wrapartist

I have been thinking about multi-box wraps since I did the cow wrap at Christmas. In this case I was thinking about literal cubism. I wanted to see sliced and interpenetrating boxes.

An important detail in executing this wrap is to cut the boxes before you put the gift in the box.

I cut the red-wrap box using a scroll-saw. But the little box’s angle made this impossible. Instead, I drew the cut line onto the box and then sliced the line using a box-cutter. I placed the cut ends of the boxes onto a sheet of cardboard and traced the incised opening. I cut those shapes out, and, using hot glue, I attached the three pieces to the three open ends of the two boxes. That would give the boxes the rigidity they need for wrapping.

I chose to wrap them in scraps of traditional wrapping paper in order to use the contrast of tradition and innovation. I’d never tried traditional fold-n-wrap on such odd shaped boxes. Amazingly it is not that hard if you go slow and watch where the paper wants to make folds.

On the red box, I had the idea of gluing on a patch of contrasting paper, in this case the charming patterns from a Clark Richert retrospective invitation. The purpose was to show that this surface was the inside of something that had been sliced.

Next I had to play with the three parts and figure out how best to assemble them. Then I hot-glued them together.

When you have a tube to wrap, you are given an excellent opportunity to use up the small scraps of wrapping paper you have saved. Not only do you get the benefits of this recycling, you also get a speedy wrap. Start anywhere. Add contrasting pieces of paper; fold the edges and let those edges overlap the previous piece. Add ribbons, too. I added a circle of paper over the many folds that close the top. A bow on the top finishes the top.

I made this star as a gift for my brother Michael. I save my bottle caps grouped by kind in separate containers. This allows me to design  with them easily. Bottle caps are circles; thus they tile on a hex grid. I make a paper drawing first, using a 30-60-90 triangle to create the hexagonal forms.

I have made bottle-cap medallions that I applied to the kitchen cabinets of our cabin. Click here to take a peek at them.

When I’m running out of wrap time, I reach for ribbon and tissue. In this case I wrapped a tin of coffee with a large white ribbon, which covered the entire tin. I capped it with a piece lime-green tissue. The third layer is a piece of red paper folded into a “ribbon.” The folding gives this quasi-ribbon a satisfying dimension and a softened edge.

Then I added the string of molded plastic pearls, using occasional very-tiny dabs of hot glue to keep it in position. I finished it with a red pre-fab bow.

This simple banded design has a  variety of textures. The result is very pleasing, especially considering that it took very little time and no planning. I just started and kept adding until the wrap declared its completion.

This photo was taken by Canyon Boak in 2008. It shows a variety of wrap art, including, from the left, a brown-paper folded-band weave, a foam blueberry-box wrap, a robot wrap, a coconut-half on foam with ribbon wrap, and a somewhat traditional looking cross-ribbon wrap using folded recycled-paper for the big “ribbons” under the real ribbons.

You can see some of these wraps by clicking this link.