Step by Step

One of my favorite ferns is the maidenhair fern. I found this photo of a robust patch of it at our back door in Lexington...it thrived in that spot! 

I brought some of it with me to the condo 5 years ago....and it's been doing pretty well here too.

Today I dug up a few plants...and spread pieces of them all over the back garden. I want it peeking through everywhere!  

I just love the delicate and wispy tops...on the long skinny stems.

Remember the stacked Christmas tree boxes I posted about a few days ago. The ones in the post were made by Anita....but were inspired by ones we made for a church fair many many years ago. Melodee told me that she still has that set of tree boxes....and that made me smile.

I made a little box out of one of my cyanotypes so I could give step by step directions here. One person asked...so all of you get it. Read on if you're interested.

The top paper was a 4 1/2 inch square and the cyanotype was done on lightweight mixed media paper. I used lightweight white cardstock for the bottom and it was 4 1/4 inches. 

As a general rule the difference between the top and the bottom should be 1/4 inch. If the paper is thin...the difference could be a little less for a tighter fit.

The first thing you need to do is find the middle of your square. 

Many online directions I've seen have you fold the paper diagonally both ways to to find the middle. But that gives you creases on the top of your box...and I don't like that. So I place a ruler from corner to corner both ways and draw a light X in the middle.

When choosing paper...be mindful that much of the square gets folded into the box. The motif that is right in the middle will be the top of your box.

Fold the corner of the paper to the middle and crease with a bone folder....the back of a spoon or your fingernail.  Then fold that edge to the middle again being sure to hold that first fold in place. This where that pencil line comes in handy.

Open it back up and repeat this on every corner. 

The better your creases are....the easier the box will go together. I sometimes go back and crease them all again individually.

There is no need to draw the dots and lines...but I did to more easily show this next step. Identify the middle square which will be the top of the box....I put a dot at the corners of the square. On just two opposite sides...cut the paper to the middle/corner dot....along where I drew the dashed line.

It should look like this. 

You can see that two corners are kind of straight and two of them have what I call wings. 

Starting with the sides that have wings and fold the sides up bending the wings around to the side. 

The point will lay down covering the bottom of the box. The tendency is to fold the wings...but keep them out straight reducing the bulk under the next folds.

Do the same thing on the opposite wing side.

Keep in mind that all of the points will meet in the middle to cover the inside bottom of the box.

While holding the overlapped wings....

fold the straight sides up and over securing the point down to the bottom of the box.  It should look like this.

And finally...it should look like this. Sometimes it's necessary to put a dot of glue to hole the points down. You can also swish a glue stick around the inside bottom before you fold the pieces down.

My last recommendation is to use a spoon or a bone folder to give that last folded edge that came up and over a good pressing. There are several layers there...and nice crisp edges made for a nicer box. 

Boxes can be made from any foldable paper....and artwork. To make them nest...you just keep adding or subtracting 1/4 of inch to the next one.....depending whether you're starting with the biggest or the smallest.

If the largest box top is 5 inches....the bottom would be 4 3/4

The second nesting box top would be 4 1/2 and the bottom would be 4 1/4.

The third nesting box top would be 4 and the bottom would be 3 3/4.

And so on.

If I'm nesting boxes...I make myself a chart...and I often start with the largest one and go smaller. Keep in mind that small boxes generally need thinner paper like scrapbook paper or lightweight calendars...and some thicker papers don't fold well.

Phew! Congratulations for making it to the end of my step by step!