Papercraft Business Challenge #24 – Not just a Card!

This month’s Papercraft Business Challenge #24 is all creating something to give as a gift and not just a card!

I’ve always been a “crafty” person. When I was a kid, I would take fabric scraps from my mother’s sewing shop and sew dresses for my Barbie dolls. I even made pillows and bed quilts for them. But what I was obsessed about was paper! I was an avid collector of Hallmark stationery sets and stickers. All throughout my life I tried several crafty things: cross-stitching, origami, papier mache, candle-making etc..

For this November Papercraft Business Challenge, I am revisiting a craft I did before I got into cardmaking – decoupage. But I used this technique only with recycled materials such as toilet paper tubes, used gift boxes and bottles. I like upcycling things that I would normally throw away and make them useful and beautiful again. The wonderful thing about creating beautiful packaging is that it is a gift too, much like the gift itself. It imparts to the receiver of the gift that you took time and care to create something beautiful and special just for them aside from the gift inside.

Here is the list of materials I used :

1) Toilet paper tubes

2) Masking or scotch tape

3) Old magazines

4) Decoupage glue

5) Fixative spray

6) Ribbon to match

First, look through your magazines and decide on color scheme and theme. For my project, I used old Martha Stewart Living magazines because the ads have a lot of plain color backgrounds.

These types of magazines also have a lot of elements that you can fussy cut to add as design details on your project. The photo below shows all the images I fussy cut over time. I just put them in an envelope and take them out when needed.

Next, I took the magazine paper with the most plain color and proceeded to tear them into small half inch “squares”. I also used scissors to cut some out depending on the look I wanted to achieve.

Then I took a single toilet paper tube and pinched one end and secured it with scotch tape.

Using decoupage glue, I pasted the small plain color square-ish cut-outs onto the outside of the paper tube until it was fully covered.

Then I took all the design elements that I fussy cut and pasted it on, For this particualr design, I chose elements that had gold in it. I pasted them on in random order creating a sort of collage effect. Then I set it aside to dry.

After it was fully dried, I sprayed it with a fixative to give it a little shine and protection.

I punched two holes on top and used a matching ribbon to secure it closed.

This type of packaging is perfect to hold small items such as jewelry. You can also fill them with treats.

I made several of them because when I got started, I couldn’t stop! This one pictured below has a vintage/retro mid-century theme:

This one is for dog lovers. A small collar or doggie treats do fit snugly inside!

This one has a shabby chic floral theme.

A whimsical star-studded theme.

I hope the above projects have inspired you to give this a try. This month’s prize is an adorable Edwin with Sack stamp set from Magnolia Rubber Stamps.

If you enjoy joining challenges, Papercraft Business has created a special planner to help you keep track of your challenges and to help you not miss out on important dates. You can check out the planner here.

See you at the November Papercraft Business Challenge!

‘Til next time!

♥️

Anna

*This post is dedicated to my good friend, Michelle, who passed away last October 7, 2019. Rest in peace my dear friend. ❤️