Forget Watching TV - You Can Now Make One (Using our Printable Retro TV Box)

This is the story of how I came to make this printable box that looks like a retro TV.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I was in a crafts store, and there, in all its glory, was a decorative, animated TV for the holiday.

I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I wanted it! However, it was a fairly large size, and we simply don't have room to store it 11 months of the year.  So I had to bid it goodbye.

Then,  I realized, I could make a smaller, more simplistic retro TV. Better yet, because my design is in the form of a printable template, I can make one of these retro TVs for every occasion.

Of course, I got busy with the holidays, so I didn't finish up my retro TV diorama until now. Here is my final creation:

I started by printing the retro TV box template (now available to purchase from KB and Friends' Etsy shop). I use a guillotine cutter to cut out the long, straight edges of the box, and, for the angled corners, I just use scissors. I used stick glue to glue the corners of the box together.

The assembled box measures 4.75" wide by 4.5" high by 1.5" deep.

I happened to have some K&Company and Paper Studio scrapbook embellishments on hand. And I cut the colorful gift boxes out from a tag in our Retro Christmas Scrapbook Embellishments kit. The background with the blue sky and snow-covered pine trees was something I already had from an old book.

For a three-dimensional look, I used foam mounting tape to adhere the embellishments to the inside bottom of the box.

The bun feet came from a bag of Fab Lab Crafts wooden candle cups. I tried to stain them using an ink pad that I had on hand, but the brown wasn't the right color so I ended up painting them with acrylic paint.

he hardest thing to make in this project was the rabbit-ears antenna. I finally settled on using a thin dowel, cut down to size, a round wooden piece that I had on hand and two wooden beads for the top. 

I drilled a couple of holes in the round wooden piece. 

Let's just say that getting the E6000 glue to hold the dowels at just the right angle was a challenge. I ended up using silver metallic acrylic paint on the antenna.

Finally, I got out a string of Mayberry Street Miniatures holiday lights that I never used in a previous project and strung them across my retro television.

I am really happy with my new little retro TV. It's something I'm sure to "watch" all of the time.

Christmas Journal Inspiration from KittyWitty Papercraft

If you're in need of inspiration for making a junk journal, then you've got to see the Christmas journal crafted by Amy of KittyWitty Papercraft.

Amy's almost half-hour video of her journal is chock full of inspiration for the novice to the most seasoned journal maker.  It's worth your time because Amy - who makes and sells journals and supplies at her KittyWitty Papercraft Etsy store - is now sharing her secrets with the rest of us.

As you can see from the screenshot above, Amy started with an adorable children's book to use as her front and back covers. Just take a look at that set of charms and yarn bows that Amy attached to the cover! So cute, and something that would look terrific on any type of journal, not just one for Christmas.

Amy packs her pages with lots of dimensional ephemera to create this really thick journal.

Amy uses a variety of techniques, from pockets to shakers, to create eye-catching pages. And this book uses layer upon layer, as well, to create dimension and volume.

Now, I have to admit that I'm not entirely unbiased with regard to this fabulously fun journal. Amy is a customer of KB and Friends, and she mentions the printables we sell in the KB and Friends' Etsy shop several times.

I'm going to give you a peek from her video of just a couple of our products that Amy used.

First up is the Christmas ornament box top that is part of our Digital Vintage Christmas Package Cards. She turned it into an adorable shaker filled with sequins! When I created this set of printables, I never thought of someone using one of the box tops in such a creative way. I just love this, and it's something that anyone can easily create. Again, watch the Kitty Witty Papercraft video, as Amy describes how she made this.

Next, I'm going to share with you the Christmas telegram from our Retro Christmas Telegrams set of printables.

Amy printed the telegram from our Retro Digital Christmas Telegrams set, and then she tucked it into a pocket along with other fun pieces of ephemera. So simple, and yet so delightful.

Now, I'm not going to spoil the rest for you, so do take a look at Amy's video for lots of ideas on how she created such a charming Christmas journal. And when you're done with that, you might want to wander over to Amy's Website, KittyWitty Papercraft to see other works she has made.