Basic 3D Letter Box Instructions

Here's a quick explanation of how to put the Letter "K" box together. A better tutorial is coming, but for now, I hope this will help answer some questions. If you are putting together a letter other than the "K", please read through this, as most of it will apply to you as well.

When you bring your file in, zoom out until you can see all the shapes. 

I've divided it into four sections that are labeled: "Accent shapes for lid", "shapes for lid", "Accent shapes for base" and "shapes for base". I would ungroup them and set aside the accents for both the lid and the base. I cut all the lid and base shapes from the same solid colored cardstock. 

BOX BASE

1. First, work with just the base shapes. Do you see the little circle, square and triangle shapes that are on the end tabs of each shape? (I don't think the shapes are included in the first couple of letters and the actual shapes to help might also be a heart, or a diamond or some other small shape.) These are there to help you know what attaches to what. Make one long strip with the three tabbed strips by matching the shapes up. (Number of strips differs from letter to letter.) 
2. After you have done that, find the long side that matches the long side of the "K" and attach it to the edge of your "base K shape". Then work your way around the letter attaching the tabs to the base "K" shape. 

Repeat the above with the Lid shapes. 

ACCENTS

1. The accent pieces correspond to the strips. So the column of accent pieces for the lid on the left, correspond to the lid strip that has a circle on one end and a triangle on the other. The middle column of lid accent pieces correspond with the rectangle/circle lid strip, and finally, the right column of lid accents go with the rectangle/triangle strip.
2. Center the accent that corresponds to it's plain on the box. These are optional. You can use all or just a few. If you see the "SPOOKY" that was featured on Silhouette's blog by Jodi G. Warner you'll notice that she only used the front accents. The photos in Silhouette's store of the letters uses every accent. It's up to you. 

*Word of Advice: Try making it out of type paper first. When I create the prototypes, I scribble on one side of type paper so I know what is the right and wrong side. Once you do one, you'll have the hang of the other letters. 

3D pilgrim hat tutorial

This tutorial is for assembly of the 3D pilgrim hat box die cut that can be found on the Silhouette Online Store. 

These are the shapes that you will have in your file. I cut the lid, base and brim out of black cardstock. The belt around the lower part of the hat, I cut from a dark gray cardstock and the buckle was cut from goldenrod yellow.

First, all fold lines fold in toward the wrong side of the paper. Above is  about what your lid will look like when all folds fold in. I prefer to crease all folds before I start assembling.

I then applied a liquid adhesive to all the tabs. 

And then careful worked my way around the hexagon attaching the sides of the lid.

When finished, your lid should look like this.

Next, attach the tab on the base to the other end to form a hexagon as shown. All tabs should be bent inward.

I place the base inside the lid to help it keep it's form as I attach it to the brim.

Next, apply your adhesive to the tabs.

And carefully, center it on the brim. 

Press down gently on the top to be sure that  the base is sticking.

Carefully tug off the lid.
*Sometimes, I have to hold the base down with my fingernail on a corner while I tug on the top.  (If you notice the front left corner of my base in the photo has a slight crease at the bottom. This isn't noticable when your finished though.)

Reach your fingers in and press on the tabs to be sure they are secure to the brim.

Create another hexagon shape with the belt by glueing end to end.

Apply buckle to belt with a little adhesive.

Slip the belt over the lid and your finished!
Now fill with goodies and you have the perfect Thanksgiving party favor!

3D Candy Corn Box Tutorial

This is the tutorial for assembling the 3D Candy Corn box by Snapdragon Snippets. You can find the .studio file in the Silhouette Online Store.

When you receive your file, we will have 4 strips and 4 candy corn shapes. All four candy corn shapes are slightly different sizes. Stack all 4 together, with the smallest on top going down to the largest. The two smallest are the two that we will use first. We will be adhering the strips to these two shapes.

I've labeled the first two pieces we will using as "main top & main base".  (the smallest of the candy corns)

The two thick strips are for the base and the two thin strips are for the lid.

 To assemble the base, adhere one end tab of the thick strip to the other thick strip. Both strips are symmetrical so it is not important which end.

Glue thick strips together.

I like to curl my paper when going around curves to prevent creases. There are three spots once the strips are attached to each other that have smaller tabs. Each of these spots are a "corner" of the candy corn. These are the three spots that I curled.

Curl paper like a ribbon where the smaller tabs appear.

Take the SMALLEST candy corn shape. Find the 6 smaller tabs of the strip that does not have end-tabs. In the photo below, it would be the thick strip similar to the strip on the far left.

Arrow is pointing to 6 smaller strips we will be talking about.

 Adhere the top point of the SMALLEST candy corn shape to the middle of the 6 small tabs discussed earlier. Be sure to line the sides up as close as possible! Otherwise, the strips may not fit around the candy corn just right.

Glue small tabs to top point of smallest candy corn.

 Continue around, adhering group of tabs along the way. Smaller tabs should line up around corner.

Glue left side of tabs.

Continue around candy corn.

Adhere end tab and rest of smaller tabs to finish  base.

Repeat above steps for the lid.

Once finished assembling, you can add the optional extra candy corn shapes. The smaller leftover candy corn shape is for the base while the largest is for the lid. Simply apply adhesive on outside of box as shown for both base and lid. Press the accents on centered. This will give your box the overhang and make opening a little easier.

Apply adhesive to ouside of bottom and top of box if you'd like to use the accents. Other wise, skip to end. 

Largest candy corn shapes give an overhang on top and bottom and make opening a bit easier!

Finally, apply white, orange and yellow shapes and if you'd like to jazz it up a bit more, I've included ric-rac pieces to go around the lid.

Apply finishing touches, and your done!

Halloween inspiration from Jodi G. Warner!

I hope you are having as much fun with all the new 3D designs from Silhouette that we are! I'd like to first direct you over to Jodi's blog for some great Halloween inspiration! She has used a few of the "Build a Jack-o-lantern" designs to create these easy halloween plates.

And what could be cuter than this fun "BOO" totem pole?!

My next post will be the tutorial for putting together the 3D candy corn box available last week on the Silhouette Online Store!

3D Paper Witch's Boot Tutorial

This is the first of the witches boot series by Snapdragon Snippets that will be available or already available through Silhouette America's online store. For more info about how the Silhouette die cutting machine works and where to get it, see www.silhouetteamerica.com. 

To see all digital die cut designs available by Snapdragon Snippets, click HERE!

This tutorial shows some quick tips to make assembling a little easier. 

To start, I usually like to prep each piece. By this, I mean fold all tabs in the correct directions, and finger curl the paper to fit around curves a little better. 

Here's how I curl the back piece that fits around the heel. You can look at the final photo to get an idea of the curvature. In the photo below, the end with the tab is on the left side. 

And here is how to curve the bottom of the boot:

For the heel section, fold all tabs in as shown below:

For the top section of the boot, I laced up with ribbon. 

After lacing and tying the ribbon to keep it out of the way, I attached the tongue of the boot to the back as shown and curled the ends up:

Next, starting at the toe, slowly work your way up the boot. 

*Be sure to take your time in attaching the sole and the top. If you go to fast, the sole may end up not lining up in the end. Also, if you do to much of one side at once, it will be difficult to reach your fingers inside the boot to adhere the rest of the sides. 

Once the sole of the boot is attached, move on to the back. 

Assemble the heel as shown:

And adhere to the bottom of the boot. I like to line up the back edge of the heel and the boot to make a nice flowing curve. 

And that's it! There are so many ways to dress this up! I'd love to see what you come up with!

What is it?! Giveaways!

I've been busy, busy, busy! And what have I been busy doing?! Why working on 3D fun for my Silhouette friends! I have a little preview of a piece of one of the designs I've been working on. You are either going to get it right away or have no clue, I think. This one might be very tricky to guess. So here it is...

Can you guess what this little black piece goes to?

How many of you like quilting, sewing or would like to learn? My wonderful quilting mother has started up a new blog called 

" Needles 'n' Knowledge". 

On this blog, she will be posting tips and techniques of quilting. She also will have posts thrown in every once in awhile of creative ways to use my designs. Don't I have the best Mom! 

And to get things going, right now she has 3 quilt giveaways going on! Help her grow her numbers and travel over to her site! Leave a comment and join her site and you could be entered in 2 different quilt giveaways! Get a friend to join and you'll be entered into a third giveaway!

Just click HERE to enter.

Now for those who leave a comment and let her know that I sent you, I'll provide you with a free design! 

So hurry over! Contest ends October 20th.