delta acrylic paint
Available at local arts and crafts stores in an array of colors.
Delta Technical Coatings Inc.
Website: www.deltacrafts.com
1/8-inch long reach hole punch
McGill Inc. / Craftivity
Website: www.mcgillinc.com
Fit-It custom template computer software for box making - Red Castle
Red Castle Inc.
Saint Cloud, MN
US
Email: phil@red-castle.com
URL: www.red-castle.com
Chartpak rub-on letters, Woodcraft markers, Woodcrafter's Marker Kit, color stains
Chartpak Inc.
Website: www.chartpak.com
Stamps, Watercolors, Mist Bottle, Waterbrush Pens, Staz-On Ink, Clear Buttons
Hero Arts Rubber Stamps
Website: www.heroarts.com
pre-made red glossy die cut boxes
A minimum order of one case (100 boxes) is required.
Acteson Paper Company
7633 Haskell Ave.
Van Nuys, CA 91405
Phone: 818-785-7471
silver pigment ink
Clearsnap Inc.
Website: www.clearsnap.com
wood craft supplies
Lara's Crafts
Fort Worth, TX
US
Toll Free Phone: 800-232-5272
E-mail: info@larascrafts.com
Website: www.larascrafts.com
Rocket Red Brilliance ink pad - Tsukineko
Tsukineko Inc.
Website: www.tsukineko.com
Xyron adhesive
Xyron Inc.
Company Contact: Amy Romano
Website: www.xyron.com
Darice 3/4-inch wooden blocks
Darice Inc.
Website: www.darice.com
Better Letters Chunky Alphabet stencils - C-Thru
C-Thru Ruler Co.
Bloomfield, CT
Phone: 860-243-0303
Toll-Free Phone: 800-243-8419
Fax: 860-243-1856
Email: thecrew@cthruruler.com
Website: www.cthruruler.com
DaVinci rubber stamp alphabet
Available at art and craft stores nationwide.
Hampton Art Stamps Inc.
Medford, NY
US
Toll Free Phone: 800-229-1019
Website: www.hamptonart.com
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