Saturday, April 10, 2010

A little treasure box



This is actually a great idea and it's recycling too.
You will need 2 hexagons and 12 pentagons to make a box like this.
The big one I made out of Christmas cards and for the small one I made my own cardboard. Well "my own" is not quite correct, but what i did was:
I took an old book, coloured some pages (Carand'ache water-soluble art wax crayons) water and a brush and "painted" over the colours.
When dry I made a new layer with a lacquer I got (Ocean lack- from Panduro Hobby) then left it to dry for 15-30 minutes.
When dried, I glued the finished papers onto cardboard. (not too stiff, a little flex is the best.) And voila, ready to make your geometric figures.

Make sure that one of your hexagons is double sided (the lid, and it will show off.)
Make your figures and cut them out. (I used 3 cm radius for the small one, the Christmas box has the dubble)
When cut you have to mark the holes. Don't be to near the edge (it's paper, remember?)
I prefer to mark the corners first and then those in between. On this
small box I use two marks
in between the corners.
I'm using an awl to make the holes but a pair of leather tongs could also do the job. It is important to be aware of the edges, it's very quick to ruin one of your ready made figures.
Well when finished marking, you have to choose what yarn to use. Consider the size of the box compared to the thickness of your yarn.(I did not do that. My yarn was the starter of this creation and THIS was the size I wanted to make. Stubborn me. My yarn is a little too heavy for this cute little box)
Now, start crocheting. I prefer to start at the hole next to a corner,and I single crochet 1 stitch in each hole and 3 stitches in each corner. And that's it. Weave in all ends, and you're ready for sewing together.
I don't know if you can see it, but I am lefthanded and therefor it seems that I'm crocheting the wrong way, in fact I am, compared to right handed people but do it
your way.
Now, join the first 6 pentagons together in a ring, and then the bottom hexagon. The first pentagon in the next row is sewn at two edges (always a point down) the next one and the rest of them, are sewn at 3 edges. Be careful when sewing at the top (opening of the box) and look for a tight joining. My lid became a little too small for the opening, but I just crocheted another pointy edge at the end. The last thing to do is to sew the lid onto the box. On my Christmas box I used a button and made a loop but this one I left as it was.

Originally I had a picture of the small blue box here but I did something stupid and it disappeard.



Well then, here you are, feel free to use this idea in what way you want.
I intend to make 2 or 3 more of these because I'm planning a garden party this summer and these boxes will be part of my table decoration.
I would love to hear your comments AND see your results. ENJOY !!!

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