Category: Tutorial

24 Day Christmas Train Advent Calendar Tutorial

Have you seen Lori’s latest Advent Calendar?  It’s an adorable train run by a sweet little snowman!  I was lucky enough to get to help her put it all together, and I have a tutorial for you today.   A couple of notes… I recommend you use a good quality (at least 80lb) cardstock for the base for sturdiness.  Lori and I both like American Crafts 12×12 cardstock.  I also recommend using a good liquid glue.  I use Zip Dry.  Another good one is Lori’s favorite, Scotch Quick Dry Glue.  You will also need one 12 x 12 piece of chipboard.  This is the one I used.

First, I downloaded my file.  It’s the 24 Day Christmas Train Advent Calendar (SVG, Silhouette).  It’s a big file, with lots of pieces, but its really not hard if you break it down into sections. Lori also has added a number of notes to the file to help.   I started with the little boxes first.  You want to cut 24 of them.

Start by folding all the score lines in the same direction. Fold it into a box shape first gluing the side tab, then folding up the 3 triangle tabs on the bottom of the box and adding adhesive.  Fold the bottom up and you have your box…. now do that 23 more times (lol)

Next I assembled the train base.  The top photo shows the 2 pieces that make up the base.  I started by gluing the extra rectangle to one of the tabs on the “straight” side of the base piece (top right).   It makes up the back end of the box.  I then folded into a box shape.  I glued it together along the long side tab.  Then I folded up the back end of the box.  Lastly I folded up the angled front of the box and glued.

The next part that I assembled is the conductor’s box part of the train.  It’s done much like a box card, with an insert.  I started by piecing together the snowman insert.  There are 2 sides to this piece with duplicate snowmen.  (you want the snowman to show through both windows in the final project)  Add the completed snowmen to each side of the black insert piece.

Next I added the decorative panels to the sides of the conductor box, and glued the 2 pieces that make up the box together along the long tab.

Flip this piece over so you are looking at the “inside”.  You want to add the snowman insert at this point.  I glued one tab in the center of the solid side of the box. (3rd photo)  You want the snowman bottom to be aligned slightly below the window so you don’t see the insert through the window.

Flip the insert to the other side (4th photo) and add adhesive to the other tab.  Fold the conductor box over, securing along the long tab of the box, and pressing the side to make sure the tab is adhered properly to the inside wall of the box.

Fold up the bottom of the conductor box and glue.  Do the same for the top of the box.  Finally, glue the roof squares together for sturdiness and glue to the top of the conductor box.

Next I put all the pieces I made together to form the train.  I started by gluing my 24 boxes together.  You want to glue 2 grids of 4 across, and 3 high.  Put them back to back (openings on either side) and glue.  Once they are all together, Add the white covering panel to the top and one side of the boxes to cover the seams.  Add decorative panels to these pieces (red).
Glue the completed bank of boxes to the base. You want the end you added the cover panel to be on the side of the angled end of the base  and for the boxes to be justified to the straight end of the base. (3rd photo) Then glue the conductor’s box to the back of the boxes and base (along the straight edge).  Make sure the windows are on the sides so the snowman peeks out. (4th photo)
Add the decorative panels to the long and short white pieces that make up the wheel guide as shown. (5th photo) Glue one long and one short strip to each side of the train as shown. (6th photo)  The wheel pieces will stick below the bottom of the train base.
Put together your wheels.  Each wheel is made up of 3 chipboard pieces glued together for sturdiness.  I painted the edges of my wheels white with some acrylic paint.  Next layer the wheel pieces (patterned papers) to finish.  I added some enamel dots to my wheel centers.
Glue the wheels to both sides of the base using the wheel “bumps” as guides.  The bottom of the wheels will align with the bottom of the wheel guides on the red strips.  Let dry completely.

 

There are 3 cylinders that make up the train smoke stack and the vent on the top of the train.  They are all assembled in the same manner.  Above I’m showing how to assemble the train vent piece.  Repeat this process for the other 2 cylinders.

Each cylinder has 3 circles and the notched side piece.  One circle is slightly smaller than the other 2.  Put that one aside.  Next I ran the notched side piece along the edge of my desk to curve it.  It makes it easier to form a circle.  Glue into a circle shape.  Fold down one side of tabs.  Place on a flat surface (tabs folded inside).  Add some glue around the edge of the smaller circle and slide into the tube formed, pressing to the tabs. (3rd photo)  This helps keep the cylinder round when you put on each of the ends.  Add the two remaining circles to the outside of the cylinder, one to the open side and one to cover the tabs on the other side.

Once you have your cylinders formed, glue to the top of the boxes as shown below.

Add the embellishments to the front of the train.  The two circles are each made up of 3 layers of chipboard and a patterned paper cover.  The grill is made up of a black background piece and the grill piece.

To complete the train, cut 24 of the box covering panels, and add to the fronts of the boxes.  Print and cut the included box numbers.  Add to the boxes.

And…done!  I promise you will be so happy with the end results!

All that’s left is to fill each box with a fun little treat!  The boxes are good sized…. they are approximately 2″w x 1.25″h x 1.6″d.  I was able to fit a Hershey Kiss, a Rolo and a Lindt ball in one box.

If you make one, please be sure to tag Lori on Facebook & Instagram, we love to see your creations!

That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

 

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3D Pumpkin Pie Tutorial

Hi Everyone,

I can’t believe that it is the week before Thanksgiving!  Today I have a tutorial showing how I assembled Lori’s 3D Pumpkin Pie (SVG, Silhouette).  I’m going to fill them with chocolates and put my pie on the dessert table on Thanksgiving.    To piece mine together, I used a few of Lori’s Echo Park Paper collections including  A Slice of Summer, Let’s Go Anywhere, All About a Girl and  Halloween Party.  This file is also a part of the November Kit of the Month in Lori’s SVG shop.  It’s a great bundle, be sure to check it out!

These are the pieces that come with the file, they make 2 slices.  If you want to make a full pie, you will need to cut enough for 8 slices.   I used some acetate for the hearts on the pumpkin pie box and some white and cream hearts for the other types of pie.

I glued the acetate or solid color heart onto the box’s top before I glued it together.  To assemble the tops and bottoms, fold all score lines in the same direction, shape into the triangle slice and glue the sides using the tabs.  Glue the pie crust piece onto the outer edge of the pie’s cover.

This photo shows the three box pieces ready for the pie crust to be glued onto the end of the pie.

Here is a side view of the pumpkin pie box assembled and ready for treats.

I like pumpkin pie but also like other kinds!  I decided to make blueberry, cherry, lemon and chocolate cream slices!  The sky is the limit for what kind of pie you want to make.

Hugs,

Anita

 

Christmas Shaker Card Tutorial

Hello everyone and Happy National Button Day! Traci here and yep … there’s actually a day that celebrates these little fasteners. I wanted to incorporate them into my project and I knew Lori would have something wonderful. I found a cutting file for an embellishment called Shaker Mason Jar and I turned it into a cute holiday card. Here’s a quick tutorial on how I made it …

For supplies, I used the Shaker Mason Jar cutting file (SVG, Silhouette) and Echo Park’s beautiful holiday collection called Magic of Christmas (also designed by Lori). I used the 6×6 paper, the 12×12 sticker sheet, white card stock, buttons and twine.

To create the A2 size card, I cut out a piece of white card stock measuring 8.5”x 5.5” and scored it at 4.25”.  

Then using the file and my Silhouette Cameo machine, I cut out all the other pieces. I chose the red snowflake print called Poinsettias & Pine for the jar and the green dot from the 3×4 journaling cards for the lid.

To make the shaker part, I cut out the ovals and glued them together until I had enough to make a frame thick enough to allow my buttons to move around.

I sandwiched a piece of 2.5” x 3.25” clear acetate in between my white jar base and the red inset piece I cut from the 6×6 paper.

I glued the oval frame to the back of the jar pieces, added my buttons, then glued the solid white oval piece on top to keep the buttons in.

Next, I took my white card base and layered 2 sheets of 6×6 paper in dark green and stripe on top and added the jar shaped shaker. I wrapped the lid with chunky red twine and included a cute sentiment sticker to finish it off. It’s the perfect card for someone special and I just love it! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ll visit Lori’s shop for more amazing craft ideas!

 

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5×7 Box Card House Merry Christmas Tutorial

Hi everyone!  Cathy here today to share a box card tutorial with you.  I’m always telling you that Lori’s box cards and envelope cards are my favorites to create, so I thought I would share my process for putting them together.  So easy and they are loved by everyone that receives them.  This is Lori’s new 5×7 Box Card House Merry Christmas (SVG, Silhouette).  The file also includes an envelope.  Remember, these fold flat for mailing and pop right back up for display.

Here is how the file looks when you first open it, I always ungroup everything and separate by color.  It make it easier for me to see what I need for paper and also how to arrange paper on my mat.          

You can see how I sorted everything out here.  Then I go back, group and cut my pieces.

After all your pieces are cut, fold the score lines on the red house pieces.
Next, I laid all my pieces out…flattened my red pieces and started to adhere the embellishments to the box.  I find easier to work with when it’s flat on a work surface. I used a glue pen for most of this detail work.
I start with adhering the gold window pieces to the inside of the house.
After I had most of the embellishments added, I then added scor- tape to the two ends.  You want a good strong adhesive to put these together.
So now you have created a little box or your little house and you are ready to add the inserts!
There are several of these house box cards in Lori’s shop, and I love that the little inserts make the roof, how incredibly clever.  The inserts are labeled 1 and 2.  The first insert just goes in as is.  Just add scor-tape on each side and insert into the box.  The cool part with these is you can’t go wrong as the roof line makes for perfect placement.
Now for the second insert, lay it flat and add your embellishments.  Again, I used a glue pen for this detail work.
This insert gets a bit heavier with all the extra paper added, so it has wider tab.  I added two strips of scor-tape for this insert.  Then just slide it down into the box, again you can’t go wrong cause the roof top will stop you.!

 

When you are all finished, you have this amazing little house.  I used Lori’s The Magic of Christmas to create this.  The Merry Christmas is from the brad set.  I did add the Santa in the Chimney Sticker for this collection.  I just simply couldn’t resist.  It was just too perfect not to add it.  Lol.
And don’t forget, all SVG files in Lori’s SVG shop are 30% off through Saturday, November 12th when you use code NOV2022 at checkout!

 

Thanks for stopping by!
~Cathy

In All Things Give Thanks Ornament Tutorial

Hi friends! Today I am sharing a tutorial for a large Thanksgiving style ornament. I like to hang this type of ornament on the middle of a wreath. I used the In All Things Give Thanks 3 file (SVG, Silhouette).  The other supplies are a 6-inch wood round, heat transfer vinyl, twine, and a wood bead.

I sized the image to 4.463 x 4.301 to fit onto the six-inch round. I then deleted the round and sent the image to cut.

In Cricut Design Space when using heat transfer vinyl, the images must be mirrored for each mat so that the images cut correctly.

After weeding all the words. I dry fit all of my vinyl on the round just to make sure it all fit and to work out the placement. (I did change the word things to the darker color. The gold was just too light.)

Then with my heat press I attached the words to the wood round. I set my press to 300 degrees for 20 seconds. Let the vinyl cool slightly then peeled off the clear backing.

I added a bead to the twine then looped it through the hole in the top of my round.

Last I hung the ornament to the middle of my wreath.

I love how this turned out. It is a perfect addition to this wreath and will look so pretty for Thanksgiving.

And don’t forget, there’s a sale happening now in the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop!  Get 30% off all SVGS, Fonts, Pattern Fills and Commercial Licenses when you use code OCT2022 at checkout!  Don’t miss out, sale ends Saturday!

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandie