Mini Vignette Shadowbox/Diorama Box 4"hx6"wx4"d
Required tools and shopping list:
  • X-acto knife and fresh blades
  • Small detailing scissors
  • Metal straight edge ruler
  • Small artist's paintbrush
  • Large paintbrush (for adhering wallpaper)
  • Glue gun and sticks. This works the absolute best on seams of the actual box assembly.
  • Small pieces of aluminum foil to use as "glue pot" and "paint palette"
  • Fast-grab, quick-dry glue. Nicole sells a great one. White craft glue takes too long to dry and is messy. Glue stick will work, but becomes brittle and pops loose after time.
  • Slower drying white craft glue that dries clear. Check your printer's colorfastness!!
  • Colorfast Problems? You will need to spray each print job with spray clear polyurethane, but your ink may still run. Do a test on a simple printing. If the color runs with white craft glue, then try to use rubber cement instead for papering walls.
  • Double-sided removable tape or sticky clay used to tack up posters on walls. This is used to hold patterns in place while cutting foam board pieces.  FYI: Hold Tu Plastic Adhesive is a brand of sticky clay.
  • Excellent quality heavy weight inkjet paper--why do all this work on paper that doesn't pick up the detail and color!! I used Epson S041568 Double-sided Matte Paper, 47 lb, 9.7 mil for my particular printer.
  • Print the pattern pieces on plain office bond--nothing special needed for the pattern outlines.
  • Cutting surface. I love my self-heal Nicole cutting pad which cost me under $10 on sale. You get a much better cut than with cardboard and your blade will last so much longer.
  • 4"x6"frame with glass or clear plexi-glass (remove backing)
  • Optional: Hold Tu Plastic Adhesive. I use it to hold the frame onto the finished shadow box. This way I'm able to remove the frame and work with the displayed content of the box.
  • A sheet (you could call it a plank) of foam board, a.k.a. foam core board,  that is 3/16" thick. Patterns will not work for any other thickness!

PDF Printing Tips
These are tips for printing any of the Paper Minis Pattern Files. If you exported the files to another format, I cannot support that and suggest that you stay with the files as they were made. If you are printing the files as they were made (my pdf format) and the printouts are not the size they are supposed to be, then there is/are setting(s) in your dialog print box that have been changed--possibly inadvertently by another application. Since each printer brand and model has a different layout in their print dialog box, I can't tell you exactly where to look. I can, however, give you clues on what to look for. You do not want any scaling, print options must be set at 100%. You do not want a "fit to page" or "fit to paper" setting. You do not want an automatic page rotation so that the orientation is incorrect, if it is set for landscape try setting it to portrait paper orientation. You do not want changes in margin settings and your paper setting should be 8.5"x11" (or try 11x8.5)
 

 		 1. Print out all the pattern pieces (use regular office paper for patterns).

Print out on "good" paper all wallpapers and put aside for now.

Print out on "good" paper covering for outer box. You will need at least2-3 copies. This can be substituted with fabric, wallpaper or gift wrapping paper, if you prefer. Put aside for now.

Arrange pattern pieces on top of foam board as shown. Use little pieces of two-sided removable tape to secure position of pattern pieces on foam board, or the sticky clay. Don't use but a little bit, for it can be difficult to remove. There is something about the finish on the board that doesn't agree with the "removable" tape and clay. Don't worry if it damages the finish a little, it will be all covered by wallpaper.

Start heating up the glue gun.

Remove the pattern pieces for the foam board.

Make sure that there is a fresh sharp blade in the X-acto knife. Proceed to cut foam board pieces using a metal ruler as your guide. Attempt to make cuts straight down into the foamboard. If you hold the blade at an angle, rather than perpendicular to the table, your pieces won't assemble perfectly.
 

 		 2. Swiftly apply hot glue to the long-width foam edge of the ceiling piece. Press to the flat surface of the back wall. Clean up loose glue before it cools. Repeat for the floor piece. NOTE IN PHOTO THAT FOAM EDGES ARE ON PAPER SURFACE OF THE BACK WALL.

 		 3. Always check that your cut pieces, whether foam board or wallpaper, fit well before gluing. Do so now with the left and right side walls. Now remove and quickly squeeze hot glue to the 3 foam edges of one of the walls. Quickly position and remove loose glue before it cools.

Repeat for other side.

 		 4. Fold 1/2" end of each of the side wallpapers. Test position and trim if necessary. Paint-glue the backs and position in box. Continually press any wrinkles or bubbles as the glue dries.

 		 5. Test position the back wallpaper. Trim if necessary.

 		 6. Test position and trim ceiling and floor wallpaper. Paint-glue the pieces and smooth during the drying period.

 		 7. Fit and cut outer covering for side of box. Paint-glue in place. Note that corners are cut and wrapped. Repeat for other side

 		 8. Size and cut panels for wrapping the top, back and bottom of the box. Paint-glue in place.

 		 Here's the finished piece. Fit should be good enough that you may not need to use sticky clay to hold the frame to the box. You will need to take a few drops of glue and glue the glass/plexi-glass directly to the frame.
 

 
Paper Minis™ Miniatures
Front Royal, Virginia
http://www.paperminis.com
email: ann-vanture@paperminis.com

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held by Ann Vanture, 2003-2012
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