the hybrid chick

Have you seen Kelleigh Ratzlaff’s standing pillow box? I have always been a fan of the standard pillow box template, but when she came out with a standing pillow box, I squealed with excitement and may have jumped for joy a little. The possibilities for this box are endless, limited by your own imagination. I sat down and came up with about twenty ideas for this box in just a few minutes after I learned about it! Today I’m going to show you how I made two small Christmas-themed boxes using this awesome template.

Supplies:

• eyes from Spookie Dookie kit by Karen Lewis Designs
• Standing Pillow Box template and cutting files by Kelleigh Ratzlaff
• Sweet and Crafty kit by Quirky Twerp (papers and element for the reindeer’s nose)
• Autumn Leaves by Kelleigh Ratzlaff for the reindeer’s ears
• Epson Premium Matte Photo Paper
• Photoshop
• black ribbon by May Arts
• ribbon buckle by Memories
• red line tape (also known as Terrifically Tacky Tape, or TTT)

I started by adding the pillow box png file to Photoshop. I wanted to fit two boxes on one 8.5×11 canvas, so I duplicated the pillow box layer. I clipped a red paper to one box and a brown paper to the other. I added the leaves for the ears to the canvas, and clipped the brown paper to those as well. I flipped one of the leaves horizontally by going up to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. I added the eyes from the Spookie Dookie kit by Karen Lewis Designs, and used a red brad element from the Sweet and Crafty kit by Quirky Twerp to create the nose. I added a slight shadow to the nose to make it stand out a little.

Here is what my canvas looked like when I was done with the design portion of my project.

I printed my document and then cut out each box. I scored along the scoring lines and added red line tape to the side flap.

Before assembling the box, I should have drawn a mouth using a Sharpie marker, as it is much easier to write on a flat box! Next, I adhered the sides of the box together and then folded up the bottom. I added red line tape to the bottom of each leaf and attached them to the top corners of the box.

Look at how cute he is! My daughter is thrilled with him and wants to claim him for her own. I could have stopped here, but I wanted to keep creating!

I decided to make a Santa-esque box next. I cut the box out and scored it. I learned my lesson with the reindeer mouth, and before folding up this box, I added a strip of red line tape across the entire box, about 1/3 of the way up from what would be the bottom once the box was folded.

Then I slid my buckle onto my ribbon, and adhered both to the box by laying the ribbon and buckle down on top of the tape and then pressing down firmly. I made sure my buckle was in the middle of what would be the front of the box.

After that step was complete, I added red line tape to the side of the box.

I finished assembling the box and giggled to myself at how cute it had turned out! The buckle does make it tip forward while empty, but it was not anything a few pieces of strategically placed chocolate couldn’t fix!

This pillow box is so versatile. I could have used it to make an angel, a snowman, an elf, a cat, a pig, a bunny, an owl… you get the idea! As I said before, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

If you use this pillow box to make a little creature, be sure to leave a link so I can check it out!

Other Articles by joana1n:

• Pull Treat with a Masculine Look! - February 15th, 2012
• Altered Metal Lantern - January 20th, 2012
• Vinyl Cutting Goes Hybrid Part 2: Printing and Cutting Elements! - November 4th, 2011
• Vinyl Cutting Goes Hybrid! - October 14th, 2011
• Spooky House from a Milk Carton - September 26th, 2011