Thursday, December 18, 2014

Santa Canister Wrap Assembly Guide

Build a "canister" box from sturdy card stock,
then decorate it with Santa decorations
that include beard, mustache and face,
suit with belt and buttons, mitten hand and arm
holding a two-layer candy cane.
Detachable pointed hat with slice form tassel
is the box's lid.
Fun holiday decor, or use as a
special gift box.

Cut file is available for purchase from
SnapDragonSnippets.com,
SVG Attic (soon), and Silhouette America.



ASSEMBLY GUIDE:
1. Identify and cut the shapes:
A canister body
B canister rim reinforcement rings (2)
C bottom cover
D hat crown cone
E hat bottom insert
F fur strips, base scalloped edge & center
G tassel scalloped circles (8)
H face/head assembly
I suit/body assembly
J sleeve, fur, mittens
K candy cane layers


2. Go to this tutorial post to view the canister construction, and follow Steps 2-6 to complete the Santa canister in the very same manner.























3. Assemble the suit with contrast rectangle placed on the backside behind the circle buttons cutouts. Also attach the belt strip and buckle on the front.














4. Assemble the head/face unit as shown. NOTE that the mouth "liner" shape is placed behind the beard and mustache so that it will show through from the front (with no edges showing above mustache). It may help to "dry fit" the mustache and beard/liner swirl contrast shapes separately from face, then attach mouth behind.

 This sample face also have some cheek blushing and edge distressing. Blush the cheeks before the beard unit is attached.





5. Prepare the remaining accent decor shapes for Santa, including the two layer candy cane, and the sleeve with fur cuff layered as a unit. DON"T ATTACH HEAD & BODY TOGETHER YET.

NOTE that the mitten has two shapes, one with a vague thumb on the top contour, if you want to make it look like Santa is actually holding the cane. 

Layer the sleeve unit onto the santa suit with the right edge beyond the suit's right edge as shown. Place the thumb mitten next to the fur, place the cane, then place the top mitten shape over first mitten, matching edges that can align.

(For a single mitten layer, use the thumb mitten shape and place the cane under it during the assembly.)




6. Center the suit assemble on the canister front face, with bottom edges aligned. Glue in place.


(Head/face assembled unit will be attached later,
in final step 23.)












7. Prepare the hat cone shape by folding ALL perforations back (mountain folds), including the tiny wedge tabs between the bottom edge sections.










8. Attach the bottom sections by applying a dab of glue to the tiny wedge tabs, then overlapping the adjacent straight edge to the tab's perf line and holding in place with pressure until secure. 

Complete all 7 of these seams.











9. Complete the cone seam by bringing the long straight edge to line up with the long tab perforation line.

Complete the shorter edge section seam like the tiny wedge tab seams completed in step 8 above.













It may be helpful to insert a long "press against" tool such as the pencil used here behind the long seam to help the two surfaces attach.












10. Apply glue to each rim tab, then fold to the inside of the hat cone and hold in place until secure.
















11. Prepare the stabilizer insert by folding the four edge tabs forward (valley folds).












12. Apply glue to the backside of the tabs, then insert the stabilizer into the hat opening. 

Take care to identify the long front and back sections of the hat cone, then aligning the long tabs behind those sections as the shape is inserted.











Push the insert in approx. 1/4", so that the tab edges abut next to the hat rim tab edges as exactly as possible. (This is how you will know that the insert is pushed in at the right level, allowing for the hat to be placed onto the canister when completed.)

It may be helpful to use a thin blade tool like this Silhouette spatula to help gently push the tabs into place.





It sill also help to apply pressure from the outside of the hat front/back and sides to help the insert's tabs attach securely.












13. Prepare the fur base strip by folding back on the short vertical perforations, and also by folding the scallop edges forward along perforations.











14. Identify the long sections of the fur strip, then position and attach one at the front of the hat, centering it over the lower "brim" section so that the end perforation lines match the section's end corners.

15. Continue to wrap and glue the remaining sections, including the ends where the tab can be overlapped by the opposite end as it is positioned and glued in place.





16. Prepare the center fur overlay by bending the fur curl cutouts outward slightly.

Also fold each section back on the perforation dashes.

17. Position the overlay onto the fur base strip already attached to the hat, matching the long sections and wrapping to attach and glue in place as for the fur base strip.








18. Prepare the tassel circles (8) by folding on center perforations as "valley" folds. Note that the bottom center of each circle is shaped with a triangular cutout where the finished tassel will fit over the hat point.

18. Attach two tassel circles by aligning and gluing two halves' surfaces that match up.











19. Continue adding a third and a fourth shape in the same manner, gluing the half that matches up to the exposed half of the assembly, until four shapes are attached for form a half tassel. 

It may be helpful to keep the shapes folded in half to get the fold edges aligned as exactly as possible, while also being able to view the outer shaped edges for alignment, too.

Apply pressure to the stack until they are secure.






Here you can see a half assembled, with the flanges of the tassel arranged in their radiating "final" positions.





20. Complete a second half tassel unit with the remaining four shapes.









21. Apply glue to both the half-circle surfaces of one of the tassel half units, then bring join the two halves and take care that all the edges line up as exactly as possible. Apply pressure by folding the slices flat (into full circle contour), rearranging the slice folding several times to apply pressure in between different slice arrangements.

22. "Dry fit" the tassel ball over the hat's tip to see where the surfaces will come together (this is NOT a tight fit).

Apply hot glue or quick bonding liquid glue such as Fabri-TAC to either point or tassel "cavity", then position the tassel and hold in place until secure. Adjust the slices evenly while still malleable, if possible.





23. Place the hat onto the canister top. (This is not a tight fit, but it may take patience to get the hat to fit over all the facets.)

With the hat in place, position the head/face assembly above the suit, snugging the top straight edge of head to abut right below the hat's rim. Apply adhesive (before positioning, of course) to head/face backside where it will touch the canister's front face and suit, then position and hold in place until secure.







The Santa canister is now complete.


If this is your first canister wrap project,
be sure to check out all the other canisters already in our portfolio,
including snowman, leprechaun, Easter bunny,
Uncle Sam, scarecrow, witch, dracula boy, and pilgrim.

A canister wrap veteran? Watch for other designs in the series
in the coming months.

If you have ideas about which figures you would like to see added,
be sure to leave a comment with this post,
or email me directly.

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