Handmade....from start to the very FINISH!

 by Barbara Bechtel

About 6-8 months ago, while looking around at all my unused craft supplies, I decided to make a concerted effort to start using up all the bits and scraps of paper, wood, craft supplies, etc. and try to make a 100% effort not to purchase anything that was absolutely non essential.....ahh, the sweet horde of a mixed media artist....I'm sure many of you can relate.....

Specifically, I'm talking packaging. Although, I've always waffled between buying boxes, business and jewelry cards, packing supplies, etc. I've always used the excuse, "I don't have enough time to do ALL those things." For myself, though, I realized that in the time I spent researching, comparing prices, doing graphic design, layout, and printing, I really could make the time with a little extra effort to make these supplies to truly make my jewelry and designs unique from start to finish AND use up my extra paper supplies at the same time.

Instead of using bubble wrap, I've been shredding beautiful catalogs after I'm through perusing them and shredding vintage clothing patterns that I've been hoarding! Almost anything can be shredded to use as filler! So much more fun than shredding old bills and receipts, eh?

A selection of completely handmade business cards. All have their own unique personality. Clockwise from top: Beth Schaible ( letterpress by the artist), Second Surf (designed, printed, and handcut myself), Canoo (stamped and screenprinted on recycled household paperboard), Dacey Hunter (scrap watercolor paper, then inkjet printed with contact info), Sara Lee Parker Textiles (screenprinted)

The back of Canoo's card....she recycles all the paperboard from their home into business cards! This fits in nicely with her upcycled sweater goodies!

This is the packaging I did for Lori Anderson's upcoming Cup of Bead Soup. I've been painting tiny paper doilies from my estate sale stash to use in my paintings. Torn and taped to the pillow boxes (whose supplies are ever so slowly dwindling) with washi tape and tied with some pretty string and a little tag from leftover watercolor paper scraps.

 Vintage postcards that have been tea stained and with quick sketches and collage elements make great earring cards for more involved earrings and the buyer gets a cute little piece of art to keep!

Here are some other great ideas for using upcycled or handmade supplies:

~Patty from My Life Under The Bus takes those ugly bubble mailers that we always mean to reuse and don't and makes them PRETTY! 

~From the Love My Art Jewelry archives: Make an origami box to hold your jewels....This would look great with a little of that shredded tissue inside...hmmmmm......

It's all About Presentation : How to Make a Paper Box

Today I'm going to show you how to make a simple handmade box. It's the box that inspired last month's Art Spark challenge. I first encountered this box pattern when I received a beautiful piece of jewelry from the lovely and talented Lorelei Eurto which was packaged lovingly in a box just like this.

For my boxes I purchased a couple of packages of scrapbooking card stock.

It is perfect because it is both beautiful and square.
Square is where we start with this project. You need two pieces of paper the same size, and perfectly square. The size of the paper determines the size of the box. I am illustrating with 12 x12 inch paper but if you quarter it, you end up with four boxes of petite size. (my favorite)


This is all you need. Scissors and paper. Make sure the paper is stiff like card stock. It makes your box strong and your folds crisp.



Choose two pieces of complementing paper. One will be the top and one will be the bottom of the box. Begin by removing any extra tabs that have been attached to the paper by the manufacturer.

**Please note -I have chosen two pieces of paper that are identical as one side of them is decorated and the other printed red.

Choose the paper/color that you'd like to be the bottom.
If you are using 12 x12" size paper, trim 1/2" from two perpendicular sides.

The bottom of the box needs to be a bit smaller to fit inside the top when folded. I usually eyeball this but if you are making smaller boxes, trim a smaller amount proportionally.

Next, with your chosen color for the bottom facing the table, fold the square into a triangle meeting opposite corners. Open the paper flat and fold the two other corners together. Make soft creases when you do this. You are making a guideline for the next step. Open your paper flat once more.

Above you will see the next step illustrated. Bring your four corners together into the middle using the nice 'X' you made in the center of the square.

Once every one is in, turn each one out to look like this:

Beautiful. You're doing great!


Now the edges of the square get folded to the center 'X' point. Fold them in and flatten them back out again.

My finger is pointing to the crease you will make.

Showing two sides up. All four sides will come in to meet the center point, get creased and then fold out again.

Once you have folded all sides in and then back out you will see a small crease-square in each corner of the arrangement.

What you will do now is carefully cut two places on parallel sides of the work. You know when to stop cutting when you reach the crease-square's point. The point of the scissors above are in just the right place to stop.

Now after four beautifully precise cuts, you have made this (above)

Open out the "short" sides like the unfolding wings of a bird ( I know, but it's late and it's a good visual)

With the open wings flat on the table, lift the two "long" sides up and have their corners meet and overlap. (How do-you-do corner? Just fine, corner.)

Uh oh!

The outside corner is too long and too pointy.

So we trim it. Just a bit, to make it even.


You can see both parts of the next steps above.

#1. while holding the newly acquainted corners together, let that bird wing that we opened up earlier reach up and wrap around and over them to hold them together.

( hey, this metaphor's not too bad).

When you lay the corner in the box bottom, it will hold with friction. If you wanted a more permanent bond try a bit of glue or double sticky tape.

#2. Do the same with the other side.

TA DA!

You have just completed the bottom of the box.

Nice one.

Now for the top.

The pattern I would like on the top is now facing the table as I start folding. Repeat all steps the same as with the bottom.

Your top half will be a tiny bit bigger and should be able to slide down easily but with some resistance. If you think it's too loose or too tight, don't fret.

That ill-fitted box bottom is a great drawer organizer and you can make a new one by adjusting the width of the 1/2" strips that we trimmed from two sides of the bottom paper in the beginning.

The top taking shape. Here we go again with the bird wings...


They enfold the two sides and..... BAM! A boxtop.

Pefecto.