Monday, December 21, 2020

A Slice Form Christmas Star


Slice Form Christmas Star

 I think this is an appropriate evening to post this slice form star.  Jupiter and Saturn were aligned so closely tonight that it appeared to be a double planet. Some stargazers are calling this the “Christmas star", the one that lead the three kings to the manger on that special evening. This rare phenomenon, it last occurred in 1623, amazed me because the conjuncture of the planets made them appear to sparkle like my five point slice form star.

This slice form star requires a lot of spatial reasoning as the slits are in different positions on each of the slices. No glue is required to make this star as the slits are slid into one another.

I used 65 lb. cardstock. I used a printed card stock. If you follow the directions, the print will be on the outside of the star if you are interested in a coordinated star.

The print is on the outside of the star.

Here is the PDF.

Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG.

Set the pieces out in the same manner as shown above with the same orientation the slits.  The top piece is number one and so forth.

Take the first two pieces and slide the slits together as shown above.

Take the third piece and slide the slits into the first two pieces. Make sure everything looks the same as the photo above.

Take the four piece an slide it into the right side of the third piece.

Slide the fourth piece slit into the second piece.

Slide the fourth piece slit into the bottom of the first piece.

Take the fifth piece and slide the two inner slits upwards into the first and fourth pieces.

Complete the star by sliding the slits of the fifth piece with the left side of the third piece and the bottom right of the second piece.

I added a string to hang it on my Christmas tree.  It can stand up by itself if you would like to put it on a shelf or table.

This Slice Form Star is a pretty addition to my other Christmas ornaments.

Saturday, December 19, 2020

My Favorite Pop-Up Rubber Band Snowman

Pop-Up Rubber Band Snowman

Video of the Snowman popping out of the envelope.

This Snow Man Rubber Band Pop-Up makes a fun surprise for the recipient as the snowman pops up out of the envelope when it is removed. The stored energy in the rubber band, when the rubber band was stretched and placed in the envelope, causes the snowman to pop-up. This is the largest pop-up that I have ever made and I think it looks great! It is 6 1/2 inches tall.

The base of this design is a triamond triangular bicupola from from my blog post https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-stem-project-rubber-band-polyhedron.html
Using this as the base, I embellished it to create this pop-up. 

Here is the PDF. I used Neenah brand 65 lb WhiteGold metallic cardstock from Office Depot, 65 lb. foil cardstock from Michaels and a single sheet of American Craft Christmas paper from Joanns for the envelope. This Snow Man Pop-Up can fit it an A4 envelope.

Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG.


The rubber bands vary in size with the largest being 1.375 inches. 

Glue one side with the slot and insert a rubber band.  Make sure the glue is allowed to dry.

Glue the other three sides and open up the flaps. Allow the glue to dry.

Attach the rubber band.  Glue the remaining two sides.  If the rubber band is too tight the side will collapse inward.  I recommend testing the rubber band before closing the sides.

Apply glue to two largest pieces.

Stack and align the sides.  Apply pressure until the glue adheres,

Completed snowman

Embellish the Snowman with a pop-up top hat and other accouterments.

A Santa and a Gnome Rubber Band Pop-Up Card

Santa and Gnome Rubber Band Pop-Ups make a fun surprise for the recipient as the figure pops up out of the envelope when it is removed. The stored energy in the rubber band, when the rubber band was stretched and placed in the envelope, causes the figure to pop-up.

The base of this design is a triamond triangular bicupola from from my blog post https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-stem-project-rubber-band-polyhedron.html
Using this as the base, I embellished it to create these pop-ups. 

Refer to this blog post for instructions on how to make the rubber band pop-up.

Here is the PDF. I used 65 lb. foil cardstock from Michaels and copy paper for the envelope. This Santa and Gnome Pop-Up can fit it an A4 envelope.

Here is the .Studio file.


Santa

Gnome


Happy Holidays!
 

Thursday, December 17, 2020

A Peace Dove Pop-Up

This Peace Dove Pop-Up can be mailed as the hexagonal base and dove lie flat for mailing.  
It will fit in an A7 envelope which is 5.25 in. x 7.25 in.

Peace Dove Pop-Up laying flat. 
I Foil Quilled the message "Peace on Earth" on the hexagonal base.

Here if the PDF. I used Neenah brand  65 lb WhiteGold metallic cardstock from Office Depot 

Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG.

 
Cut out the hexagonal base.

Fold the piece starting at the top, four mountain folds, one valley fold, one mountain fold, one valley fold and four mountain folds. Fold the two tabs on the sides of the three squares.

Turn the piece over and apply glue to the two rectangles adjacent to the center hexagon as shown above.

Fold the piece in half at the hexagon.  Part of the hexagon is now hidden from view as the rectangular area will be creating a ledge. 

Apply glue to the bottom tab as shown above.  Apply glue to the opposite top tab (not shown).

Adhere both sides down to make a hexagon sleeve.

Push the center hexagon inward.

Bend the hexagon into the center of the piece.

Bend the other side of the hexagon into the center of the piece.

This is what it looks like when the pieces are bent inward.

Apply glue to the tabs as shown.

Adhere the glue by pressing down in the center. Pop-up the hexagonal base.

Glue the wings on to the dove.

Glue the two sides together with the wings protruding on either side. 

Insert the dove into the hexagonal base and glue.  Glue on the olive branch to the beak. Bend the sections of the hexagonal strip.

Glue on the hexagonal strip to the base.  

Completed Peace Dove Pop-Up

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

A Christmas Tree Pop-Up With Ornaments

A Christmas Tree Pop-Up With Ornaments

This Christmas Tree can be mailed as the hexagonal base and tree lie flat for mailing.  It will fit in an A7 envelope which is 5.25 in. x 7.25 in.

I used Neenah brand  65 lb WhiteGold metallic cardstock from Office Depot and  65 lb Recollections brand card stock from Michaels. I used wrapping paper to make the metallic spiral garland.

Here if the PDF.

Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG.


Cut out the hexagonal base.

Fold the piece starting at the top, four mountain folds, one valley fold, one mountain fold, one valley fold and four mountain folds. Fold the two tabs on the sides of the three squares.

Turn the piece over and apply glue to the two rectangles adjacent to the center hexagon as shown above.

Fold the piece in half at the hexagon.  Part of the hexagon is now hidden from view as the rectangular area will be creating a ledge. 

Apply glue to the bottom tab as shown above.  Apply glue to the opposite top tab (not shown).

Adhere both sides down to make a hexagon sleeve.

Push the center hexagon inward.

Bend the hexagon into the center of the piece.

Bend the other side of the hexagon into the center of the piece.

This is what it looks like when the pieces are bent inward.

Apply glue to the tabs as shown.

Adhere the glue by pressing down in the center.

Push the bottom of the hexagon box into the hexagon sleeve.

Make sure the center slit does not have any glue in it.

Push the rectangular tree tab into the slit.

Pull the rectangular tree tab outward and apply glue on both sides of the rectangle as shown above.

Insert the rectangular tree tab into the base. Turn the piece over to make sure the tree tab is flush with the bottom.

Completed rectangular tree tab to attach the tree to the base.

Glue the three sections of the tree together. And then glue the other three sections together to make two halves.

Glue the two halves of the star together.

Glue the star to half of the tree and apply glue to the tree as shown.

Apply glue to both sides of the rectangular tree tab.  Adhere the two sides of the tree around the rectangular tree tab by sandwiching the two sections of the tree together.

Completed tree


It is possible to make a larger sized tree using the same hexagonal base and ornaments. I resized the original tree (six pieces of the tree shape) to be 125% bigger in the Transform Scale Window in the Silhouette software. The larger sized tree is shown on the right.