Baby gift box tutorial

I am fairly new to the scrapbooking world and I find myself trying to just make do. This box is actually very easy to make and doesn't require any special tools. It does, however, require a fair amount of paper. I doubled the base of my box to make it sturdy enough to handle whatever I decided to put in it and also to cover my seams. I purchased a book of cardstock for $5 so even though it took me about 8 sheets of cardstock to make this, it still cost me less than $2 to make this which is better than a gift bag. Make sure you have enough of the paper you want in advance. I will give you the option for a large box and the medium box in the the instructions. Just follow along with the instructions for the size you need. The dimensions for the large box are 7 1/2" x 10" for the base with a height of 5" not including the hood of the pram. The dimensions for the medium box are 6 1/2" x 5" for the base with a height of 4". Notice that the base of the box is graduated so these measurements will not be the same for the top of the box base. You'll see what I mean.

You will need

cardstock 
a ruler
a compass or a circle cutter
a scoring tool (I used an embossing stylus and a straight edge)
glue (I used a glue stick and a hot glue gun)
scissors
ink or other decorations (optional)
a pipe cleaner
 
Step 1--cutting and scoring


First cut out four rectangles (side a)  that are 12" x 5 1/2" or 8 1/2" 4 1/2" and set aside. Also cut out four rectangles (side b) that are 9 1/2" x 5 1/2" or 7" x 4 1/2". Next cut out two 10" x 7 1/2" or 6 1/2" x 5" pieces (base). You will also need one 12" or 8" diameter circle, two 2" or 1" diameter diameter circles, and one 11 1/2" x 9 1/2" or 8" x 7" piece for the (hood) of the pram. Lastly, you'll need four 1" x 2" tabs for either size.

These are sides a and b respectively. The red lines are scoring and the blue lines are cutting. Please excuse the crude picture.  This part of instruction is for either size of the box. Measure in 1" from the short side and score parallel to the long side. Measure in 1/2" from the opposite end of the short side and score parallel to the long side. On (side a) piece following the line of the 1/2" score not the edge, measure 1" from the short side. Cut off excess.

(Side a) should look something like this. I know they don't look the same size but it is the same side with one folded on the scored edge and one flat. The 1" scored edge is the top and the 1/2" scored edge is the bottom. 

(Side b) is cut and scored similar to (side a) but the cutting is different. Refer to the red/blue or red/black picture if you don't understand what I'm saying. Score the diagonal edge instead of cutting it and about 1/2" or so away from that score, cut off the excess. It should look something like this.

Notice the little corner cut out of the bottom. Now you should have this.

Sorry, this shows (side b) then (side a) respectively cut, scored, and folded.

Next, take your large circle and cut it into 8 pie shaped pieces. If you are going to ink the edges now is the time to do it to all your pieces. The base pieces only need to be inked on one side (two on the front side, two on the back) whereas the hood pieces need to be inked on both.

Step 2--assembly

 Take two (side a) pieces for the outside of the box and two (side b) pieces for the outside and one base piece. Glue them together according to the picture with the tabs glued to the inside.

Glue up the side tabs.

Take the four 1x2 tabs and glue them in the corners of the top of the box.

Take one (side b) piece for the inside and glue it in. You may need to trim it just a bit to fit it inside so try it out first to make sure it fits.

Next take 3 of your pie shaped pieces and overlap them about 1/2". 

I accidently put mine on the wrong side so when you do it, the overlapped pie piece should be at the bottom not the top.  Do this for both sides. You can also glue on the 2" or 1" circles. Next take your inside pieces of (side a) and glue them inside. You may also have to trim these pieces. Add your pipe cleaner handle and then glue on the last (side b) piece. Then glue on the interior base piece. All that is left is to finish the hood.

Take your (hood) piece and glue it on using the hot glue gun. That's it! Fill your box with your gift and leave it open or wrap it in cellophane.

If you decide to make this please send some love our way. Mention our blog, grab a button, tell your friends. Thanks.

                                                                         

          

                                                Eve

Baby Gift

I attended a baby shower this past Friday and made my Baby gift box specifically for that gift. She was having a boy which was good because I had leftover fabric and batt from my baby blocks so this gift cost me almost nothing. Had it not been for the fact that in my non-girly state I own no ribbon, this gift would have cost me $7 for the sippy cup and package of onesies that I bought. But alas, I am just getting used to the fact that girls like pink, dreamed about their wedding day, and like ribbons and ruffles. If you saw my closet and new where I've been in the world you may understand better. But I'll not bore you with that detail.

So, my tutorial for the box, which is in the works, will come in two or three sizes depending upon what I come up with to put in each box. The box size that I used for this gift was the medium size and measured 8 1/2" by 7" uh, -ish. It fit a sippy cup and sippy cup leash

washable fabric rings,

and a crinkly toy with tabs

all in one nice little box.

And here is how I finished it off. Just some cellophane and a little hemp tie.

I forgot to add the card like I always do. I don't know why that is. If I wanted to, I could definitely have fit a small fleece blanket, an outfit, some washcloths, binkies, or some receiving blankets. Probably not all at once, but some combination of the above would have fit. For such a small box, it really does hold quite a bit.

I didn't use a pattern for any of the gifts I made but I got all the ideas from Ashley at Make it and Love it. Just search through her tutorials and you'll see the fabric baby rings, the crinkly toy, and the sippy leash. She has a lot of great stuff so if you haven't been to her blog, check it out. I'm sure you'll find a lot of great things like I did.

                                                Eve

Take a peak!

TADA!! I made it! Literally! I have a baby shower coming up and I wanted to do something special instead of the typical gift bag or wrapped paper. I doubt if there is anything that I could ever conjure that I could be certain hasn't been done before but this is new to me. As I don't typically scrapbook this may look a little rough to some of you but I thought I did a pretty good job.

What do you think? I'll be filling this with my gift and it will be open or I may decide to wrap it in cellophane. We'll see when I get to that point. What I am putting inside will be one of my upcoming posts. You'll just have to wait and see!!


I'm linking up to these sites.
Look at me I'm so crafty
Finding Fabulous 
Fancy This Friday's 
DebbieDoos Newbie Link Party

      

                                                 Eve

Fabric Baby Blocks

I have been slacking as of late and am behind on birthday cards and baby gifts. Cards are easy as Hallmark is my friend but baby gifts are another story. I find it difficult to estimate whether someone will like a handmade gift or if they would prefer store bought. There is nothing I hate more than exhausting my time and efforts on something handmade and gifting it to someone who then gives me "the look." The look that says, "oh, how nice." And not in an excited way, in a "you REALLY SHOULDN'T have" way. That un-approving, judgmental, "I have no idea what I am going to do with this thing" kind of way. For those kinds of instances I would much rather gift someone a little baby outfit or diapers or something to that effect. Every now and again I decide to go out on a limb and "hope." Hope that the recipient will actually be happy that I took the time to make something personal as opposed to buying something "somewhat" personal. It is here that I find myself. I am hoping that the recipient of this gift will like this. This little gem is great in that if the mom isn't appreciative of it, she can at least let the baby play with it. He won't care if there is no label indicating that it came from a brand name. But I think I might have hit the jackpot with this little gem.

Fabric baby blocks are a great gift for someone for whom it is hard to shop. It is so easy to customize this gift to what you like or what you think its intended would like. The fabric choices, prints, applique's, sizes, etc. all can be changed to your liking. I made mine for under $15 but it left me with excess fabric that I could make two more so the $15 was upfront cost and I suppose it actually cost around $5 to make depending upon the cost of your fabric and fill. I love inexpensive gifts and personalizing it only makes it better. This gift can be an heirloom gift for the child, a decoration for the baby's room, or a toy. Here's what you need to get started.

Supplies

Freezer Paper
Iron
Pressing Cloth
Inkjet Printer
Complimentary Fabric (I used five different prints and one plain white)
Plastic Fabric (optional--to be discussed later)
Embellishments (applique's, bells, lace, etc.)
Sewing Machine
Picture(s)

 Decide on the size of your blocks and edit your pictures to that size. I made a 5", 4", and 3" block all with a black and white photo. If you don't intend for the child to play with the block you don't have to use the plastic fabric but make sure you indicate that to the parents. As babies put tend to put things in their mouths I wanted to ensure that one, the ink didn't run and two, that it didn't run into the baby's mouth so I opted for plastic fabric instead of a chemical ink setter. You can encase the entire block in plastic or just the side that is printed. I only did the side that is printed leaving my options open for a textured/tactile block for the baby.  With the exception of the fabric on which you are going to print, cut out your fabric pieces with a 1/4" seam allowance. So for the 5" block cut your fabric out to be a 5.5" square. For the 4" block cut a 4.5" square, and for the 3" block cut a 3.5" square. Through my trial and error I used a 1/2" seam allowance and it left too much excess on the sides and encouraged me to improvise my sizing which is why my block isn't as evenly sized as I would prefer. If you are going to add embellishments this is the time to do it. Add lace or applique's to your liking.

Take the uncut fabric that you are printing on and cut it out to 8.5"x11". If it is for a picture it is best to use plain white fabric but you can also print quotes, songs, the baby's birthday or any kind of script on colored fabric. Just make sure that the fabric isn't too dark. Cut out an 8.5"x11" piece of freezer paper. Freezer paper is not the same as wax paper. Freezer paper has one side that is plain paper and one side that is plastic. Place the wrong side of the fabric to the plastic (shiny) side of the freezer paper. Using a pressing cloth to avoid scorch marks or transference from your iron, press the fabric onto the freezer paper making sure that the edges are well pressed together. This will stiffen the fabric allowing you to print directly onto your fabric using an inkjet printer. You could also use printer ready fabric instead of the freezer paper but I was trying to do this on the cheap. This project has the potential to ruin your printer so either be prepared or do this with a cheap printer. I don't recommend doing this with a really expensive printer. I got my HP Deskjet 1055 on clearance at Target for $14 so I don't feel to bad using it to do this project.

I didn't get any special ink or use any special settings on my printer. I used the regular settings but you may need to adjust for the thickness of your fabric. After trial and error I found it best to tape the forward edge of my fabric, meaning the edge that is going into the printer first, to reduce the chance that the printer would split the paper and fabric bond. My printer prints top side up so when the print job comes out I am looking directly at my finished product. Whichever it is for you, place the fabric side in that direction so for me I placed mine fabric side up. I copied and saved my pictures to a word document and then just printed from there.

 Because of the size of my pictures I couldn't put them all on the same piece of fabric with the appropriate amount of seam allowance so I reused the same freezer paper and ironed it to the next piece of fabric. Once I had all my pieces ready, it was time to sew. If you are using the plastic fabric, start with that side of the block. I found it helpful to trace the outside line of my picture on the back of the fabric. Place the plastic fabric (PF) on the right side of the picture sandwiched between the picture and one fabric panel right sides in. If you want all the blocks to be the same, work each panel at the same time for each of the three blocks to reduce the need to un-stitch. For example, work all the right side panels first for all three blocks before moving on to the next panel. If you are using the PF I don't recommend pinning because it will leave a hole so be careful. That is one of the reasons I only used the PF for the printed sides. I pinned the sides that were not covered in PF.

Assemble your cubes leaving a hole in one side (preferably not a corner) so that you can turn it right side out and stuff it.

If you want to add a bell or rattle inside the block do it while you are stuffing. Close up the block using a ladder stitch and Voila! An easy, personalized baby gift!

I linked up with Debbie at 

This was inspired by Colleen at the Magic bean. Happy Gifting!

                                            

                                                Eve