Monday, February 4, 2008

Altered Mini Mailbox Tutorial

Altered Mini Mailbox
by Michelle Hoffman

Supplies:
Paper- 4” w x 12” l- Designer Series Paper “Berry Bliss”
Scissors
1/2” circle punch
3/16” corner rounder punch
Sticky Strip
SNAIL adhesive (not pictured)
Paper Cutter
Ruler
4 pieces ribbon- 12” each

Step By Step
Step 1
Cut patterned paper 4” wide by 12” long.


Step 2
On the mailbox, move the flag into the up position. Measure the distance from the center of the rivet on the flag to the rim of the front lid. The distance should be approximately 5/8”.


Step 3
Decide which way you want the design of the paper to lay on the mailbox, and then mark your paper with the measurement you just made. You can draw a line or a dot on the paper where the center of the rivet on the flag would be.

Step 4
Using the 1/2” circle punch, punch a hole on the mark you just made. Then cut a slit from the front edge of your paper to the punched circle. This will allow you to fit the paper around the rivet on the flag.

Step 5
Place a piece of sticky strip on each wide end. Place the paper on the mailbox, fitting the hole around the flag and rivet.

Step 6
Peel the red liner off one strip and attach to the bottom of the mailbox. I prefer to attach the side with the hole punched out first to assure that the hole is lined up correctly.

Step 7
Then repeat on the other side.


Step 8
Take a coordinating piece of patterned paper and trace the lid onto the paper three times. You will need two pieces for the two lids plus one piece to attach to the inside of the front lid. I simply cut inside of the lines in order to get the proper width, but you may want to measure to get it exact. The measurements of the paper for the front of the two lids should be 3” wide by 3.5” long at the highest peak. The piece for the inside of the front lid needs to be smaller than the front pieces, measuring 2-15/16” wide by 3-3/8” long at the highest peak.

Step 9
Round the bottom corners of each piece with a corner rounder punch.

Step 10
Apply adhesive to the backside of the patterned pieces and attach to the lids. If any paper overhangs the lids, trim carefully with sharp scissors.

Step 11
Take one of the 12” pieces of ribbon and apply SNAIL adhesive to one side. Attach to the mailbox. Repeat with the other three pieces of ribbon.

Step 12
Embellish as desired.

2 comments:

skyviewstamper said...

Of all the tutorials that I have seen with these mailboxes, yours is defintely the easiest to follow! Thank you very much!

Anonymous said...

ditto the above comment. I'll try it your way tomorrow.