Hexagon Box and the winner is . . .

I know, I usually post on Mondays, but I got thrown off schedule by the giveaway so you're getting your Monday post on Tuesday.  :)

Thanks to everyone who participated in my Halloween Giveaway this weekend.  And without further adieu, the winner is: KIM LOOSLE!! :) Congratulations Kim.  Your calendar will be on it's way soon. :)

And now here is a little something for those of you that didn't win. A picture tutorial on the hexagon box.  This weekend, I showed you one turned into a pumpkin:

But at my class earlier this month, I offered the same box but in a more generic theme:

My first grader has been learning all about shapes this past month.  And not just rectangles, circles and triangles, but things I didn't learn about until I was in high school geometry: parallelograms, trapezoids and rhombuses.  I had to look some of those up because it's been a long time since Ms. Martin's class. I was actually relieved when we got back to simple shapes, like the hexagon. So it was easy for me to come up with the name for these. 

Brian Pilling showed these at convention this summer so I couldn't wait to try one for myself.   They are made with the Big Shot Milk Carton Die (and I love when I can find a new use for these dies) but I had a hard time finding a tutorial for them.  So here is mine:

1) Start out with 2 die cuts from the milk carton die:

 2) With the tab on the left, cut off the far right panel along the score line on both die cuts.

 3) Using a ruler and a stylus or bone folder, score a diagonal line down on the middle top section of the milk carton die.  That might not be very clear, but if you are familiar with the milk carton die, then you know that two of the sections already have an upside down "v" scored into them.  You are simply adding a line so that all three are pretty much the same.  The line that is already there isn't quite to the middle so it doesn't have to be exact.

 4) Fold along all of the score lines as pictured and add sticky strip to the tabs.  Adhere to box together.

5) The trickiest part is getting the box into the proper hexagon shape.  I found the easiest way to do this was to flip it over and then match up the tabs directly across from each other as shown.  Don't adhere to strongly to start with because if you put them too close together, you want to be able to go back and fix it.

 6) Then line up the next set of tabs that are across from each other like this:

 7) And finally the last set of tabs:

 

Turn your box over and decorate to your liking.  You can close the box buy punching small holes on each top section and using thread or ribbon to tie it shut.  Or if you've creased the score lines just right, you should be able to push it down and it will hold itself closed.

I hope you enjoyed this little photo tutorial.  I had a request last week to show clearer directions on the triangle box and I will be doing that later this week so be sure to check back.