Printable Christmas Church

Tomorrow is 1st December and Christmas is approaching fast (I'm sure time starts to speed up towards the end of the year!). It also means that it's time to get your Advent calendars out - do you have one? My Advent calendar village will be displayed in my home again this year and filled with sweets!  It has been lovely to hear how much fun my customers have had colouring and making up their own villages too.  I know one customer is also using the little houses as gift boxes rather than as an Advent calendar.  If you don't have one of your own, you can still buy one from my Etsy shop - they're available as Instant Download, so you can start downloading and printing the sheets as soon as your payment clears.

Find the printable Advent Calendar Christmas Village in my Etsy shop here

Origami Box Tutorial

These origami boxes are fun to make and really useful too!  They're great for storing little bits and pieces from your crafty stash like washi tape, or for using as gift boxes. You can change the look of your boxes by using different coloured paper, patterned paper and by varying the size of paper.

I used some printable scrapbooking papers which I designed to make my boxes, from my Strawberries and Summer Garden sets of papers. (You can find these and more in my Etsy shop, hfcSupplies).
I printed the designs to fit on A4 white paper with a weight of 120gsm - paper this weight or slightly thinner works well for the origami boxes.

Before you start folding your box you will need to cut squares of your paper. The paper I used was 20.4 x 20.4cm (approx. 8 x 8 inches), this produced boxes which measured approx. 7.25 x 7.25 x 3.5 cm (approx. 2.85 x 2.85 x 1.4 inches).  If you want to make a box with a lid, cut one square slightly smaller than the other.

1. Start with your paper patterned side face down. Fold the square in half to form a rectangle.  Open out and repeat in the other direction.
2. Now fold your square in half diagonally, open out and repeat in the opposite direction then open out again.
3. Fold each point into the centre, then unfold to your square again.
4. Fold each point of the square to the point three-quarters across, as in the diagram below, then open out again.
5. Now fold each point one quarter across, then once again open out to the square.
6. Now fold 2 opposite points to the centre.
7. Push the sides up to start making the 3-dimensional box shape (see diagram below).
8. Finally tuck the remaining 2 corners inside the box. Your box should keep its shape on its own, but if you like you can use a little glue to secure the triangle points to the base of the box.

Now you are ready to fill your boxes!  What will you put in yours?  Share your makes with #myhfcmakes so we can all see what you have made!

PS. If you love crafty projects and would like some free printables, check out my blog challenge here! (You could even use the free printable paper to make some of these boxes!)

Hot Air Balloon Cupcake Box DIY Tutorial

I have been wanting to design a new printable box shape for a while and after much testing, some arguments with my printer and a happy accident I have created this cupcake box!   It is slightly larger than my existing box shapes (3 inches square), so comes on more than 1 sheet but is still easy to make. 

This box has a hot air balloon theme, to match my latest range of printables, but I will be making cupcake boxes with other designs soon too.  There are 4 boxes featuring different balloons and colour schemes (blue, red, green and yellow), in this tutorial I will just be making the blue box but they are all made in exactly the same way…

There are 2 sheets you will need to print for the box, plus an additional sheet for an optional lid.  Each sheet can be printed on A4 or letter sized (8.5 x 11 inch) card.  For best results when printing, I recommend using your printer's highest quality setting and printing on a good quality card.  I print my boxes onto 240gsm white card…

Cut around the outside of box parts 1 and 2.  Then score and fold along the dashed lines (Tip – use a craft knife and ruler for straight edges, and a sheet of craft foam under the card when you’re scoring with a bone folder)

Glue tab ‘A’ (on box part 2) to the centre square on box part 1 (marked side A), your box should now look like this…

Glue the remaining tabs marked with ‘glue’.  You can leave the box like this, and fill with sweets or other small gifts…

Or if you are making it for a cupcake, make the cupcake holder to fit inside the box.  Cut around the edge of the cupcake holder and cut out the circle in the centre.  Score and fold along the dashed lines, then glue the tabs.  Your cupcake holder should look like this…

There is also an optional lid you can make, which is printed on a separate sheet (with 2 lids on one sheet).  Make this in exactly the same way as the cupcake holder (it is slightly larger than the cupcake holder).  Slide the lid over the top of the box.

Alternatively you can cut away the top part of the box before sliding over the optional lid.  You could also glue a piece of acetate to the inside of the lid, so that the circle hole becomes a window and you can see inside the box.

A few other ideas for customising your box are mixing and matching the coloured cupcake holders and lids, using ribbon or baker’s twine around the outside of the box and adding one of the tags (which come on page 1 of the box templates).

If you would like to make your own boxes you can buy the templates for this box and other designs from my shop here: shop printable gift boxes

The baker’s twine tied around the box in the photo at the top of this post is ‘Eton Blue’ – you can buy this (and lots of other colours too!) from my shop here: shop baker's twine

I hope you like these boxes and if you make some of your own I would love to see your photos! :)

What’s new in my shop? – Update on lots of new printable designs!

I have been designing so many new things recently that I thought it was time for an update, so here are some of the new things I have been adding to my shop…

There are several new sets of printable gift boxes.  Each of the box designs comes as high resolution 300dpi file on a ready to print sheet measuring 8.5 x 11 inches (A4). The completed boxes measure approximately 2.5 x 3.5 x 2 inches (6.5 x 9 x 5cm).  New designs include nautical patterns, London soldiers and buses, aqua chevrons and pink flowers…

I have also been drawing new digital stamps which can be printed and coloured in to use in craft projects like card making and scrapbooking.  The new digital stamps sets include different hand drawn frames, cupcakes, London motifs and woodland animals…

I have been adding to the Nautical themed party printables with some new birthday bunting and an invitation…

Recently, I worked on a design for a photo birth announcement with a London theme for a customer.  It was a pleasure to do, so I decided to create some more designs for photo birth announcements.  Similar to the invitations already in my shop, they come ready personalised with the customer’s choice of text and are sent as digital files for printing as many times as required.  They are also personalised with a photo which I can edit as needed, I can also alter the photo to be sepia or black and white.  The circles pattern design below is shown in ‘Olive’ colour scheme but can be made in other colour schemes too.  The woodland design with the owl is available with a choice 4 different coloured owls.

To see all the my printable designs, past and new, please visit my shop… www.hfcSupplies.etsy.com

Christmas is coming!

I have more new Christmas items to show you today – a set of printable scrapbooking papers and printable gift boxes.

These scrapbooking papers include patterns made from my illustrations of holly, Christmas trees and puddings along with coordinating patterns like spots and stripes…

The Christmas boxes are sold as two printable designs – one in brown with the Christmas puddings pattern and the other with a holly pattern.  These boxes are easy to make and great for giving small gifts!

Each box comes with a coordinating gift tag.  The boxes can be made up in two ways – as a closed box like in the photograph above or as a gift bag by cutting off the top flaps and adding ribbon handles.

Both of these sets of printables are available to buy from my Etsy supplies shop.

Early Halloween

This year I'm making an effort to be prepared early for the holidays - so I'm starting with Halloween today...

I have designed a new box shape to use with my Halloween patterns.  It is a top opening box measuring 8.5cm wide, 11cm tall and 3.5cm deep.  This template is a versatile design as you can use it to make a gift box or a bag. To make the bag instead of a box simply cut off the top flaps, punch some holes in the side and thread with ribbon to make handles.

Each box template also comes with a coordinating tag...

The boxes come as 2 printable sheets - one box features lots of creepy spiders in black and white and the other box has black cats and bats in black, white and orange.  I think these designs made as gift bags would be great for filling with sweets and treats at Halloween parties!



These boxes are available to buy from my Etsy shop - more non-seasonal designs will be available in this box shape soon too!

Treasury Challenge Winner!

Remember I entered the British Sellers on Etsy Treasury Challenge #10?

I love finding new items on Etsy and bringing them together to make treasuries (they normally take me ages to do so I don't get around to doing very many) so it was really exciting to hear that my treasury was picked as the winning entry to the challenge!! :D

It means that I get to choose an item from my shop to be the inspiration item for the next challenge.  I decided to pick this Fish themed printable gift box as I hope that it could inspire lots of different themes!



To enter the challenge simply create an Etsy treasury around this item - the winner will get to choose something from their shop as the inspiration item for the next challenge.  For more information on the challenge please go to http://www.etsy.com/teams/6966/british-sellers-on-etsy/discuss/10386824/

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with! :)

Embellishing printables

Today I have a couple of ideas for embellishing printable gift boxes and tent cards.  They can be made very simply - just print, cut, fold and they're finished, or if you have a little more time you can make them more unique...

On this Pastel Buttons gift box I used some fancy scissors to make the front flap a little different.  The box is tied with lilac cotton yarn and I made a tag from one of my matching cupcake toppers.  I punched rounded corners on the tag and stitched a pretty vintage button to the centre.

I think the tent cards look nice simply printed - but I also love to add an extra dimension to cards with embellishments.  This thank you card has some pink ribbon glued along the edge of the button pattern.  As they're only small cards (3.5 inches wide) it's a good way of using left over pieces of ribbon too!

Fish Printables part 2

I'm launching the next 3 products from my fish range today...

First up is a pair of printable gift boxes...

The design of one box features lots of fish and the other has a simpler pattern of spots and fish scales.  I've decorated the box photographed using a little fish tag, some fancy eyelash yarn and blue stranded cotton.  These little boxes are perfect for giving small gifts in a unique way - they could also be used as favour boxes at parties.

I have decided to expand my range of printable products by designing more items for parties.  It's simple to achieve a themed party with little more than a printer and scissors - if you're feeling more adventurous the printables could be embellished too.

These tent cards (there are 4 designs in the set) come blank with the option to personalise - they're great as thank you cards but could also be used as food labels...

Also new in the party range are these name place cards.  The full sheet includes 8 different fish designs...

More printables in the party range will be released tomorrow! :)

If you like these fish printables why not enter my giveaway for a chance to win any 4 printables from my shop!

Printable Easter Gift Boxes

The daffodils are coming out in my garden and blossom is appearing on the trees... it won't be long until Easter now!  So today I am releasing two new printable gift boxes perfect for little Easter eggs and other small gifts :)

One of the boxes has a pastel egg pattern and the other features a design with tulips and daffodils (this one would also be great for other Spring occassions like Mother's Day and birthdays).

 

Each of these boxes prints onto 8x10 inch (A4) paper and measures 2.5 x 3.5 x 2 inches when made up.  I decorated the box photographed using eyelash yarn and a little flower tag made from layering punched paper flowers and a gem centre.
You can buy the templates to print and make yourself from my Etsy shop or Folksy shop.

Steampunk Printables Part 3

Here's the next product from my new set of Steampunk themed printables... a pair of gift boxes :)

As well as being great for Steampunk fans I think they would be a good way to wrap gifts for men.  I have designed two templates; one has clock hands, cogs and stripes on and the other has clock hands and a grey spotty pattern.

Each box measures 2.5 x 3.5 x 2 inches when made up.  You can embellish your boxes any way you like - I have decorated the box photographed using a brown silky yarn, a letter tag, photograph of an old key, tiny cog and some wire.

See a tutorial on how to make the gift boxes here: http://hazelfishercreations.blogspot.com/2011/08/printable-gift-box-tutorial.html

The printable templates are available from my Etsy shop and Folksy shop.