Introduction: Cardboard Floral Wall Art With Lights

By My digital assets shop
About: I enjoy dabbling in all kinds of arts and crafts from painting to jewelry to lotion-making and more.

I wanted to recreate a digital piece I created years ago as a 3D work of art. The original is an abstract and busy piece, so this cardboard wall art is simplified but still captures the essence of the work. 

Working with cereal box cardboard is a lot like working with the heavy card stock I use in shadowboxes and other paper projects. It's heavier, however, so I needed to do some testing with it. I figured it would withstand more pressure than 65- or 80-pound card stock, but will it crease more or simply resist certain treatment like shaping it? 

I've also never used my laser cutter on cardboard so I wanted to see how that would work. It's a good test of my laser cutter's range, especially since it's a low-power one.

To make the art truly special, I decided I needed to create a light show. I had some LilyPad components I wanted to use and this seemed like a good project for them. LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology. You use conductive thread to sew the components together to complete the circuits. In this project I wanted to know if I could just glue or tape the thread down. These components are so easy to use, and I wanted to explore their possibilities in my art. 

I learned a lot about working with cereal box cardboard and how much it can be manipulated. I'm really impressed with it and will definitely make it a more regular part of my work.

Supplies

Art materials

LilyPad components

Tools

  • Design software like Illustrator
  • Laser cutter
  • Scissors
  • Natural sponge
  • Foam makeup sponge
  • Paint brushes
  • Tiny dowel or skewer (about 1/8" in diameter or less)
  • Sewing needle and needle threader

Step 1: How Far Can I Push the Cardboard?

The first thing I need to do is figure out just much cereal box cardboard can withstand. My idea with the art is, first of all, to create something I can hang on my wall, create it in my scrapbook style by gluing layers down, and create raised 3D versions of flowers that lights shine through. I've created 3D flowers for other projects using patterned card stock, but the cereal box cardboard might be too heavy. There's only one way to find out and that's through testing.

The flaps on the cereal boxes are almost useless when it comes to making them part of the art. They are covered in glue or get ripped apart when pulling the glue off. But they are perfect for testing!

I tested:

  • Different ways to shape and mold the cardboard
  • Engraving over a painted surface
  • Laser cutting a painted surface backwards to use the burnt edge as shading
  • Wetting the cardboard to shape it after it's been painted and engraved

I am including my test files below.

Shaping the cardboard

Since this cardboard is thicker than heavy card stock, I'm pretty certain it will develop big, ugly wrinkles spreading out from the crease and may not be able to handle curling with a dowel. 

My first attempt to fold it proved me right. It developed several wrinkles along the fold. When creating paper flowers you want to fold it at the base to create a pleat of sorts but this wrinkled a bit too much for my tastes.

I then wondered if I could wet it and shape it more gently like clay. My first attempt didn't turn out so well, but when I created a larger roll it was fine. There's still some texturing, but it looked more natural. Now my concern is, how will this work when it's painted? And knowing that the laser cutter leaves a layer of soot on the edges of the wood it cuts (and most likely the cardboard too), will this soot smudge my painted surface when I try wetting it?

Engraving over a painted surface

I've never used cardboard on the laser cutter and have never engraved on a painted surface. I know the laser cutter can cut acrylic sheets, so I'm not concerned about levels of toxicity in the air (like I would be with polymer clay). What I don't know is how much power to put into the engraving. Since cardboard is thinner and less dense than wood, I'm assuming it won't take as much power. Too much might cut right through.

I have a set of corners I created for my shop that I will repurpose for this project. The design is too delicate to cut, so I wanted to engrave it and then cut around it. 

I painted a small section of cardboard gold for this test. Because the cardboard wasn't laying flat, I decided to tape it to a piece of wood. 

For my first attempt, I dropped the power to 30% and the engraving was invisible. So, I cranked the power up 75% at a speed of 50mm/s thinking I might burn through the surface but might as well see what happens. I left the cutting edge at the default for basswood. I have a 5W diode laser cutter, so your settings might not have to be so strong.

This test worked beautifully! It made me think I should probably paint all the cardboard before cutting it too because that would keep the edges and my fingers from being painted. I get sloppy when I paint.

Laser cutting a painted surface backwards

I noticed when I flipped the test corner over that the edges had a burnt look that was really cool. I wondered if I could use that to my advantage. So, I painted another small section of cardboard green, created a simple leaf design with the center cut out, and flipped it over on the wood to cut it.

This test was also a success! It was just gorgeous. But then I wondered (going back to wetting the cardboard to shape it) how do I protect the burnt edge from wiping away when I wet it.

Wetting painted and burnt cardboard

I decided since this leaf was small, I'd coat the top with clear fingernail polish and see if that will protect it. I figured this would also be a good test to see what happens to the paint when I wet it. This is interior wall paint that I'm using, but it's on cardboard which might make it react differently.

After the nail polish dried, I put a tiny drop of water on the surface and it just sat there without soaking in. Great! Now how about molding it. Well, that one wasn't so great. I could roll the edges backwards and that worked fine, but rolling them forward caused much wrinkling. 

So now I know the limitations of the material I'm working with. This will help me as I design and create.

Now let's test the lights.

Attachments

Step 2: Testing LilyPad Lights

NOTE: I have an old battery holder Sparkfun (https://www.sparkfun.com/) no longer sells, but the concept should still be the same. The new one has the on/off switch on the holder so you don't have to buy a separate switch. 

I wondered if I could just tape the conductive thread instead of sewing it? The basics of LilyPad tutorial said to paint glue over the conductive thread at the end, so I'm assuming its effectiveness won't be dulled if I just tape it down. The connections will still be made. I don't want to try to put a sewing needle through cereal box cardboard and I definitely don't want to include a bunch of holes in my design to thread through. 

I used the LilyTwinkle component with the new battery holder design in my Twinkling Necklace Instructable, so I have tested painting glue over the thread. It worked. My biggest concern with this project is how difficult it may be to keep the thread from moving around too much while I work. Fabric helped stabilize the thread and keep it out of my way. Plus, tying a knot and making three loops in the holes on the components was easier with that layer of fabric in between. I need to figure out how to tie the knot around the holes in the components without the thread being too loose or just unwinding when I try to pull it tight. 

NOTE: Make sure you don't have the battery in while tying the components together.

At first I thought I'd just use long, bent-end tweezers to control the thread but that was not working. So I threaded a needle and started. I put the needle through one of the positive terminals on the battery holder and tied a basic overhand knot twice. Because the tutorial suggests looping thread three times through each hole on components, I held the knot with a finger and looped the thread three times trying to overlap them so they wouldn't unroll. I kept holding the knot on that side while I made three loops around the other positive terminal. 

The good thing is, the thread is a little rough (like hemp cord) and the holes on the components are not smooth, so the thread was staying how I wanted it without unwinding. 

Next I placed the holder down on my scrap of cardboard and threaded three loops around one of the holes on the on/off switch. The tutorial says the switch isn't polarized so it doesn't matter which hole you use. The whole time I was looping thread onto the switch, I was trying to hold the battery holder with the edge of my hand. I tied a knot by looping the thread through one of the loops (like a backwards overhead knot) and trimmed the thread close. 

Then I put a piece of Scotch tape down over the thread between the holder and the switch. Next I tied a new thread to the other hole on the switch, made three loops, and then attached the LED (three loops and a knot) at the positive terminal. I put a piece of tape over that thread and then connected the negative terminal of the LED to both negative terminals on the battery holder using a new thread. 

I put a bunch of little strips of tape over the last piece of thread to make sure it doesn't have any contact with the thread on the positive side. 

Then I put a battery in and turned it on. A blue light came on, and I might have cheered.

Because the tape worked so well, I'm not going to bother gluing the thread down in my final project. I'll just cover it all with tape once I have everything in place.

Step 3: Design Phase

The art I created is based on a digital piece I called Rose Garden which is somewhat abstract (shown in the third image above). I have a dainty leafy stem going up one side, a faded damask style diamond on the left top corner, and a bunch of swirly roses decked in gold rims going up the right side. 

For this project, I wanted to have that same splotchy sky background, the damask diamond, the leafy stem, and 3D roses with lights showing in the middle. But, I was working with a smaller size than the original because of the amount of cardboard I have to create the box with. I needed to redesign slightly. And I needed to have easy access to the on/off switch and battery, so my design would have to show the electronics layout.

Plus, because it's cardboard, I wanted a sturdy way to hang the piece on the wall (to make them wallflowers) without causing damage to the box itself. I didn't want to create a hole in the back to just hang on a nail because the cardboard isn't thick enough to withstand constant removing and replacing (every time I needed to change the battery).

I measured my largest piece of cardboard from the Family Size Cheerios box, and I had about 13" x 7.5" to work with. Because I was taping the cardboard to a piece of wood for cutting, I really only had 12" wide instead of 13" to work with because my largest piece of 1/8" thick wood is 12" square.

I decided my limit for size would be 7" tall to give myself some wiggle room on my laser cutter which has no way of showing exactly where I'm cutting and engraving. Knowing I wanted to have the on/off switch on one side (which is 3/8" wide), and I needed extra to fold over in the back to attach a back flap using the Velcro dots (also 3/8"), I would be adding another inch on all sides of the box. That makes my art surface 5" square.

Electronics

In Illustrator, I drew a 5" square and placed 4 circles on it to represent the flowers. I decided the first thing I needed to figure out was the electronics layout (included as a PDF below). Once I know how those will work without short circuiting anything, then I can work on the art itself. But as I'm figuring out the electronics, I'm keeping in mind the idea of the art. I don't want all the flowers to be the same size because that's not interesting. I also don't want them all centered, so I varied the size of my circles and placed them to the right side just like they are in my original art.

Then I drew the basic shapes and sizes of the on/off switch and battery holder. I had already drawn the LEDs for the Twinkle Necklace Instructable I did, so I just grabbed one of those and pasted them on my art (changing the light color to blue).

I knew I needed to connect all the positive terminals together and negative terminals separately without crossing threads, so I drew dashed lines to represent the thread. The on/off switch will be on the outside of the box while the other components will be on the inside, so I realized I needed to create holes on the side to allow the thread to loop around the holes on the on/off switch.

NOTE: The new battery holder Sparkfun makes has the on/off switch on it so you don't have to buy a separate switch. The biggest issue I have with this is you won't have easy access to the on/off switch for this type of project. You can buy a separate on/off switch still and attach it in the same way, but I'm not sure exactly how it will work. You may have to always have the one on the battery holder on while switching the one on the side off when needed. I don't know if this will shorten the life of the battery, however. You could just go without the on/off switch on the side and access it by pulling the back off every time. You'd need to eliminate the holes on the box side if you did that.

Front design

After I figured out the electronics layout, I created the front design. I put the corner I tested in Step 1 in all the corners. I have several damask designs I've created for my shop, but I needed one that was less complicated than what was in the original Rose Garden art. I decided I would create a stencil for this project and just paint it on. I looked through my damask designs and grabbed one that I could alter to make the biggest impact on the art. Cutting a lot of tiny parts would create a lot of trash since most would be burnt too much by the laser to be able to use in future projects. 

I grabbed the stems from the original Rose Garden art and redrew them to make the thinnest parts at least .06" wide (about 1.5mm). I've learned when using the laser cutter on wood, anything thinner than that is too fragile. 

Finally, I created a scrollwork piece to place on top. This is how the art will hang on the wall. I planned to cut it from chipboard which is a thick compressed cardboard. 

The final art is shown in the first photo above.

Attachments

Step 4: Paint the Cardboard

Because of the testing I did earlier, I thought it best to paint all the cardboard first before cutting the parts with the laser cutter.

Cardboard can soak up paint without a gesso layer or primer coat. This cardboard is thin, however, and the back side is glossy. So I decided to just do two coats of my base paint and hope for the best.

I created a painting guide for myself so I would know how much to paint in which colors. I'm including that guide as a PDF below. Note that some of the items are not actual size as this is simply a guide. I will include actual-size cutting files for all the pieces in the next step.

Start with the single-color pieces

I started with the gold since that's just one paint and I'm not doing gradients or mottled texture with it. I painted the chipboard and a small section of cereal box cardboard with two coats each of the gold, and set them aside.

Next I did the leafy stem background color. I mixed some of my bright pink (nearly red) paint with a dark purple to create a dark fuchsia color and painted a 5" x 6" section since I had plenty of space on my cardboard to work with.

Now the gradients

Then I mixed some off white with the remaining fuchsia color to create a violet, and I painted the background of what would be my roses. I figured a base coat that matched the leaves would help harmonize the art.

Next I opened my bright pink and pale pink bottles and painted one edge of the violet-coated cardboard. I worked fast, swiping back and forth with my brush to blend the pink and violet. I went back over the left edge with the bright pink to make it stand out. I'm not really concerned if some of the violet pokes through because flowers are often mottled and show off a variety of colors.

Then I dipped my paint brush into my pale pink bottle and started mixing that with the right edge of the bright pink to create a gradient. I kept working my way toward the right creating a paler pink as I went. The goal here is to create a variety of shades since the flower petals will be piled on top of each other. The lower, bigger petal pieces will be darker. As I was painting I kept that in mind, making sure to make the brighter pink section wider than the pale pink section where the smaller petal pieces will be cut.

I stopped painting when I got to about 9" wide. Then I opened my off white paint and put a little bit on my palette. I watered it down a bit. I wet my natural sponge, squeezed out excess water, and dipped into the white. I tapped off excess paint in the middle section of my palette and then tapped the sponge over the whole pink painted cardboard. I twisted the sponge in a variety of directions to keep the pattern looking haphazard. 

Next I started on the blue-green background. I painted a base coat in a pale mint color. Then I started painting over that with a darker seafoam green color. I painted this swiftly so the mint under it would mix in a bit and sometimes just shine through. I wanted both the colors to show through. 

Then I did the same sponge painting technique I did for the roses, but I used more water in the off white paint and used the back of the sponge which is less pokey. Then I rinsed my sponge and dipped it in straight water because I felt the white was too stark. I tapped back over the white to make it more mottled and really liked how it turned out. 

I let everything dry about an hour before I started cutting anything.

Attachments

Step 5: Cut the Shapes

There are SVG and PDF files of these shapes below.

Since I started on gold with the paint, I decided to start on those for the cuts. I had the corners facing paint-side up since they had to be engraved. The chipboard was facing paint-side down to create that rustic burnt-edge look. I was really pleased with how that turned out.

However when I cut the petal shapes paint-side down, the smallest petal pieces got a little too toasty. I also just didn't like the burnt edges on the pink as much as I did on the gold. I was able to take a dampened paper towel and wipe most of the burned edges off, but the smallest petal pieces were just really smudged when I was done. So, because I had plenty of painted surface left over, I recut those smallest ones with the painted side up. Those looked much better.

I lined up all the flower petals just as I had them in my art files so I could remember which pieces go together. The first row is the biggest flower, the second is the lower right-side flower, the third one is the flower on the top far-right, and the last row is the littlest one under the big left-side one. I made sure to keep them in this order whenever I moved them (in the next step I clean the edges on each and made sure to keep them in order).

The purple for the leafy stem was pretty dark, so I figured it would be OK when I cut that paint-side down. What I didn't anticipate was that wood-cutting rules don't apply to this cardboard. My first attempt to cut the leaves (with the very thin stems) turned to ash. I had to recut them. Most of the problem is my laser cutter's program automatically puts double cuts on every cut file. I had to go in and delete the extras so the cardboard didn't get double burned.

I didn't want to repaint more cardboard, so I readjusted the position of the leaves (broke the right section into two parts) and cut them on the same painted surface. I cut those paint-side up so I could best measure the space and guess where to put everything to make sure it all fit on what I had left.

Next I cut the blue-green background with the painted side up. I didn't need burnt edges for these parts since they wouldn't show. While that was cutting, I coated the corners, scrollwork piece, and leaves in clear fingernail polish. The stems were still too thin and trying to coat them caused one part of the leaves to rip off. I figured I could glue it back together when I started decorating the box so I didn't bother trying to recut them again.

In hind-sight it probably would have been better to spray them with clear gloss. Or not mess with them at all since I was going to spray the whole piece with clear gloss before I put the LEDs in back.

As the blue-green background was cutting, I noticed one corner popping up instead of dropping down, so I quickly moved to press that corner down while the head of the laser moved back up but accidentally bumped the whole wood section causing the cut to be slightly off. Luckily it was finishing up the back side that won't be seen, so I didn't think I'd need to repaint and recut. 

Lastly, I cut the damask stencil on a section of unpainted cereal box cardboard. 

The blue-green box shapes were curling upward a lot, so I put weights down on the corners to try to flatten them while I shaped the flowers in the next step.

Attachments

Step 6: Shape the Flowers

I ended up not coating each one with fingernail polish because I decided against using water to shape them. I knew from my testing earlier that I could roll the edges backwards without causing wrinkles, so that was my plan now. The fingernail polish was getting goopy and hard to work with, so I thought it best not to try to use it any more. I decided after shaping all the pieces and gluing them together, I'd spray then with a coat of clear gloss to protect them.

But I needed to wipe off all the soot around the edges where the cardboard was cut before working with the pieces. I didn't want to get the fronts all smudged. I took a couple squares of toilet paper and wiped the edges downward toward the back. I kept wiping my fingers too so I could be sure not to transfer soot onto the fronts while cleaning them.

Folding

With all the pieces cleaned, I could start folding the petals in toward the middle and curling them. For the really small pieces I didn't bother trying to curl the tips of the petals, but I did bend each petal in toward the middle. 

I pushed my fingernail into the base of each petal and folded them up against it. I did this for all the petal pieces, making sure to keep them in order so I knew which pieces went together. I folded the smallest ones up closer to the middle than I did the bigger ones. That would create greater depth when I glued all the layers together.

Rolling

Then I grabbed a round wood skewer to use as a dowel. It has a diameter of slightly less than 1/8" so I figured would be good with these tiny parts.

For the smaller flowers, I placed the dowel under the pointed tip of the petals, and held the tip in place over the dowel as I rolled it backward. I used my thumb to press down on the cardboard to keep it from creating creases as it curled.

For the bigger flower pieces, especially for the biggest flower, I curled the sides of the petals instead of the tips since I had more room to work with. This helped create more variety in the look of the flowers.

Gluing

When I was done curling all the petals, I started gluing the layers together. I designed the holes in the middle slightly larger than the LEDs so they wouldn't have to line up absolutely perfectly. As long as you have a line of sight through all of them, you should be good.

I took the largest piece of each flower (the far left-hand side of the rows) and made a ring of glue around the center hole with Tacky Glue. I then grabbed the next to last piece of each flower (second from left in the rows) and pressed it on top, making sure to line the holes up and rotating the pieces so the petals lay in the in-between areas of the petals beneath. I used tweezers to place the smaller sections. I used the tip of the skewer to poke through the holes in both layers to keep them aligned.

I held them in place for about a minute, then added the next petal section in line in the same way until all four layers were in place for each flower. After I let them dry for several minutes, I placed them on top of newsprint and sprayed a gentle, even layer of clear gloss on top. I let them dry while I worked on the next steps.

Step 7: Decorate Front of the Box

With the top design, we're working in layers. The bottom layer is the paint, then background decorations, before adding the 3D elements on top. We'll add the roses after we put the lights on the back (in the next step) to keep from crushing them.

Damask corner

So that means the damask design in the top left corner goes first. I placed the stencil on top and used the cut score lines on the box front to help me line up the top and left edge of the damask shape. I weighed down the sides with a ceramic tile, my metal ruler, and a steel bench block.

I didn't want the shape to be totally stark white. If it's too bright it might take away attention from the flowers. I mixed some of the seafoam green paint I used in the background with off white to create a more subdued color. I wet a makeup applicator wedge and squeezed the excess water out. Then I dipped it in my faded mint white color, tapped excess off in the middle of my palette, and started tapping inside the cut spaces in the damask stencil. When using a stencil, make sure the paint is not drippy and to lift straight up and down so there's no bleeding underneath. Don't press too hard either or you'll get uneven shapes. 

I gently covered all the spaces and went back over again to get it a little brighter. I left one section a little lighter so it looks genuinely faded like an old damask curtain. 

Once I was happy with the coverage, I carefully removed the weights holding the stencil and lifted the stencil straight up so I didn't smudge the paint. Some of the soot from the laser cut edges rubbed off on the art, but I think it adds a nice grunge look to it so I didn't bother to clean it up. If I hadn't liked it, I would have taken a toothpick wrapped with the tip of a damp paper towel to carefully wipe it off.

Flat background pieces

I applied Tacky Glue to the back of each gold corner and spread it to the very edges with my finger. Then I used the cut score lines on the box to help me place them. I set them inside those lines not quite a quarter inch away.

Then I placed my leaves down to make sure I had the placement correct to avoid the LED holes. Turns out when I recut the leaves, I had one set backwards so now I was just winging the design. The main goal is to avoid those holes, so I did that. I placed them where I thought they would look nice. Then I lifted each section, spread Tacky Glue on the back with my finger and placed them back on the box front. I also glued the section that ripped, meshing it with the part it had ripped from. 

When the glue dried, I sprayed a light, even coat of clear gloss over the whole surface. I let that dry an hour before moving to the next step.

Step 8: Attach Electronics

I used a printout of the electronics layout (from Step 3) to help guide me as I did this step. 

Start with the positive

I started just as I did for the test, tying an overhand knot on a positive terminal on the battery holder, making three loops, and then making loops through the other positive terminal. I put it down on the inside of the box where my drawing indicated it should go and placed a thin strip of tape over the top positive terminal to keep it in place. I kept the needle threaded to attach to the on/off switch.

I placed the switch on the front of the side panel where it belonged, holding it in place with a finger while I pushed threaded needle through the back side and into one of the holes on the switch. I made three loops through that hole, using the extra hole I had outside of it on the cardboard to hold it in place. I tied a knot on the back of the cardboard by looping the thread under the loops and tying a double overhand knot. I cut the thread ends short and used short strips of tape to tape the thread in place.

Then I started a new thread and poked it through the back of the other hole on the on/off switch. I left a long enough tail on the thread to make a knot when I brought the needle back through the other hole below it. I tied a double overhand knot as tight as I could and then made two more loops around the bottom of the switch. I kept the needle threaded to attach to the LEDs.

Placement for the LEDs needs to be precise, so threading them together was a bit of a challenge since I had to pick up the parts to make loops through them.

I pressed the first LED nearest the on/off switch facing away from me so the light went through the hole. I then pulled my needle over to it, picked it up and poked the needle through the front side (the side facing away from me), and placed it back down so the light went through the hole again. I pulled the thread pretty tight but not too tight, pinched it against the LED, lifted the LED again while holding the thread in place and made three loops. I placed the LED back into place, poking the light through the hole again. I loosened the thread slightly so I could be certain it wouldn't be too short when I placed the LED permanently. If the thread is too loose, I can arc it and put tape over it to keep it from touching the negative thread and short circuiting. However, if it's too tight, the LED won't reach its destination, and I would have to redo everything. I didn't want to do that.

I continued this way to connect all the positive terminals of the LEDs together. I tied a simple knot at each one to keep the connections tight and help maintain control over the thread. As I attached each LED, I put a thin strip of tape down over the thread to help keep them in the correct area. I couldn't tape down the LEDs permanently until after I had connected all the negative terminals, but keeping them in the general area where they needed to be helped not only in making sure they'll be placed appropriately but also kept them from sliding all over the place. I tied a double overhand knot after I made three loops on the fourth LED and cut the thread short.

Going negative

Next I started a new thread to connect all the negative terminals together. I started with the LED I finished on with the positive terminals. I turned each one to make sure the lights were in the holes below, then made my knots and loops. After I finished one, I put a thin strip of tape over the negative side to hold them in place. When the thread seemed like it was getting too close to the positive thread, I moved it away in an arc and taped it down. After the last LED was attached, I moved my needle over to the bottom negative terminal on the battery holder, made three loops, a simple knot, and then made three loops on the other negative terminal on the battery holder. I tied a final knot and trimmed the thread end short. I then placed thin strips of tape to hold the battery holder in place on the negative side.

Satisfied that there would be no short circuit, I put the 3V battery in and tested the lights. They came on in front when I flipped the switch on. Yay! Then I flipped the piece around again and placed thin strips of tape over all the thread and knots. Because I don't know what tape is made of, I decided to make sure the tape touching the negative thread didn't cross over the tape touching the positive side. I wanted to be safe.

Step 9: Glue Flowers on Front

At first I couldn't see where the holes in the flowers lined up with the holes containing the lights, but then I turned the lights on and it was easy as pie to see them.

I used Tacky Glue to spread a thin circle around the bottoms of the flowers, making certain not to fill the holes. I used the skewer to clear away the holes when I needed to. Then I lifted the box and placed the flowers over the lights, pressing from the bottom (under the lights) and top (middle of the flowers) to glue them in place. I held each one in place for about a minute before moving to the next. I let them dry about 20 minutes before moving on to the final steps.

Step 10: Fold Up Box, Attach Scrollwork Top, Hang

As I was trying to fold along the cut score lines, I realized I should have used my scoring tool to indent along them before attaching electronics and gluing flowers on the front. These weren't folding easily, so I used a ruler and the very tip of a scoring tool to crease along the perforations while trying not to press too hard on the front. I was concerned I was crushing the flowers as I did this, but they were not affected at all. The cardboard held its own here, so I was pretty happy.

I pressed the folds inward pretty far to help them keep the box shape. I folded in the tabs that I was going to glue to the insides of the right and left sides. 

If at first you don't succeed ...

At first I tried Tacky Glue and it didn't hold. I'm guessing it was because the sides were resisting holding the shape and were just too strong as they unfolded. I believe if I had folded the sides before attaching the electronics and flowers, I would have been able to fold them down flat and press more firmly along the score lines to help them keep their shape better. Next time!

Next I tried E6000 and it wouldn't hold. E6000 is a very strong glue but needs longer to set. I guess I could have held the parts in place for a longer time and that might have worked (it might have worked with the Tacky Glue as well), but I wasn't being very patient at this point. I tried using binder clips, but the ones I had weren't big enough to wrap over the sides to hold the tabs. 

Try Super Glue

So, I fell back on my trusty favorite: Super Glue. I used the scoring tool (any long tool like a skewer, screwdriver or pen would have worked) to push the flap against the edges inside since I couldn't get my fingers in there (and also didn't want to get Super Glue on them). The Super Glue held strong and fast! I was happy.

I used Super Glue to glue the back edges to each other, as well, and then to attach the scrollwork on top. 

Next I attached the Velcro mini fasteners to the folded box edges. When I wanted to place the Velcro counterparts on the inside of the back flap, I placed it just below or next to the dots on the folded edges to help get them lined up. It worked pretty well, and I was able to readjust one that was a little off without ripping the cardboard. 

Hit the lights!

Then I hung my art on the wall and turned the lights on! Even in daylight, the flowers just shine and because the lights are blue, they stand out no matter what time of day it is. 

If you like this design ...

I create cut files (DXF, SVG, and more) for crafters and makers. See my Creative Fabrica shop or my Design Bundles shop for a variety of Steampunk and layered wall art designs.

Cardboard Speed Challenge

Second Prize in the
Cardboard Speed Challenge