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!

3D Birdie Box Papercraft Tutorial

3d Birdie Box is a dimensional object created from cardstock.

This original digital cut file design by Jodi G. Warner

is available from SnapDragon Snippets

through Silhouette America's online store.

Here the lid is shown separated from the base.

Each of these parts are built separately,

then the base slides up inside the lid body.

Assembled box measures approx. 4.5 inches tall x 3.25 inches wide.

The birdie box can be used as a shelf-sitting decoration, 

singly or in multiples as part of a centerpiece,

filled with goodies as a party or event favor,

and other similar ways.

Here is a layout showing all the cut pieces required to create one birdie.

The original uses a medium blue for the main body (lid), a lighter blue as base and upper body accents, cream for chest and eye whites, goldenrod orange for beaks, black for eyeballs.

The wing layers and body sides include hole punches to accept a small to medium sized brad.

Identify the under beak as the smallest of the two orange beak pieces. 

Prepare the underbeak. Bend on all perforations as "mountain" or "toward inward" folds. The two "tall" triangle shapes will be the underside beaks. The tab on the smallest triangle shape area will slide under the edge of the adjacent beak back edge. Apply glue to the tab front surface, then slide it back into place, apply pressure and hold until secure. The result is the two-sided beak with triangular base.

Identify the lid upper body boxing piece that includes the tail scallops on one end and the upper beak slot cuts near the opposite end. Bend tabs back. Bend body boxing perforations as "mountain" folds; bend tail perf as "valley" fold.

Attach lower beak to end, below slot cuts, with beak peak centered to mimic pointed edges of boxing piece. Apply glue to smallest triangle base of lower beak, then glue in place centered as described.

This image shows the lower beak attached. Lower angle of the beak does NOT match the lower angled edges of the boxing piece.

Identify the upper beak that has the nostril oval holes. Bend tabs forward and bend center perforation as a mountain fold.

Insert tabs into slot cuts, push beak in so that perforations and peak edges fit flush against head piece.

On boxing backside, apply glue to front side of tabs, bend tabs toward sides of boxing. Hold in place until secure.

 Identify the left and right crest pieces. Bend tabs outward on each. Glue the backsides of the two together, taking care to align the curved edges.

Insert crest into the center slot on body boxing. 

The largest of the two "points" goes toward the beak end, with the "hook" of the crest arching forward.



(This image shows the crest being inserted before the beak pieces are in place, but this tutorial instructs having the beaks in place first. Either order works well.)

Apply glue to between the tabs and the backside of the body boxing. Push in to make sure the crest tabs sit flush with body boxing backside. Hold in place until secure.

Identify the lid side left and right pieces. Bend the tail perforation as "valley" fold for each. 

Compare the side piece edges to the tabs of boxing to determine how they correspond. On one side, apply glue and attach the "center" (top) edge and tab first (tab goes UNDER side edge). Hold until secure.

Work towards ends of body to carefully align and attach two tabs and edges toward front, and long tab toward tail. (Leave tail edges unattached at this stage.)

Complete the same steps to attach body tabs to side edges as for first side.

For tail tabs, bend side tail scallop "wedge" as mountain folds. Apply glue to lower portion of tail tab underside ONLY. Position side tail edge under tail tab taking care that straight edge fits snugly into tail crease corner. Hold until secure.

Identify the back tail piece (shorter with scalloped top). Bend side tabs as "mountain" folds, scallop end perf as "valley" and the other cross perfs and "mountain" folds.

Apply glue to tab surface, align fold edge under body tail edge, taking care to match the transition POINT of side body final scallop to tail scallop intersection with perforation fold as shown here. Repeat for second side.

Align scallop edges of  both layers by flexing/nudging top of back tail downward as it bends at perforations. Apply glue between layers, then re-align to make sure scallop edges align as exactly as possible, and hold until secure.

Identify two decorative tail accents. Layer and glue as shown taking take to align lower and side edges. Attach to tail portion of body, aligning lower cut edge at tail bottom perforation.

Prepare left and right wings in similar fashion, aligning punch holes and outer edges where they match.

Prepare to attach wing sets with optional adhesive if desired, by testing alignment on body with punch holes aligned. NOTE: the backside curves intersect at lower scallops must be rotated upward to clear the outward angling of the tail shape.

Take note of where the wing and body touch when in pre-tested position, then apply adhesive to that forward portion only.

(Wings can be held in place with decorative brad alone, if desired.)

Attach eyeball to eye white, then attach eye in place on body.

Identify base boxing, left and right side pieces. NOTE that the front corresponding positions of all three are marked with tiny cut holes. Bend tabs inward, and cross perforations as mountain folds.

Attach one side to boxing, beginning at center tab and corresponding side edge in similar fashion to lid construction.

Attach second side in similar fashion.

Identify the chest piece. Bend tabs back, and bend cross perfs as mountain folds. Glue tabs under corresponding straight edges.

Apply glue to the inside surfaces of the chest piece, then slide over the front of the body with corresponding shape. Hold until secure. (NOTE the small hole which indicates the front of the base piece is where chest piece is being attached.)

Here are the finished project images that may provide additional construction process understanding.