3d Cowboy Boot Papercraft Tutorial

Create this fun dimensional papercraft cowboy boot

to sit on a shelf, fill as a picnic wares paper-weight,

stuff with cello-bagged or bandanna-wrapped frontier-style candy,

or as a place card at a family barn raising banquet.

Finished size (original) is 6.5" tall.

Available from SnapDragon Snippets

in the Silhouette America on-line store.
Designed by Jodi G. Warner.

For understanding in identifying pieces, the parts of the boot will be identified as (top to bottom):

UPPER CYLINDER with rim trim, side strips and fold-over tabs, side decoration shapes

UPPER with right and left sides, center front, upper heel and sole pieces

SOLE with additional four sole shapes

HEEL BOX

Here are the cut pieces required to construct the boot. For the model shown, four values of brown card stock were used.

DARKEST: heel box, 2 of the extra sole pieces

MEDIUM  DARK: upper right and left sides, heel, center from, rim trim, side strips and tabs, decoration base shape

LIGHTEST: cylinder front and back, 'R' sole and 2 of the extra sole pieces, decoration top shapes.

CONTRAST for cutout liner on center front (not shown in this layout of pieces)

Locate UPPER heel shape. Fold all perforations as "inward" or valley folds. Apply glue to the triangle gusset tabs. 

Align adjoining straight edge at gusset perforation line and hold until glue is secure.

 Locate and fold UPPER left and right sides ('R' symbol) on perforations: tabs and center lines are mountain folds; 2 front-most are valley folds.

Attach back tabs of side pieces to heel side edges.

Locate UPPER center front piece and contrast liner. Glue liner to backside behind cut out section. 

NOTE that the narrow part is the boot toe tip, and the wider part is the top opening part. Fold perforations: top-most as valley fold; all others as mountain folds.

Align and glue each center front edge to corresponding tab on the front edge of appropriate UPPER side. This image shows the right side being attached.

Complete one side (right side shown - see the small 'R' symbol near thumb), then complete the opposite side in the same fashion. 

Locate the 'R' sole piece. Fold widest perforation as mountain, narrowest as valley folds.

Compare the sole piece to the opening and edge tabs. NOTE the 'R' symbol of both pieces match up.

Begin at the heel end to align and attach tab to end edge. Continue to glue, align and attach along each side toward the toe area, working in pairs of edges to assist with the alignment process.

 As progress reaches the toe area, it may be necessary to "flex" or squash the upper portion to allow the sole and tab edges to align.  This is the most difficult part of the assembly, and may require extra time and re-positioning to achieve desired result.

Once the edges are aligned and glue is applied, hold in place until the glue grabs, then .... (see next image)

..... rotate and apply pressure between front and back to help secure the glued edges.

To provide strength and give the sole area some depth and thickness, four more sole shapes are glued in place. The model uses alternating colors of brown cardstock.

Fold each sole shape on perforations as was done with the upper sole piece. Apply generous glue, especially at the edges. Attach one by one, holding and applying "flat" pressure until thoroughly secure.

Locate the HEEL BOX piece, then fold all perforations as mountain folds. NOTE the 'R' symbol. This face of the completed shape will attach to the bottom of the bottom-most sole piece.

Fold and align the side edges with the boxing tabs, then glue in place one by one.

Continue working in the same fashion to complete the gluing of the opposite side.

 For the final side, apply glue, then tuck the long and two short end tabs into the box. Apply pressure until glue is secure.

Apply liberal amount of glue, especially at edges, to 'R' face of heel box. Align at heel end of sole and hold in place with pressure until glue is secure.

Locate CYLINDER front and back pieces (BACK piece includes tiny square symbol cutout on tab upper end which will end up on the Right side of boot, and star cutout at bottom). DO NOT FOLD on tab perforations. Fold all other perforation lines as mountain folds.

Apply glue to tab, overlap corresponding edge of other cylinder and apply pressure along edge as glue gets secured.

Repeat the seam gluing process for opposite tab and side.

Locate rim trim pieces, and fold all perforations as mountain folds. NOTE that FRONT trim will overlap back trim piece.

Apply glue to BACK, align with upper edge and side seams, and affix. Repeat for FRONT.

Glue side strips in place, matching the right strip (star cutout) to right side, etc., and aligning hole punches.

Fold tabs at perforation, then adjust if necessary so that hole punches align. Apply glue to inner surface of back half (straight-cut end), then position on inside of boot with punch holes aligned. Fold rounded end over to outside of boot, align punch hole, then insert and affix decorative brad.

Dry fit the cylinder inside the "shoe" assembly, with the star cutout on the right side of boot. Rotate cylinder to align center and back perforation pairs, and push cylinder fully into shoe. Most of perforations should align also.

Separate parts, then apply liberal glue to inside rim area of "shoe". Re-insert cylinder and apply pressure to all edges (especially center front and back) until glue is secure.

Glue side decoration layers, fold on perforations, then align and glue in place on front half of right and left boot sides.

And the dimensional boot is completed!