Silhouette Tutorial: Ice Cream man box

I don't know about you...but I like to eat ice cream year round...and that means any time is a good time for ice cream themed projects. The ice cream theme is perfect for birthdays, showers and gift giving. With ice cream on the brain...I created a little ice cream man box for your future parties and gifts.

Here is a link to the design in the silhouette online store: Box Ice cream Mouse 

This design can work on both the Silhouette Cameo or the Silhouette Portrait. If you use the Silhouette Portrait, ungroup the design. Select the main box piece, turn it so that it is straight up and down, and not on a diagonal. Regroup all of the piece, then scale the design to 70%.

The file does have several pieces, but I'll show you how to cut efficiently and also give you a little tip to help move the project along a little faster.

Open the file in the Silhouette Studio software. Cut the main box piece from white card stock.

Set the box piece aside.

Next select the grouped pieces and slide them over as shown in the photo above. They have already been grouped in areas that can be the same color. This will make your project go a little faster. Go ahead and cut strips of paper to accommodate the areas on the screen that correlate with your cutting mat.

Depending upon how new your mat is, because you are cutting several smaller pieces of paper at the same time, you may want to tape down the edges of the paper strips to prevent movement when cutting. 

****Time saving tip: use Silhouette's adhesive paper and it will make the following steps (where you paper piece the mouse) go much faster. This paper comes with adhesive and a removable backing. This paper is specially designed to adhere to the cutting mat so that the removable backing grips instead of slides like some removable backings. 

After you have all your pieces cut, assemble in the order above.

 Continue building up your pieces adding the wheels.

Then add the spokes, fender, and hub.

 Add the ice cream cone silhouette.

 and the ice cream.

Add the striped awnings.

 Now crease the main box.

 Start attaching sides beginning with the bottom of the cart.

 Glue the second side on the bottom of the box, making sure that corners line up. 

 Now attach the cart freezer door. Be sure to put the glue on the right side. Insert the tab into the top of the cart.

 You can choose to have your door hinged on the side with the mouse or the opposite side.

 Hold the freezer door in place until the glue is set.

 Go to the next side of the cart, and glue both sides.

Now put glue on the flaps of the top of the freezer box. Pinch them into place.

 You may want to hold them in place while drying with Clover Wonder Clips. (made for quilting but the come in handy for crafting--especially for holding projects together while gluing!)

Glue the awning roof together. I'm using Tombow mono adhesive it's a great paper glue that holds paper well without curling it.

 (Please note, I changed the design slightly after assembling this and decided to continue the awning all the way around. You will need to fold down the front awning and attach it to the sides, and find the separate piece of awning to glue to complete the awning all the way around.)

attach the colored roof piece.

Bring both sides of the mouse together at his back and attach the tab to the other mouse.

Clip it together to hold it together while drying. You may want to add a dot of glue to hold the mouse ears together, but it isn't necessary.

Now fill the cart with candy or another special treat. 

Hope you enjoyed this project!

Happy Crafting!

Samantha Walker

Silhouette Tutorial--Triangle Surprise box! (includes copy and paste directions)

Patterned paper from my Traditions collection for Carta Bella

Patterned paper from my Giddy Up! collection for Carta Bella

This week in the Silhouette digital download store, you will soon find a few different versions of this triangle surprise box cutting file. This design can be cut with the Silhouette Portrait or Cameo machine. If you cut with the Cameo, it is already sized on a 12X12 mat. 

(These are maximum sizes...they can always be sized down.)

Cameo cut rectangular box approximate finished size will be 3 X 3 X 3 3/4

Cameo cut square cube box approximate finished size will be 3 X 3 X 3

For cutting this shape on the Portrait machine, you will need to size it down to fit within the 8.5 X 11 cutting area. 

Portrait cut rectangular box approximate finished size will be 2 X 2 X 2 1/2

Portrait cut square cube box approximate finished size will be 2 X 2 X 2

 Open the file in your Silhouette Studio software. Select the cut lines. Go to Object, select ungroup one time (selecting more than once will start to ungroup cutting lines and other components.) This will release the cutting lines into groups of parts. Select the small pieces of the project and move them off the cutting area into the grey area leaving the main box piece in the cutting area. Now cut that out being sure to select the correct paper settings for your chosen paper or card stock.

Now select the rectangle with the triangle in the middle and move it to the cutting mat area on your screen. You will need to cut two, so use one of the copy and paste methods explained below:

Here are three methods for cut and paste in the Silhouette Studio software (choose one method):

Select the object you want to copy then use the keyboard commands ctrl c, then ctrl v.

Select the object you want to copy then go to "edit" in the top bar and select Copy and then Paste from the drop down menu.

Or select the object you want to copy, while it is selected, hold down the "alt or option" key on the keyboard while dragging your selection with the mouse.

All of the above methods will get you the same result of duplicating the selected object. 

Now that you have these pieces cut, find the main box piece and the optional 

contrasting triangle window pieces.

  Glue them down over the triangle areas of the main box piece.

 Now move the triangle into the live cutting area. You will need to cut two. So you will want to copy and paste a second triangle into the cutting area using one of the methods mentioned above. 

I chose to cut mine out of acetate to create a fun clear window.

Glue the acetate triangles onto the inside of the main box piece. 

Proceed to cut the optional interior rectangular sides--you will need to cut two if you choose to use this part of the box. You will also cut the square piece that fits into the bottom interior of the box.

Please note, this part does not have to be used. You can just use the outer triangular sides to fold in if you want. However, if you put a treat in the box like jelly beans, they will spill out when you pull down the triangular sides. This can be a fun presentation if this is what you are after. To fill a box without sides, close one triangular side, then lay the box down on that side. Fill the box, then close the other triangular side. Now you can turn the box upright and tie it with a ribbon until the recipient gets surprised with the contents spilling out.

 If you chose to use the rectangular interior sides, glue them at the fold line, 

so the tab edge is glued to the bottom of the interior of the box.

Notice how the folded edge of the interior rectangular sides, 

lines up with the fold line at the bottom of the box.

This is where they should be glued.

 Fold the triangular exterior sides.

Glue the triangular exterior sides.

 Glue the square piece onto the bottom of the interior of the box. 

To close the box...

Pull up the triangular window sides, and attach the half moon tabs. 

Then pull up the interior rectangular sides (if you used them.) 

Lastly pull up the exterior triangular sides.

And there you have it...

a very unusual box for any occasion! 

Happy Crafting!

Samantha

Silhouette tutorial "Expandable box" for Portrait and Cameo users

Here's a fun box that is the perfect size for little gifts. This makes a great presentation for any occasion.

I have two versions of the expandable box, each with a few different styles. One is a square box and is formatted for Cameo users--though Portrait owners can size it down and get a slightly smaller version of the box. The second version of the box is rectangular and is formatted with Silhouette Portrait users in mind--though it can be sized up and be used by Cameo owners. The instructions here apply to all of the expanding boxes. Look for new styles on this expanding box in my Silhouette store.

Just click on the images below to be taken to the cut file:

Paper from my Traditions collection for Carta Bella

Paper from my Traditions collection for Carta Bella

 Cut the file out. I recommend double sided cardstock with contrasting colors. 

 Fold all dotted lines toward the center except for the long 1/4 inch tabs which will fold outward.

 Glue on the contrasting sides (this is optional of course.)

 Fold the box so that the curved tabs fold under the sides. 

Glue the 1/4 inch tab down in the the box to hold.

 Note that the box will now act as if it is hinged and can expand, and contract. (cool, huh!)

Now close the box using by inserting  half moon tab into the slot. 

Optional: Tie a ribbon around the box for decoration.

Happy Crafting!

Samantha

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