Such a Pretty Idea for a Valentines Day Hand-made Card

How-Tuesday: Keepsake Papercut

Story by WoodlandPapercuts

Published on Feb 07, 2012 in Make

In my own personal book of made-up lore, I like to think of St. Valentine as the patron saint of paper craft. Fictions aside, Valentine’s Day really has evolved into the perfect occasion to pick up some paper and sharp tools and start snip-snip-snipping away in the name of love. For this week’s How-Tuesday post, Naomi Shiek of Woodland Papercuts has created a beautiful valentine for each of you. Print out her special design and make your own elegant card or photo frame for your sweetheart, grandma, teacher, or anyone else you’d like to send a little handmade love. Happy Valentine’s Day!

With Valentine’s Day nearing, cards are being bought, colored, and glued by countless sweethearts, from pre-school kids to grandmas. There are countless ways to make your love note, but there’s one I’m sure we’ve all attempted at one point or another: the papercut card. The tutorial below is a take on the old-school papercut card, though it can also double as a keepsake photo frame, which requires a higher skill level and a lot more patience than the average third grader can spare. This card will make for a sweet message to mail to your loved ones.

Supplies You’ll Need:

A self-healing cutting mat
Steel ruler
A sharp cutting knife and spare 30 degrees angle blades
A4 cover weight paper of your choice; something thick and stiff that can still run through a printer.
Printer (optional)
Gold pen and glitter or a wallet-size photo of your choice (optional)

Directions:

1. Download the template.

2. Print out the template on your paper. If the paper is too thick for your home printer, print it at a local print shop.

3. Time to get down to business! Cut out the design on your self-healing cutting mat with your cutting knife, using a steel ruler when needed. Begin with the smaller shapes and work yourself to the bigger cuts that surround them. That way the paper won’t tear.

Tip: For an easier job, don’t use the standard blades that come with the scalpel knife. Instead buy a pack of the sharper 30 degree blades.

4. When you’re done with all that cutting, you can either write in your message at the center (I used a gold pen and glitter) or glue in a wallet size valentine photo instead.

That’s it, you’re done. Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you make your own papercut, share a photo with us in the Etsy Labs Flickr group.

More Things to Make | Valentine’s Day on Etsy

Unique Gift Wrap Idea - Pyramid Gift Box!

How-Tuesday: Make a Pyramid Gift Box

Story by  luckandtape

Published on Dec 06, 2011 in Watch

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(Music by Tobias Gebb & Trio West, Eric Beug, and I’m From Barcelona)

We think that gift wrap should be just as interesting and heartfelt as the object within. (And rectangular gift boxes are pretty boring.) In this gift wrap how-to we’ll craft a pyramid gift box that’s sure to impress the most jaded recipient. Best of all, it doubles as an ornament!

Materials:

• Paper or cardboard for your pyramid
• Markers or colored pencils
• Ribbon
• Tape
• Decorative elements: stickers, washi tape, ribbons, bows, etc.

Directions:
1. Draw a triangle using this guide.
2. Cut out triangle and score folds.
3. Fold pyramid.
4. Use markers or colored pencils and color/decorate the sides.
5. Cut a piece of ribbon and knot it to make a loop for hanging.
6. Tape loop onto point of one of the sides. Then fold together with gift inside and tape shut.
7. Decorate pyramid with stickers, washi tape, ribbons, bows, or anything else you can think of!

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/how-tuesday-make-a-pyramid-gift-box/

UpCycled Gift Wrap Ideas

How-Tuesday: Upcycled Gift Wrap

Story by  virginiakraljevic

Published on Dec 13, 2011 in Make

MP4 | YouTube | Vimeo | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

(Music by I’m From Barcelona)

Last week we showed you how to package your gifts in new and fun geometric shapes. For this week’s How-Tuesday, we’re returning to a traditional style of gift wrapping, but with a modern, upcycled twist. All of the materials you’ll need for this how-to are readily available around the house, so if you’re in a pinch and need to wrap a gift quickly, give this method a try!

Decorative Wrapping Paper

Materials:

• Paper shopping bag
• Scissors
• Masking tape
• Wine bottle cork (rubber cork preferred)
• Utility knife (please note that using a utility knife in this project is not advised for children).
• Ink pad, household paint, or correction fluid

Directions:

• To make a homemade rubber stamp, take one end of your cork and make slight incisions with your utility knife around its edge. For a star/snowflake-like pattern, cut 3 to 4 triangle shapes on the edges of your stamp. Remove excess rubber/cork from your design so your pattern is raised a bit from the rest of the cork.
• Lay your paper shopping bag flat and cut as big a rectangle as you can out of one side. Remove shopping handle if there is one.
• Place the clean side of your paper up (the side without any logos) and decorate with your rubber stamp and ink pad. Let dry.
• After the paper is fully dry, place the newly decorated surface face-down.
• Place gift box upside down on top of your paper. Make sure there is enough paper to cover the box — this can be done by pulling two sides of the paper over the box to meet in the middle. You want a little excess paper in the center to assure that your box is entirely covered. Tape the center down with a piece of masking tape.*
• You’ve essentially created a paper tunnel around your gift box. The flaps of paper on either end of your box should not be too long. You can gauge what is an appropriate length by folding one side down to meet the bottom — it should almost reach the bottom, but never should be longer (this makes it very difficult to wrap). Cut excess paper until you have desired length.
• Take one side and fold the top part of your flap down, push the corners in to meet the box and crease the newly formed triangle-shaped flaps to a crisp fold. Fold these triangle flaps in and crease again, creating one triangle shape. Fold up and tape down flap. Repeat on the other side of your gift.

*For a more decorative tape effect, cut your masking tape strips 2 to 3 inches  in length. With your scissors, you can slightly fold each end in half and snip the end off at an angle toward you (it will look like you are cutting off a triangle). Open up ends carefully and repeat to the other side of your piece of tape.

Foil Topper

Materials:

• Foil
• Scissors
• Stapler

Directions:

• Rip off 6″ of foil from the roll and cut into 2″ strips lengthwise.
• Fold each piece in half lengthwise and smooth flat with your fingers to create 1″ strips.
• Cut each strip into thirds and place over one another into a star-like pattern. Staple the center to hold in place.
• To fringe the ends of each piece with your scissors, cut each flap into little slivers. Fluff up for a fun bow effect or leave flat for snowflake/star shape. Add a little loop of tape to the bottom of your topper and adhere to your gift box. Voila!

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/how-tuesday-upcycled-gift-wrap/

I think I've only stepped into 1 brick & mortar store this year for Christmas shopping!

I think this is a record for me...I think I've only stepped into 1 actual real-life store this year for Christmas shopping...and that was Kohls. Everything else I've purchased on-line, particularly from Etsy. Talk about so much easier...no stress, no lines, no pushy people. The only stressful moment that I've had so far was last night when a package was delivered by UPS, and it looked like the Jolly Green Giant had jumped up & down on it a few times! No wonder the UPS driver practically tossed it & ran before we could make it to the door! I would've had a few choice words for him!  GGRRR....But other than that, no problemo. This is the way to go, peeps.
'Cuz you know what? I think online shopping has really slowed down my usual "One for you, one for me, Two for you, Two for me" shopping that I normally do!  :)
So far so good. I found our 2 middle (Dirty Santa) gifts on Etsy, as well as our 2 White Elephant gifts. They're crazy funny!  Thanks to Ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Walmart.com, and Bestbuy, I'm good to go. Just got a few more things to find & I'm done!
The only store I plan on visiting between now & Christmas is the Liquor store - WooHoo!
But now, it's time to start wrapping, and I'll be doing that with a lot of newspaper & other recycled paper and boxes. Plus the boxes I learned how to make in the video that's posted here on my blog. Make gift boxes out of scrap paper! Yay!

How to make boxes out of scrap paper!

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