Sunday, December 11, 2011

Laughing Cow Tutorial

I'm in full out Christmas mode this weekend.  My kids and grand kids expect, want, and ask for money for Christmas.  Each year, we give it but I must have fun with it and present it a little different each year.  This year, I discovered The Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss Cheese. Oh my it is so yummy.  But the little boxes are adorable and I just could not throw them away.  Soooooooo,
.........today was the day.  Here is what I did.  I drew a circle around the inside lip of the opened box.  This is so I could get the smallest circle.
Since I don't want the text to go all the way to the edge, I cut it out using the pencil guide but cutting it smaller.  It doesn't matter if it is exact or not.
Then I used Golden Matte Medium #3530 to glue the text on the top and bottom of the box.  I painted the inside of the box with Lumiere #561 Metallic Gold.  It is very pretty because the inside of the box was white.
Now for the napkin.  I want this circle to be larger than the box so I held the pencil next to the lid to mark the circle.
 Then, I tore the napkin following the pencil line as best as I could. Again, it doesn't have to be exact.
Here is another.  I think right now would be a great time to find some beautiful Christmas napkins.  I happen to have this one in my huge napkin stash.
 Make sure you only use the top layer of the napkin.  Most napkins have three layers.
It is very important that you use Golden Matte Medium to glue the napkin down with.  I'm sure something else will work but it should be very runny. Other Golden gels are too thick and don't absorb through to the top side which make them more transparent.  Paint a generous layer of the medium on the box and then lay the napkin down onto it.  You can't move the napkin so place it carefully.  Then, with some medium on the brush, smooth the napkin out.  You might even use your finger a little but the napkin begins to deteriorate quickly so work fast and then stop.  Let it dry.
 Notice how I let the napkin go over the edge and also notice how you can see the text through the napkin.
 Today, I made four. Here they are drying.  I painted on two coats of Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel.  It gave them a very nice high gloss finish which is what I wanted.  I might even add a third layer tomorrow.
 Next, I designed a little strip label.  I wish I could have been more clever but it has the recipients name on it which is really sweet.
I'm holding the label in place and showing that I brushed a layer of Lumiere #553 Brass which is very very translucent onto the label.  It gave the label a beautiful gilded finish.
I haven't shown you the last step because I don't have the big bucks in the house yet.  But when I'm ready to close up the gift, I will run a red thread around the groove that is left when the two box parts slide together.  Then I'm going to use a glue stick to apply the label.  A red thread tail is left out so the beautiful little box can be unzipped. You will see how that works when you open your Laughing Cow. So cool!
Supply List:
Laughing Cox boxes (eat the cheese)
Text page
Golden Matte Medium #3530
Napkin
Lumiere #561 Metallic Gold
Lumiere #553 Brass
$500.00 (gift) or any other small gift
Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel #3001
Label strip designed by You!

Have fun.  If you make a gift box, I would love to see it so come back and leave me a comment.

24 comments:

  1. you are soooo clever, sharon....love these...i am altering a cardboard box right now to hold some art supplies that i am giving my grand daughter for christmas....along with an adult easel....she is going to love the easel

    by the way....that is alot of cheese...MUST be good...

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  2. I love this idea; maybe next year because I don't feel like that much cheese ! I will probably make that little box made out of folded wallpaper. Thanks for a good idea.

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  3. Love those Sharon! So creative and a good excuse for me to buy some cheese;)

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  4. I am working on an oatmeal box I have it gessos at the moment and now I can hardly wait to work more.
    You gave me the push, can you hear someone saying, if everyone makes a fancy box would you have to make one to?? YES I WOULD
    I can't remember where I put my one laughing cow box. I will have to be satisfied with my Quaker O. Box.
    Isn't it exciting to make such lovely boxes as you just did?

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  5. Okay...I guess everyone will get laughing cow cheese in their stockings this year, with instructions to please return the empty box in excellent condition!!! :)
    Too Cute!

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  6. what a GREAT IDEA, sharon. they are absolutely darling and such a good size. someONE has to be eating a lot of yummy cheese! thank you. xo

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  7. I think that you are going to be responsible for an uptick in sales of Laughing Cow cheeses!! Adorable!!!

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  8. I love Skinny Cow,at only 35 calories per wedge, but I've been so busy spreading it on my crackers it never occured to me to recycle the container. They would be really cute boxes for jewelry, too. Thanks, I'm stealing that idea!

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  9. These are wonderful! I love that the text shows thru the layer of napkin!!

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  10. You are so darn clever....I love that cheese too and will be saving all the boxes now too.
    Great idea to personalise their monetary gift and make it more special. I imagine Christmas at your place must lots of fun.
    Jacky xox

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  11. I love these Laughing Cow boxes also. I put this cheese in my kids lunch boxes. I wondered what I would do with them. Thanks for sharing. :D

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  12. Laughing Cow cheese is going on my grocery list. Getting to eat cheese AND have a box to alter, what a winning idea.

    Thanks So Much for the tutorial!

    Darla

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  13. I love altering the laughing cow cheese boxes, I've done several and I think I have a couple more empty ones in my "to alter" drawer. They are just too cute to resist and the cheese is yummy, too.

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  14. Adorable.
    Thanks for sharing your process.
    I have some of that tasty cheese in my refrigerator. Love this project & will have to give it a try.

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  15. Oh my goodness! That was an awesome tutorial and awesome idea! I have to give my son some money this year and thanks to you I know exactly what I am going to give it in. Thank you! You're awesome!

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  16. LOL! I have two sons, 20 and 22--this is perfect! Thanks for the idea, Sharon.

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  17. What a fabulous idea Sharon. My little grandson loves this cheese. I'll have to get my daughter to save me the boxes. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Such a generous blog. So many great examples.

    HUGS,
    Lorraine

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  19. Now, this is being green, you have taken a throw away and made a treasure. I am working on another project right now, but this is really great. Big hugs, Mary

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  20. These are so lovely....what a nice gift! You just are soooo talented. Merry Christmas!

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  21. Sharon, I just love this. Thankyou for showing how you did this, it's fantastic.Is Lumiere the brand of paint? I am in Australia and often have difficulty with getting particular brands( Golden is not easily found here, either) going to buy some laughing cow now! Good thing my daughter loves it!
    Jenni

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  22. Thank you for the childhood memories...as children we used to have the little Laughing Cow cubes in our lunch...YUMMY.I'm not sure if we still have it here now???Will have to go searching.
    The boxes are just beautiful...I would love to receive one even empty! Clever lady :-)

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  23. Sharon! Us artists! We sure are collectors of oddities! I have several laughing cow containers- I can't bear to throw them away- the shape, the weight, the size..... I love what you have done with them! I had thought they would be nice Christmas ornaments decorated as a piece of candy as well.

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  24. I did it. I made several, you can see them on my instagram page, wildabouthandmades. It is very easy, to remove the labels, after that I take a very fine sand paper and sand down smooth. I however, instead of using a finishing material, I rubbed the boxes with museum wax and polished with cheese cloth and even my dremel polisher. I cut out all of my covering with my big shot and a paper cutter. No tape.....

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