Bad to the Bone Care Package Weaving Series

Hey ghouls and creeps! I love the sentiment of care packages, giving someone a thoughtful gift for no other reason than just say, “Hey you’re rad!” This project is the first of the weaving series where I’ll explore using a variety of mediums, both traditional and unconventional. For today, we will be weaving paper and using the weave to decorate our care package. I’ve always been fond of bright neon colors, probably a product of being born in the ’80s, and enjoy the juxtaposition of the bright and cheerful with the morbid whimsy. Use this technique for decorating packages, creating envelopes, making coasters, or embellishment for paper crafting projects. The bone bead is not adhered to the package directly, so it can easily be removed and used as a brooch, hair accessory, or as jewelry.

Overall this project is pretty easy, just a little time consuming. The part that persuaded me to list this as an intermediate project, is the potential math and forethought involved if you select a different box type than the one used for the project. The fundamentals of paper-weave-box-making are here to help though, so don’t worry!

Begin by cutting your sheets of paper either with a paper cutter, a ruler and scissors, or with a ruler and paper rotary cutter into strips measuring 12″ X 1/4″. Cut at least 2/3 worth of the sheet (or 8″) into strips (note: if your package is larger than 3.25″X 3.25″ X 8″ you will need to cut more strips). Select which of your colors you would like for your warp (vertical strips) and weft (horizontal strips) of your weave. I picked two colors for the warp and three for the weft.

Measure the dimensions of your box that you have selected to eventually adhere your weave onto. I picked the 3.25″X 3.25″X 8″ Wilton flip-top treat boxes. Use the length and height measurements to determine how wide to make your weave using this formula: length + (height X 2) +1″= width. The 1″ added to this equation is to have a 1/2″ excess on each side to fold under to keep the weave from unraveling. Using the formula I determined that the width of my weave needed to be: 8″+ (3.25 X 2) + 1″= 15.5″.

Determine how many warp strips will be needed to measure the calculated width and leave a light mark measuring a 1/2″ from the end for reference on these strips. I ended up using roughly 62 warp strips to produce the needed width.

Take these freshly marked warp strips and tape all these strips on a tabletop up to the marked line. Once completed, take your first weft strip and weave the strip through the warp strips, I used a very basic basketweave, but other weave patterns could be used. One example to consider would be to go under two warp strips, over one, under two, and so on. Another aesthetic that’s completely up to preference is whether you alternate your weft colors. I alternated my three colors and maintained the sequence through the entirety of the weave.

Another thing to note, you probably noticed that the strips are not quite long enough to reach both sides of the warp. To counteract this, I used two strips per row, just overlapping the ends of the two strips about 3/4″ where they met. You’ll find there is a fair amount of excess left on one side, so I just cut off the length, making sure to leave a 1/2″ past the edge of the warp for fold over later, and just used this piece to help supplement another row.

Continue weaving until you reach roughly 1/2″ from the end of the warp strips. Once reaching the end, peel the taped end of the warp off the table, and fold the edge over to the inside of the weave up to the 1/2″ marked line and press tape in place. This will finish this end of the weave, and secure the weft strips. Perform this same process to the opposite side of the weave and the sides, fold over a 1/2″ of the warp or weft (in the case of the sides) to the inside of the weave for a nice completed edge.

Before cutting the weave to be able to make it into a three-dimensional shape, it’s important to note that the cut instructions used are ideal for a flip-top package. If your package is not a flip-top you may have to adjust slightly for the perfect result. Take a pencil and a ruler and mark 3 1/4″ squares in each corner of the weave. Position weave on table so that warp is vertical and add 3/8″ extensions to the inside of the front squares nearest the center of the weave. Angle extension ends to a forty five degree angle so edges aren’t visible when folded inside. These extensions will provide a surface to glue the front corners together later.

Cut marked squares out, and use Scotch tape to wrap around these new edges to keep the weave from curling. Use an Xacto knife and a ruler to lightly score weave to fold the weave into a box more easily. Be very careful to not score too deep, use Scotch tape over scored areas so that paper doesn’t peal up and away from the weave. After scoring the edges of the top of the box, make sure to score extensions as well. Once you have scored, taped, and then folded all edges to make up your box, you can begin attaching weave to your care package!

First glue your front extensions to the corresponding sides of the front squares to complete the front corners. Consider using large paperclips, clothespins, or smaller hair clips to keep extension and side together while drying. Then apply glue to the inside of the back and top of the weave, place over box matching up corresponding sides, and press in place. While the glue dries, the package embellishment can be made.

Take your bone bead and jewelry wire, begin wrapping wire around one end of the bead with 1 1/2″ wire extension left to be decoratively wrapped with needle nosed pliers into a coil. Wrap wire around bead until you reach the other end. Leave 1 1/2″ wire extension to be wrapped into a coil to keep wire in place.

Select four leftover strips of paper and wrap them around the wire-wrapped bone bead and fan out the ends on each side. Depending on your preference, you can write your motivational message before wrapping paper around bead and gluing in place, or after to achieve symmetrical spacing. I wrapped my strips around first to get an idea of where to start and end my text, then unwrapped the strips to write on a flat surface.

Once you’re ready to attach strips to top of package, use a hot glue gun or other fast curing glue to glue strips on both sides of bone bead. Cut strips at a sixtyish degree angle on both sides.

Use your care package to gift banana nut muffins, other tasty treats, or smaller treasures to anyone in need of a pick-me-up. Repurpose the bone bead for jewelry, a hairpiece, or a brooch!

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Ready for your next project? Here are some tutorials on the blog I think you’ll like! Frame Flip tutorial: https://britnijade.com/frame-flip/, Macrame Wall Hanging: https://britnijade.com/macrame-wall-hanging-w-bones/, or the Spider Web Macrame: https://britnijade.com/spider-web-macrame/. Enjoy!