Inside Outside Paper Gift Boxes

You know I love to cover everything with newly-made paper. Even more fun is the un-covering. Handmade paper holds its shape beautifully. Here I've covered the insides and the outsides of several straight sided containers to make little lidded boxes. Enjoy!

It takes about two small sheets of newly made paper (I use the  medium pour mold)  to cover one of these boxes. For the round canisters, I used a 28 ounce can, for the square boxes a half-gallon juice carton.

The wetter the paper, the better it will adhere to the container and to other sheets of paper.

Inside
For the round canister, start by makig a disc of pulp that will act as the bottom of the "inside" canister. Make the disc by using a second 28 ounce can that has both ends removed. Place the can on the black screen, set on top of the large white plastic pour mold grid, place all of this on a tray. Pour the pulp into the can, remove the can and sponge the pulp disc. Set aside.

 

Make two sheets of paper using the medium pour mold. Since you want both sheets to be the same color, mix the pulp in two batches, but combine them in one pitcher, then pour half the pulp for each sheet.

Make a fold on the long edge of the wet sheet, about half an inch, then loosely roll the sheet and put it into the inside of the can with the folded lip on the bottom edge, where the side meets the bottom. Once you have the sheet in place on the side of the can, unfold the half-inch lip, so that  it is on the bottom of the can.

 

Take the second sheet of paper and see how much you will need to cover the rest of the side of the can. Gently tear off the right size piece, fold the bottom of the sheet, like the first sheet. Place the second sheet inside the can, unfolding the bottom edge. Made sure the sheets overlap and press them firmly tother, so that they adhere to eachother and form one peice.

Now take the disc of pulp and place it in the bottom of the can. Press it firmly into the little folded edges that are under it.

Let the paper dry completely. It might take all day. Take a long, thin knife or spatula and unstick the paper from the can. Make sure you reach all the way to the bottom. Gently tease the paper canister out of the can by pressing your thumbs on the inside of the can and your fingers on the outside and pushing the paper upward. If you try to grip the top of the paper and pull it out, it will rip.


Outside
Once you have removed the "inside" of the canister, cover the outside using the same technique of folding up about a half inch of the sheet of paper, wrapping the sheet around the outside of the can, then unfolding the half-inch lip onto the bottom of the can. Again, tear off enough of a second sheet of paper to complete the wrap. Make another disc of paper pulp and place it on the bottom of the can, pressing it firmly into the little edges that you folded out onto the bottom.

When the paper is dry, run a knife or thin spatula between the paper and the can. Gently push the paper upward untill it slides off the can.

Squares

The square boxes are made the same way. Instead of a pouring pulp into a can and making a disc, you can tear a square of paper from the wet sheet. Make it slightly smaller than the bottom of the box.

To make that cut-out shapes in the box lids, place a "block" in the pour mold before pouing in the pulp. Leave it there while you drain the pulp and do the initial sponging. For the Christmas Tree and the leaf cut-outs, I used cookie cutters for the block. For the circles, I used coins.

Place a "block" in the pour mold to make a cut-out.

Leave the  block in place while you drain and sponge the sheet.

Voila! A cut-out.

 

Now for the best part. What to put inside. I vote for truffles. 

 

Duck!

Owl Post

I've created . . . an owl!
Enjoy this Halloween video. Instructions for the card below.




This is an A6 card



To make the speckled paper for the front wing, I added Arnold Grummer yellow anglewings botanicals to white pulp. The tree branch is made from magazine paper-- so, recycled but not handmade. The rest of the owl is made with handmade paper.

To get the black outlines on the wing, face and branch, glue the cut out peices onto a slightly
larger peice of black paper and trim very close to the shape.



Etsy

Quilts

 

 

Handmade paper makes great quilts.

 

 

 

 

Berried Treasure

I used used chalk to color the dragongly cast.

 

Arnold Grummer "Dragonfly" cast  adorns the top of a plastic rasberry container, transforming it into a treasure box.

By making a mortise in the blue paper you create a frame for the dragonfly cast.

To make the mortice, add a heavy square of wood or plastic (I used a piece of linoleum) to the medium pour mold before you add the paper pulp. I also tied a ribbon around the large white grid and mesh screen, so that I could make a smaller sheet of paper.

 

 

 Center the dragonfly cast on the box lid and place the wet sheet of paper over it centering the mortise over the cast.

 

Mold the wet sheet of paper to the plastic lid, carefully tearing the sheet at the rim. Don't wrap the sheet around the rim or the box won't close. Make sure to leave the hinge at the back of the lid free of paper.

 

Cover the outside of the box with another sheet of newly made paper.

 

Use a square of wet paper to cover the inside of the lid, so that the bottom of the cast does not show.

 

Goldfish Pond

To make this piece, I applied paper pulp to a new, wet sheet of handmade paper. The lily pad shapes were made with the loops on a pair of scissor handles. To make the fish I formed a length of plastic strappnig into a loop.

The Envelope(s), please

Lined envelopes made with A2 and A6 templates

After some experimenting with the envelope and card templates from Arnold Grummer, I have discovered that I can make envelopes as beautiful and as varied as the cards they hold.

My first discovery was that the A2 template also contains a note card template that works as an envelope liner. Align the newly made (soaking wet) note card with to top edge of the newly made envelope. Sponge in place. Dry the flat envelope in a paper press. Once the envelope is completely dry, fold it and seal the edges using a glue stick. Slide a piece of wax paper inside the envelope and press it again.

The deckle sheet template works as a liner for the larger A6 envelope.

Window envelopes

You can make a window envelope with any of the templates by placing a block onto the paper making screen, centered onto the envelope face of the template. This might require three hands.

I used a stack of Legos as a block.



 I'm thinking Valentine.

 I used a cardboard disk as a block with the petal template.

 

Mailing Labels

Next I tried using the Artist's Trading Card (ATC) template to make a writing label for the front of an A6 envelope. In order to get an extra-smooth writing surface, I added two squares of cotton linters to the white pulp before pouring into the ATC template.

I placed the wet ATC sheet in the center front of the wet envelope, sponged them together and put them in the press to dry. Once dry, I folded them and sealed them using a glue stick. After placing a sheet of wax paper inside the envelope, I pressed it again.

But can you really mail them?

Yes, you can.

Look at that great cancellation stamp!

The white labels were very easy to write on. I mailed four envelopes, they all arrived at their destinations in perfect condition.


The A2 template also has some small decorative shapes that look great affixed to any of the envelopes.





These envelopes are crying out for sealing wax.

Now that I know how easy it is, I'll be making envelopes for holiday cards, invitations, gift enclosures, store gift cards (little square ones), and of course, Valentines.








What will do with your envelopes?