the up stairs

It's been over a month since my last post, and life is chugging, full steam, ahead.  Work at our now SOLD home has stopped and the packing of boxes has commenced.  But some new-to-you updates have happened since my last post, including the newly painted stair walls and carpeted stairs.

As soon as the basement stair update was completely done, my attention turned back to the "up" stairs.  I spent A LOT of time patching and sanding the walls along the stair.  The old plaster walls had a few cracks but mostly, a previous, poorly done paint job was the biggest culprit.  In addition to the expected dents and scratches typical of a heavily trafficked corridor, there were places where all manner of dust, hairs, and globs of dried paint had been painted over - yuck.  

I finally stopped patching and sanding several weeks ago and gave the walls a fresh coat of paint - the same White Truffle by Behr that I've used for the kitchen, dining room, and master bedroom.  I was so happy to see the yellow walls go!  The last room left with awful yellow walls is the living room, which will be painted in the coming weeks.

I moved the Case Study Planter to the landing.  It gets much better light here than in the far corner of the Dining Room where it was previously located.  I also finally hung my Mother's Day gift from Ella and Ted - a new locale print, this one of the entire state of Michigan by Belle & Union.

And the carpet just went in last Friday! I was hoping we could do a runner but I started to stress about the gaps in between the string board and the treads and risers.  The house is old and everything has settled, expanded, and contracted.  Our options, as I saw it, were to live with the gaps (wide enough to push plenty of cheerios through),  add additional quarter-round at each stair, or rebuild the stair all together.  With the latter not being such a practical option, we opted for the most cost effective route - to run the carpet the entire width of the stair.  Not at all what I would have preferred but it has been SO NICE having carpet back on the stairs.  I chose a light grey, low pile, wool loop carpet with hints of warm brown and cream to blend with the walls and wood trim.  The wool is so soft underfoot and I'm not longer worried about Ella slipping down the bare wood steps.  I was also ecstatic to say goodbye to the clicking of Henry's nails on the stairs announcing to everyone, even at 2am, that he still lives in this house (poor, neglected pooch).

The upstairs landing was also carpeted as it had previously been, up to the thresholds of each bedroom and the bathroom.  I hung Umbra's large clipper wall hooks up on the narrow strip of wall between bedroom doors to showcase some of Ella's artwork from school and home.  Since I like to keep my fridge uncluttered with things and because this house has a serious lack of wall space (there are so many windows), this seemed like the best place to show off her work.

Still on the touch-up list: to remove the white paint from the stair base trim at the top of the stair.  Oops!  I once had dreams of painting all of the trim in this house white. 

make: trash bag kite

A few weeks ago I got Ella involved in my making.  She gave me the inspiration (or directive rather) and I looked up a few examples and got to making our fist kite (while she promptly got to tangling all of the string).  We used cotton string (to tie dowels together), both duct tape and washi tape, small trash bags, 1/4" diameter wood dowels, and a pair of trusty scissors.

I loosely followed the tutorials here and here. 
  

 

I was happy with things at this point but then Ella wanted me to use some purple tape.  So I kept going . . .

  

and then added a braided, trash bag tail with bows too.  We're just waiting for the perfect, windy day to take it down to the big field near our house and let it fly.  And hopefully it will fly.

Happy making!

basement stair update

Our house will be hitting the market sometime in the next few weeks and I have been racing to finish my entirely too long punch list.  If I didn't know it already, my long list of projects to start and outstanding projects to finish are quite enough to prove my tendency towards procrastination.

The basement stair update is one of those "projects to start".  The stairs were unfinished, builder grade lumber with small carpet treads.  Because our basement is definitely a basement in the truest sense, the stair never bothered me much, per se, until we completed the kitchen renovation which included new wood flooring and stairs from the dining room to the side door.  When the hall to the side door and basement was opened up, I wanted them to look finished.  Since all major construction has ended, I've given the walls, trim, and the side door (previously blue) a fresh coat of paint to match the dining room and kitchen.  But the view into the basement when coming and going through the side door was miserable.  So I decided a little update was in order - a fresh coat of paint to match the white trim throughout the house and an indoor/outdoor runner for the stairs would help improve the look and comfort of the stair in a big way.

I had been looking for an affordable carpet runner (because I was going to need two for the length of the stair) for some time when I finally spotted the LYNAS at IKEA.  It's dark grey and will hide any dirt and should vacuum easily.  So I grabbed two for the low price of $12.99/each to cover the length of the basement stair.  I could do without the raised squiggle pattern in the rug, but it met all of my other qualifications.  It was difficult to find something narrow enough to act as a runner on these stairs.

I left the existing carpet treads on the stair to act as padding and simply stapled the runner along the edges (mostly) to secure it in place.  I had to trim the first runner about three-quarters of the way down the stair where the riser meets the tread and begin the second runner in order to complete the contiguous installation.  I still need to finish painting the balusters white (a laundry table must be moved out of the way in the basement for better access to the sides), but for now, I'm checking this off my list.

dining room: hanging stuff

Now that the dining room walls are painted I've been thinking about hanging something on them.  I mean, why else do you paint a room off-white?  The only problem, I don't have much of a budget for new frames and art.  Thankfully, I've got a stash of things that I either haven't been able to find a place for in this house or took down from the original room before construction.  It's a pretty random collection of things but, I'm in a use-what-you've-got mode for this house.
 

I thought about winging the placement of all the frames once I had them all laid out on the dining room table, but decided against it last minute.  I dug a large cardboard box out of the basement, cut it open, and traced all of the frames onto it, then cut all the shapes out.  I then used painters tape to arrange them on the wall.  I remembered to move the plant back into place because I didn't want it to interfere with any of the frames.

I think that it would be fun to cover this wall with frames, art, and family photos.  There are a few more things that I already have that I'd like to add to the wall that didn't make it up in the first installation, largely because there didn't seem to be a good place for them without some additional frames (that I will have to purchase - I'm thinking a trip to the thrift store might be in order).  I also have a few little canvases in the mix that I have plans for but need to find the time to actually complete.  But for now, our walls don't seem so bare and I get to enjoy some of my favorite photos and art.  The painting on top was a gift from Ella to us for Christmas that she made at school!  I cried when I opened it!

make: washi tape hearts

Love is in the air and valentine making season is at hand.  It has become tradition around here to hand make valentines for our loved ones each year.  Last year, we tried our hand at potato and tp roll stamping to create some paper love.   This year, we decided to use washi tape.  We also added Ella's colored masking tape, featured here, into the mix.  And the results . . . they just make me happy.  I made some basic punched hearts and Ella, some heart stickers. We then attached the hearts to cards and added a note (or drawing in Ella's case).  Here's how we did it!

supply list:

washi tape
heavy weight paper (like cover stock)
full sheet adhesive labels (if you want to make stickers)
scissors
heart paper punch

to make:

1_Adhere washi tape, in strips (or other desired pattern), to your heavy weight paper or full sheet adhesive labels.  To make things run smoothly, I pre-cut manageable strips of the tape that Ella selected.

2_Use a heart paper punch to punch out as many hearts as your heart desires.

3_To create other shapes, simply draw shape with a pencil on the back of the paper, and cut with scissors.

Easy!

 

Happy making!

make: star of david ornaments

We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas in our house.  And as Ella gets older, my commitment to making both special for her and meaningful for all of us becomes greater.  Hanukkah begins this year on the evening of November 27th.  Luckily we will be traveling to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and will be able to celebrate the first few nights with them.  But when we return to our home, I'll have the menorah ready and these simple star of David ornaments hanging from our holiday branches.

I used wood craft sticks, craft paint, and small black rubber hair bands to make these simple ornaments. Here's how I did it:

1_ Begin by painting your craft sticks, if desired, and let dry.  I chose to paint some and leave others natural.

2_ After your sticks have dried, begin by laying the ends of two sticks over one another.  Pick up and wrap a rubber band around the sticks' ends several times until tight.  Add one additional stick to the unconnected ends of one of the first two sticks and, again, wrap a rubber band around the two sticks' ends several times until tight.  You will now have an open triangle.

3_ Before closing the triangle with another rubber band, feed three rubber bands onto one of the sticks. These are important to place onto the triangle before closing it as these will hold the second overlapping triangle onto the first.

4_ Close the triangle by wrapping a rubber band around the ends of the two sticks left unattached.  You will then have one triangle completed.

5_ Repeat step 2 for the next triangle.  You do not need to feed any additional rubber bands onto this second triangle so go ahead and skip to step 4.

6_ Place your two triangles on top of one another, in opposing directions, and working one point at a time, wrap one of the rubber bands from one side of the first triangle up, and around a point of the second until tight.  The two triangles will still be shifting on top of one another until all points of the second triangle are secured to a side of the first triangle.  Once all points have been secured, the star should be quite sturdy.

And if Hanukkah isn't a part of your holiday celebration, than you can make a simple star!

Happy (holiday) making!

make: holiday (tp roll) garland

Ever since the dusting of snow we had a few weeks ago, the holiday spirit has been slowly creeping its way into my life.  The fact that holiday wreaths appeared at the mall before Halloween had even arrived had me a little peeved.  But my Scrooge moment is gone and I'm starting to get excited for travel, family visits, and what will be our first official Christmas donning Santa hats for our little girl (at least the first Christmas where she'll notice and get it).

With a renovation in full swing at our house, not scheduled to be completed until the beginning of December, a tree is probably not in the cards for us this holiday.  But I've see a few images with simple arrangements of branches in large vases that I think will suit our space (or lack thereof) perfectly this year.  And to decorate it . . . lots of not to heavy, homemade ornaments are in the works.  And the garland is done!

Ella's loose parts bin had been overflowing with toilet paper rolls and I had been searching for a way to use the excess (I've been pinning a lot of great ideas).  But I ended up using them for this!  I used about eight tp rolls, craft paint, pinking shears, a needle and cotton string to assemble this garland.  It was so easy.  Here's how I did it:

1_ Flatten your toilet paper rolls, using a bone folder to ensure that the creases are smooth.  A rigid ruler would also work.  

2_ Paint your rolls with craft paint.  I used three colors and each roll took at least two coats of paint for a nice finish.

3_ Once dry, use a ruler to mark your tp rolls every 1" with a pencil.  Then use your pinking shears to trim the edges and cut the tp rolls on each mark, giving you about 1" wide rings.

4_ Using a crafting needle, string the tp rolls onto a generous length of cotton thread by piercing the centers of each crease on the rings.

5_ Tie off the ends leaving a loop for hanging and enjoy!

I don't, unfortunately, have a place to hang this just yet but I'll be sure to post pics as soon as I've figured out where it will hang.

Happy (holiday) making!

happy halloween!

It definitely warmed up here in Ann Arbor for Halloween, but of course, the weather couldn't give us too much of a break.  It's been raining since last evening with no end in immediate sight.  I'm hoping that we'll luck out and only have a slow drizzle for a brief lap up and down our street this evening.

The first year we celebrated Halloween in Ann Arbor, squirrels pretty much decimated our pumpkin before the trick-or-treaters even arrived at our front porch.  Last year I added a fantastic metal pumpkin made from reclaimed sheets of steel, cut, shaped, and riveted into a large jack-o-lantern to the porch display anticipating the same fate for our carved pumpkin.  

This year we waited until the last weekend available to buy a pumpkin and we kept it inside until we carved it on Monday night.  And again the squirrels dined on our jack-o-lantern, eating an eyeball and a few teeth.  But, as luck would have it, I chose to decorate a pumpkin this year that would be cool enough to keep inside.   A few weeks ago, Ella and I hit up the dollar store for some crafting inspiration. One of the items I picked up  was a package of small black rubber bands, you know the kind that are used for braided hair.  Paired with nails and arranged in a repeating pattern, I think they create a pretty cool result.  I've decided to attempt a really great, non-traditional pumpkin every year to keep a little bit of the Halloween spirit inside.

Oh, and I just have to share with you Ella's costume - my little Rosie the Riveter!  Hopefully I'll be able to get a better photo later today!

Happy Halloween!

abc photo hunt

Since we returned to Ann Arbor, we've gotten back to our Stroller Strides classes with Fit4Mom Ann Arbor.  We returned during ABC & 123 month (each month has a theme - for the kiddos mostly) and it got me thinking about one of the items left over on my "surviving summer" list: to work on Ella's ABC photo book.

I began compiling photos of Ella in the spring illustrating activities and things beginning with each letter of the alphabet to create a custom ABC book for her.  I still need images for quite a few letters of the alphabet and I thought it might be fun to complete the rest of the photos with her help.

And, viola, the ABC photo hunt was born!  The day before I wrote each letter of the alphabet on an index card and posted them on a large wall.  I filled in the cards for the letters we already had photos for like, F is for Family . . .

and S is for Sipping through a Straw . . .

I then made sure to fully charge my camera overnight.  The next morning Ella and I began our hunt.  We went through each letter.  Sometimes she could give me a word that began with the letter but more often than not, I had to make a suggestion.  We would then go on a hunt to find that item or illustrate that activity and I would capture it in a photo for the book.  I'm still working on editing the photos and adding text, but I'll be sure to share the final product when it's complete.

fabric painting

A friend texted me a link last week to this blog post over on Young House Love.  While I've been known, on occasion, to spend the entirety of nap time reading through past posts on their blog, the occurrences are, I assure you, far and few between and so I miss things.  And I would have missed this post had it not been for my fellow crafty friend.

I was immediately inspired to break out the fabric paints and stamps I already had lying around (from a baby shower  long ago, I think) and experiment with some fabric painting techniques with my favorite painting partner.  We used scraps of a heavy white twill fabric I had leftover from a pervious project, taped onto the table with painters tape so they would stay put.  The sheet metal I have left over from my sheet metal box project just didn't provide a large enough pattern for use as a stencil so I opted to use a handful of round sponge stamps in varying diameters that were in my stamp supply.

Ella was stamping it up on her piece of fabric until the stamps found their way to her face and hands.  I did eventually go back and stamp her name onto her piece (I suggested, she agreed).  And I decided to follow suit, and created a throw pillow for the rocking chair in her room.

And it was good practice for me as I plan to tackle a bit of fabric painting myself in the next week or so.  More to come . . . 

super Ella!

One of the crafty projects on my "surviving summer" list was to make Ella dress-up clothing.  I've so far created patterns for a crown, several masks, and a cape.  And, after watching Ella wear a blanket over her shoulders around the house several times, I thought the cape might be a hit; so I'm tackling it first.

I picked up one yard each of two colors of felt (the cheap stuff) - one for the outside of the cape and another for the lining - from a local craft store.  I also grabbed a few of the small 9"x12" sheets in several colors to create a custom super logo on the cape.  I made a cape pattern by taping a few larger pieces of scrap paper together and, using a string tied to a pencil, drew an arc with a radius of approximately 24".  I then created another arc, concentric to the first, with a radius of approximately 4".  Because I didn't have a huge roll of paper to create my pattern, I ended up just creating one smaller "pie piece" of the cape, and then cutting three "pie pieces" from each color of fabric to create the fullness required for an awesome cape. It was a happy accident that I decided to construct the cape this way because my fabric wouldn't have been wide enough to have just cut the cape as one large piece.

I stitched together all of the "pie pieces" (3 for the lining and 3 for the outside) and then, wrong sides together, pinned the lining to the outside fabric, and top-stitched around the perimeter, about a 1/4" from the edge.  This allowed me to trim the edges about 1/8" after all of the sewing was done in order to ensure that the front of the cape and lining of the cape aligned.

Oh, and let's not forget the grosgrain ribbon neck tie - I pinned these in between the lining and the outside layer before stitching the perimeter.

I'd like to officially introduce Super Ella!

on the boards: playroom/workroom {part 4}

We're Baaaaa-ack!

Once upon a time, back in February, I began working with my friend Jane to convert her unused formal living and dining rooms into a playroom for her daughter and a workspace for her.  See more here, here and here.

After an extended winter of exchanging one illness for another (is it spring yet??!?), we were finally able to regroup several weekends ago and this is what we did . . .

The weekend before my birthday was packed with plans, some known, some unknown (at the time), but I was pretty busy in the week prior prepping for one plan in particular: the building of the storage bench for Jane's playroom, first mentioned here.

The planning for this build required a lot more preparation than I had originally anticipated.  Jane and I gathered all the necessary tools, and calculated costs, and lengths, and heights, and widths in the few days leading up to the build.  We felt good about the seemingly solid plan we had in place, but were both still a little nervous.  I knew how these things could go . . . all is running smoothly until you make a bad cut or split the wood with a screw, and you're hopes are left beaten to a pulp and lying in the gutter.  OK, I'm being overly dramatic, but you get the picture.

Here is the bench design we came up with to house the two large storage bins for the playroom.

I created a shopping list for Jane, and then a separate cut list with the measurements for all of the pieces we would ultimately need to assemble the bench.  This made things very easy on build day.

We got a quick, mid-morning start on Sunday, first cutting down all of the straight "stick" stock with the compound miter saw.  We then took all of the pieces inside to the basement (it was a bit chilly outside) and attempted to set up guides for the hand-held router.  You can see, as evidenced in the photo below, that the first guide was crap!  Luckily this was a test piece, and we corrected the issues and began cutting fo' real!

All was going smoothly as we completed cutting the grooves in all of the legs and cross supports for the 1/4 recessed side and back panels to slide into.  Feeling quite accomplished, we headed back outside to setup the guides, measure, and cut the panels.  We didn't have a table saw so we planned to use a circular saw to make the cuts.  The edges didn't need to be perfect as they were going to be hidden in the grooves we'd just cut earlier, but this expectation of imperfection didn't prepare me for our complete inability to even accomplish this final cutting task.  The circular saw kept jamming up in the material after making about a 4" cut into the wood.  Not wanting to risk getting hurt or completely ruin the material, we decided to call it quits and ask a friend with a dream wood shop to make the cuts for us on his table saw.  What would surely have taken us hours to complete would only take him ten minutes.

But the realization that we weren't going to finish the day with something assembled left us both feeling a bit down.  Maybe not as beaten up as I had originally thought a setback might make me feel, but just sad.  So much had been going right and my confidence was growing with each successfully accomplished task.  In any case, we cleaned up our mess and laid out all of the pieces we had cut and felt pretty proud.  I'm looking forward to getting these last few pieces cut and the bench assembled in the coming week and finally posting a completed project for this playroom.

Happy Easter

We finished painting our paper mâché eggs just in time (thanks to the help of a visiting friend). 

Happy Easter!

this weekend: paper mâché eggs and lots of play

Hurray for a weekend spent at home (finally)! This weekend we didn't go anywhere that was more than a 15 minute drive from our house. Saturday we enjoyed a surprise run-in with some friends at the mall and Ella got in some unexpected play time with her friend Tate in the (very crowded) play area.

Sunday we finally began a craft project that has been percolating in my mind for the last week: Paper Mâché Easter Eggs. I think paper mâché is a great craft activity for toddlers! It doesn't require any precision, you can't really make a mistake, it's completely non-toxic (which is good since I'm pretty sure Ella decided to taste it a few times), and after it dries, your child has something three-dimensional that they created with their own hands. Oh, and what toddler doesn't love getting their hands messy! The one item that all paper mâché does require is some sort of form work to adhere the paper to. The Easter eggs used small balloons, blown up until they resembled an egg shape as much as was possible. Here's how we did it.

supply list:

flour

water

whisk

large plastic bowl

newspaper (or any paper you have lying around that would otherwise be thrown away)

small balloons

a peanut butter jar lid or plastic cup (to place your balloon on as you work)

cloth rags (handy to have nearby in case the little one decides to take an impromptu break)

acrylic paint

brushes

to make:

1_Place a vinyl tablecloth over your table and a splat mat on the floor beneath where your little one will be working. This made clean up a cinch.

2_Have your little one measure out about 1 cup of flour (no leveling required here) into a large bowl. Add about 1 cup of water, then let them whisk it all together to form a mixture that is only slightly thicker than a pancake batter.

3_Blow up your small balloons so that they resemble a large egg (no one said ostrich eggs were out for Easter). Meanwhile hand your little one a stack of newspaper and tell them to rip it up into small strips and/or pieces. (Ella looked at me quizzically until I showed her how to do it. I don't think she could believe I was actually encouraging her to rip something up.)

4_When all your materials are prepped, show them how to dip the paper into the mixture, drag it on the edge of the bowl to wipe off the excess, and drape it over their balloon. Don't worry if they aren't removing as much of the excess paste as you'd like. It will just take longer to dry. And try as much as you can to just let them do their thing, ignoring folds in the paper and places where the paper has gathered up (this was a challenge for me being the perfectionist that I am). It will all dry solid no matter how smooth it is and it will look fine. And most importantly, they will be very proud of their work!

5_When the balloons are fully covered with a layer of newspaper, find a place to hang them up to dry. When they were fully dried, I chose to put another layer of paper mâché on them, but I don't think it's necessary.  Using a pin, pop the balloons and pull them out through the hole that left to leave the knot exposed.  You can cover this hole with another layer of paper mâché.

6_When dry, paint to decorate!

Our eggs were still drying Sunday night after our second coat of paper so we'll decorate them later this week.

Happy Making!

figuring out a floor plan

I'm taking a break from my usual Tuesday update on Jane's Playroom/Workroom (frankly, we need the break to actually get some things done on the room) to talk about my favorite way to figure out a floor plan.  When I was eight years old, my family moved into a new house.  I had a very small room and to help me figure out where to put things, my mom showed me this handy method (man, she is smart).  I still have the kit from that first bedroom of my own and I've made many more since (Jane's Playroom/Workroom included).  If you have an existing space and a lot of existing furniture and want to know how it all could be put together (seriously, it can be a puzzle sometimes), then try this out.  You'll love playing with the pieces but I'll warn you: this may lead to obsessive furniture moving (guilty as charged). 

We started by gathering our supplies:

grid paper

construction paper

a tape measure

a ruler or architectural scale

scissors

and a pencil  

We then measured the bedroom and all it's contents (furniture), making note of all the windows, doors, the closet, and any other distinguishing features that might be important to locate.  You can see that I indicated where my heating/cooling supply vent was.  I'm pretty sure this was also my first attempt to represent a door swing (go me!).  We My mom chose the scale we were going to draw the plan at.  I handily noted it on the back of the envelope: 1'-0" = 1/2".   Using the grid paper and a ruler we translated the measurements into the 1/2" scale and drew the plan.  We then drew the furniture pieces (using the same 1/2" scale) onto the construction paper, labeled them, and cut them out.  Now we had a scaled room outline and a pile of furniture pieces to move around within it.  I moved my room around often because of this kit.  I kept it in the top drawer of my desk and would pull it out whenever I got bored to see what other arrangements I could come up with.

make: sheet metal earring display

I had a small piece of perforated sheet metal left after making my first sheet metal box and had propped it against a wall in my workroom. A few days later one of my husband's classmates (ahem, Ben) broke the glass in a small RIBBA frame I had. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good frame, I brought it, too, to my workroom and leaned it against the left over sheet metal. Then, genius struck! Ok, maybe not genius. To be fair, I already had the image in my head of the perforated metal earring display my sister had pinned (which inspired the sheet metal box).

I decided to cut down a piece of the sheet metal to fit into the frame and then ditched the board backing. I pressed the metal into the frame and secured with the existing clips and ta-da! A small earring display for the (maybe) 10 pairs of earrings I own. Sit on a dresser or hang on the wall. Now you'll never forget what you have stashed in that cavern of a jewelry box.

happy making!

make: sheet metal box

my sister recently pinned an earring storage and display solution using a decorative sheet metal panel. it reminded me how much i love a perforated metal panel!

since i do not possess an earring collection even a tenth of the size of my sister's, i decided to come up with another application for the material. enter: new trinket box, now slated to hold my collection of greeting cards.  here's how i did it . . .

supply list:

large sheet of paper (for box template)
tape
metal ruler
x-acto knife or scissors
pencil
decorative sheet metal panel
tin snips
pliers
embroidery floss
large craft needle
brass fasteners or binder clips

to make:

1_decide what size box you wish to make. the box pictured is 6-1/4" w x 8-1/4"d x 3-1/2"h. then make a template. draw an outline of the desired size box on the large sheet of paper (I used a roll of craft paper from IKEA), leaving plenty of space around the perimeter to add the desired height of the sides. refer to the photo for the final template shape and layout.


2_tape your template onto the sheet metal. place the template square to the metal's pattern and in such a way as to create the smoothest edges. cut around the template with tin snips.  note: the metal will be sharp! wear gloves or work cautiously to avoid cutting your hands.

3_use the metal ruler to help create straight bend lines, and fold the metal up on each side to create a box. fold the triangular flaps into the box and place brass fasteners through the flaps and side to hold in position.

4_ stitch flaps to sides and corners together with colorful embroidery thread. knot at inside, bottom of box.

5_to create the top, repeat all steps, adding about an 1/8" to the box dimensions on all sides (1/4" overall). determine your side height and add 1/2". the finished side height of the box shown is 1", so I created 1-1/2 sides on the template. before folding the box into its shape, fold all edges over 1/2" and press down with pliers or metal ruler to achieve a finished edge.

6_fill and enjoy!

happy making!