- a little of this, a little of that, but mostly stamping and Copics

Trinket Box with Flat Top
Club MED Prop Swap at 2009 June TAC Seminar
by KellyRae Cooper

Click here to download a picture tutorial in PDF format
Click here to download the tutorial (without pictures) in PDF format

About 7 years ago I took an all-day class to learn how to create an 8-sided box made from 4-inch circles. (And it did take ALL day…lol.) The original instructions were published in the October 2001 issue of Stamping Arts & Crafts magazine (Geisha Trinket Box by Melissa Hatalsky). Trinket box is the search term that can be used on yahoo and splitcoast to discover several beautiful examples (especially by Kelli Purkey of renowned Stampin’ Up! fame).

SUPPLIED NEEDED:

• Cardstock
• Coordinating patterned paper
• Textweight copy paper
• ScorPal (or other scoring tool)
• Coordinating ribbon (for pull tab on front of box)
• Basic Gray magnetic snaps (I used one set of the small ones)
• Pop dots (used under lid’s magnetic snap to make sure it matches up correctly with base magnetic snap)
• Chipboard (or empty cereal boxes)
• Adhesive (my personal choice was red tape, however YES! Glue and Zip-Dry Adhesive will work as well)
• 8 wooden dollhead beads (3/4-inch in diameter), spray painted gold (used as the box feet)
• E-6000 adhesive to adhere the bead feet to the box bottom
• 3-inch piece of ribbon (to be used as lid tab)
• Scallop circle punch (I used the pink Mega Scallop Circle punch)

My instructions are an adaption of the original. I did not create a domed top, mine is flat with an embellished top and scalloped circle sides. (Okay, I admit, I did TRY to create the domed top, but after 3 failed attempts, I was running out of matching cardstock and patterned papers.)

Also, even though I stayed with the 4-inch circles, any size circle may be used by following the instructions for creating the square template.

DIRECTIONS FOR BOX BASE:
• Reserve sheet of cardstock for box base (outside bottom)
• Reserve sheet of patterned paper for box base (inside bottom)
• Reserve sheet of chipboard for box base (to be sandwiched between patterned paper and cardstock)
• Cut 8 (4-inch) circles out of cardstock; cut 1 (4-inch) circle out of textweight copy paper
• Fold copy paper circle in half, then in half again.
• Open folded circle and make a dot on the edge of the circle where each fold line ends.
• Connect the dots to create a square; cut out the square.
• To make a sturdier template, place the square on a piece of chipboard and trace; cut out the square just inside the lines.
• To mark the cardstock circles, place the chipboard square on the cardstock circle and mark the 4 points where the edges of the square intersect the edges of the circle.
• Use the ScorPal to score the marked square on each circle; repeat until all 8 cardstock circles have been scored.
• Identify one square as the front of the box and adhere one half of the Basic Gray magnetic snap about ¾ to 1 inch from the top (use a scored scallop circle from the ‘directions for box top’ as a guide for placement); then add minimal layers on top of this square
• Before adhering squares together, embellish and/or layer remaining squares as desired.
• Use adhesive of choice to adhere the side flaps of the scored circles in a continuous loop; do not adhere the top or bottom flaps.
• Place the box base onto chipboard; then use scrap pieces of chipboard inside the box base to maintain the 8-sided shape.
• Trace the 8-sided shape onto the chipboard; cut out the 8-sided shape just inside the lines; reserve as the box template.
• Use the box template to trace the 8-sided shape 3 times: cardstock (for the bottom of the box), patterned paper (for the inside of the box), chipboard (to be sandwiched between for stability); always cut just inside the lines.
• Before placing the 8-sided bottoms into the open box, place each one on top of the open box and decide how to best ‘position’ the bottom to match up the sides. Once the best ‘position’ is identified, place a pencil arrow on the open box top flap and then on each of the bottoms at that location (makes it a LOT easier to remember how they fit…believe me)
• Adhere the patterned paper bottom to the chipboard bottom, matching up arrows; gently insert into the open box, matching up arrows.
• Flip open box over, place adhesive on the edges of the cardstock bottom and adhere to chipboard bottom, matching up arrows and sandwiching the bottom circle flaps between the layers.
• Using E-6000 adhesive, adhere the gold beads as feet at the points of the 8 sides; let dry 15-20 minutes.

DIRECTIONS FOR BOX TOP
• Reserve 2 sheets of cardstock for box top (outside and inside top)
• Reserve sheet of chipboard for box top (to be sandwiched between cardstock lids)
• Use the box template to trace the 8-sided shape 3 times: twice onto cardstock (for the top and bottom of the lid), once onto chipboard (to be sandwiched between for stability); always cut just inside the lines.
• Before adhering the lid pieces together, place each one on top of the open box and decide how to best ‘position’ the lid pieces to match up the sides. (Use the pencil arrow on the open box top flap as a guide for the BACK of the box). Once the best ‘position’ is identified, place a pencil arrow on each lid piece (makes it a LOT easier to remember how they fit…believe me)
• Adhere the bottom cardstock lid to the bottom of the chipboard lid.
• Cut a scrap piece of cardstock 5 inches tall by an 1/8-inch less wide as the square of the BACK of the box (in my sample my piece was 5 inches tall by 2 5/8-inches because my square was 2 3/4-inches wide); score as tall as the BACK of the box (so in my sample, I scored at 2 3/4-inches).
• TO CREATE THE CONNECTED BACK FLAP: Adhere the scrap piece of cardstock to the inside of the BACK of the box; fold back several times to make sure it works with the round flap – then adhere the top part of scrap piece to the top of the chipboard lid (remember, the bottom of the chipboard lid has cardstock on it now) and the back round flap from the box bottom to the chipboard lid top (when the lid is opened, all that should be seen is the cardstock lid bottom, not any part of the scrap cardstock or the back round flap)
• Adhere small piece of ribbon to the chipboard lid at the front edge of the box (opposite the penciled arrow mark), then adhere the remaining cardstock lid on top of the chipboard lid. (Do not be alarmed if the lid doesn’t match the bottom exactly…that’s what the next steps are for…lol)
• Use the scallop circle punch to punch out 8 circles (coordinating or matching patterns, your choice); use the ScorPal to score each circle slightly less than half, but between two dips, not on a scallop.
• Adhere the scallop circles to overlap the edges of the lid (they now hide any discrepancy between top and bottom).
• Cut a slit in the front scallop circle to weave the ribbon tab through
• Add the Basic Gray magnetic snap (and pop dots as appropriate) to the back of the front scallop circle to match the corresponding Basic Gray magnetic snap hidden underneath the front bottom square.
• Embellish the rest of the lid as desired. (TIP: I used an edge ruler to create decreasing sizes of box templates so I could layer the lid with additional cardstock and patterned papers.)

Posted on July 7th, 2009 by kellyrae
Filed under: 3D projects, Tutorials