there is a brand new papercraft challenge blog at ctpubblog.com and i am so excited about it - they're offering a terrific monthly prize package too!
this month's challenge is a New Year's theme - make something to celebrate 2009 with any blank board product. i chose the 3" blocks and i made candleholders out of them for the living room. i went with rich earthy papers and kept the design simple. the 2009 numbers are on velcro, so the candleholders can easily be changed to a different theme with a new word or any kind of embellishments. a new tealight candle can be pulled out of its plain metal tin and dropped into the acrylic holder when the old candle has burned down.
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- ink the edges of the blocks, unless you want white edges. i inked mine black with a paint marker.
- trim squares of desired cardstock to 2-7/8". i chose 5 different papers, one for each side and one for both the top and bottom.
- adhere papers to all sides of each block with mod podge and let dry.
- coat all paper-covered sides and the edges with a thin layer of mod podge.
- cut 1-7/8" circles from a thick felt, center and glue to the top of each cube. this gives a nice lift to the washers.
- glue 2" metal washers on top of the felt (the felt and metal will also act as a protective barrier between the tealight and the paper).
- adhere acrylic tealights on top of the washers. i used raised glue dots so the tealights "float" on top.
and just to cover my butt....even though i don't personally believe tealights get hot enough to cause any fire hazard on a paper base, i will not be held liable if you make these and leave them unattended and somehow manage to burn your house down!! :-)