Inchie Ornament Tutorial

Inchie cube ornaments are so much fun to make for any occasion, but especially nice this time of year.  Since I did not find instructions anywhere, I thought I would share my creative process in making them.  My husband was thinking a copper metal one would be nice to try, and mesh and = Wow!

Here you go, nothing hard or mysterious; like most projects it just takes a little time and enthusiasm.

*Step 1*

Print out your template, generously shared by Shelly Rae Wood, here. I used white card stock; fitting two on one sheet of paper.  You could also print on patterned paper and skip to *Step 4*.

After cutting out the templates, score each line.  A metal ruler is helpful and instead of my bone folder I used this old fashioned lead pencil with no lead.  Bend your scored lines back and forth, it’s a good way to make sure you got them all.

*Step 2*

I used my new foam blending tool (thanks again Sue), to apply color to the blank side of the template.  I tried one with Lumiere paint as well.

*can you see another great background paper emerging from the sheet of paper I’m using to protect my table top 🙂

*Step 3*

Here I stamped with a favorite background stamp.  The sky is the limit on what you can do at this step (at each step actually – can’t wait to see what you all create).

*Step 4*

I found it easiest to poke the holes in the top and bottom for the hanging wire, before I glued the cube.  Mark the center of both the Top square and Bottom square on the inside of your template.   Having something soft underneath helped to keep the card stock from bending while poking the pencil through.

*Step 5*

Use your favorite adhesive to begin gluing the tabs inside the cube. This step takes a little patience; you want to be sure your cube is lined up squarely and that the paper sticks securely. I hold the cube and tweek it gently with my fingers, turning often.  Then proceed to the next tabs until you are ready to close your cube, just like a gift box, with the last tab also glued and tucked inside the cube.

*Step 6*

Time to decorate and embellish with bits of this and that.  It doesn’t take much on a one inch canvas! You will have a hole at the top and bottom of your cube.

*Step 7*

To create the hanger, I used 20 gauge silver wire (an 8 or 9 inch piece worked for me) and beads, working from the bottom up.  Be patient as you’re trying to feed your wire from the bottom hole into the top one; sometimes it takes a bit of fiddling. I added a tiny crimp bead at the very top of the beads to keep them from sliding.

Here is a sample of one of my painted inchie cubes…..I used Lumiere paint and edged with a gold Krylon pen.

Hope you found this tutorial helpful and that it has inspired you to play with inchie cubes.  I bet you can’t make just one 🙂 Thanks again to Fran and Linda and Rosie for getting me going!

By the way, I would LOVE to see what you make with the inchie template, sharing is fun!