Cube Cat, Folds Flat

I showed the animals on Paper Box World to my daughter, who was instantly smitten.
My first thought was, "Hmmm, cute, but can I make them fold flat?"
Absolutely! You just need a couple cuts, a couple folds, and the paper hook and rubber band mechanism from Mark Hiner's book, Up-Pops: Paper Engineering With Elastic Bands.

How to make a fold flat cube cat
Download, print, score, and cut out the cat from Paper Box World.
Score and crease two diagonal lines on the cat model where shown by red lines. I usually fold these creases one direction, then reverse the folds and crease them the other direction as well. This will help the model unfold completely.
Lightly pencil two diagonal cut lines as shown by black lines.

Start assembling the cat
Glue the tab of the square with tail attached to the head square.

Allow to dry briefly, then cut on the diagonal penciled line.

Glue the tab of the bottom square (the square with the Paper Box World label on it) to square on the right of the head.

Allow to dry briefly, then cut on the diagonal penciled line. (Hey, what happened to the triangle on the top of the cat's head? Must be tucked underneath!)

Construct and attach hooks
Download and print the rubber band hooks.

Score and crease the red fold lines.
Cut out the hook pieces, on the blue lines.
Glue hook pieces together, only at the hook ends. Apply glue to the backs of the hook pieces, just between the red lines. Fold each piece in half where the hooks meet and adhere halves together.
Allow glued together hooks to dry completely. Cut around the hooks. Cut out the little black triangles and the lines from the triangles to the outside edges of the hooks.

Flip the cat model to the wrong side.
Glue hook pieces to the back of the cat model as shown, lining up the crease of the hook piece with the crease of the cat.

Continue assembling cube, gluing the tabs on the top and bottom squares of the cube. Leave the last, vertical, seam at the back of the cube unglued for now.

Add rubber band pop up mechanism
Scroll down on this post about rubber band pop up cubes for hints on attaching your rubber band.
Choose a rubber band that is slightly shorter than the diagonal of the cube. You can tie an overhand knot in the center of a too-long rubber band to shorten it.

Hook one end of the rubber band to one hook, then attach the other end to the other hook. I like to use needle nose pliers or long tweezers for this.
Glue the last seam on the cube.
Here is a video by elliesnipper showing how to make a mailing sleeve for a pop up cube.
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable and mechanical cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Pyramid Rubber Band Pop Up

I love math. Maybe you already figured that out. So when I can combine my obsession with paper with some math, well, you can imagine it makes my day.

What can you make with a rubber band pop up pyramid? Other than the obvious Christmas tree?

You can make a pyramid "globe". It makes my head hurt when I think about it too hard.

I got the map from Carlos Furuti's site.



You can make a kick-butt CD holder with a few design modifications. Be sure to use heavy card stock and strong rubber bands.



How to assemble a rubber band pop up pyramid



Print template.

Cut around the outline of the whole template but do not cut in around the hooks yet. Score dotted lines.

Fold the A tabs toward the center and glue down on top of the hooks. Let dry completely, and I do mean completely. If you cut the hooks when they're damp you will permanently weaken the paper fibers.

Cut around the hooks and cut away the triangles in the center of the hooks.

Holding the pyramid in the closed position (the hooks will nearly touch), measure the distance between the hooks.



Knot a piece of elastic thread into a loop that just fits between the hooks. Loop the elastic through one hook.



This is the kind of elastic thread that I use.



Flatten the pyramid so it looks like an envelope. Glue B1 and B2 together, C1 and C2 together, with the B and C tabs folded into the inside of the envelope. (Hooks not shown).





Grab the elastic with a crochet hook or needle nose pliers. Close the piece as much as you can and stretch the elastic over the second hook.



Extreme Cards and Papercrafting: pop up cards, movable cards, digital crafts and unusual papercrafts.

Rubber Band Pop Up Cube

Over the years I have gotten many emails inquiring about rubber band pop ups. The best book I know on the subject, Up Pops by Mark Hiner, is out of print.

Here is a template, closely modeled on Hiner's design, for the rubber band powered pop up cube.

Download cutting file: PDF, SVG, Silhouette Studio

Print PDF on sturdy card stock and hand cut, or machine cut.

The printed lines on my sample are on the wrong side of the piece, but since we need to see them as we work, I will refer to the printed side as the "front" and the plain side (the right side) the "back." Just to keep you on your toes! Also, notice some numbers are "b" and some are "f". That means the glue goes on the back or the front of that flap.

If you are hand cutting, cut on black lines EXCEPT around the rubber band loops.




Score on green lines.

If hand cutting, fold the re-inforcing squares to the back side and glue. If machine cut, fold the second set of hooks to the back and glue to matching front hook.  Let dry completely.



Once the glue is dry, if hand cutting, cut out around the hooks. It is crucial that these little hooks be strong. If they seem at all wiggly-woggly, add another square of reinforcement to them, let dry, cut out. Seriously, don't cut them until the glue is dry or the paper will be permanently weakened.




Glue the backs of the #2 flaps together, folding on the diagonal green line to make them meet. (Remember, that would be right sides together.)





Do the same for the #3 flaps.



Attach a rubber band or loop of elastic thread to one hook. For this template the elastic band need to be 3" in diameter. I have found the 1mm elastic thread by Darice works well. At my store it was with jewelry supplies.



Glue the back of flap 4b to the front of 4f. Repeat for 5b and 5f.



Glue the back of 6b to the front of 6f. It's easiest to do this if you flatten the piece completely with the #6 flaps in the center.



Now comes the fun part. With the cube almost completely closed, work the other end of the elastic onto the other cardboard hook. Try using long tweezers or needle-nosed pliers.



Video directions by Norm. He recommends attaching the rubber band before gluing the last side. Why didn't I think of that?

Squashable Pumpkin Pop Up

A rubber band activated pumpkin pop up that squashes flat.






I'm not 100% satisfied with this design. I have yet to hit upon the perfect rubber band or elastic thread to make it pop up and flatten perfectly.

In theory, here's how it goes together.

Download PDF. Score first, then cut out pumpkin pieces.

For machine cutting, download DXF or GSD. (Set green lines to score.)



Pre-crease the fold lines, curling each section of the pumpkin toward the center.

Thread your stretch material (elastic thread or rubber band) through the holes on the one pumpkin half. Pull up until the sections all touch each other at the sides, forming a half pumpkin. Tie. Tape the ends if you like.

I tried two threading patterns. The first was elastic thread strung through all six sides in a circle.



The second was a rubber band attached to two opposite sides.



I suspect that a rubber band through three, alternate, sections would work better.



My elastic thread did not have enough stretch. I cut and tied it to the right length to close the pumpkin, but then it could not stretch enough for the pumpkin the squash flat without threatening to rip the paper.



I need to find a thick-ish elastic thread that stretches to twice its length. The one I was using only stretches to 1.5 times its length.

The rubber band had the right amount of stretch.



However, attaching it only on two sides caused those sides to collapse inward on the finished pumpkin.



Once you are satisfied with the stretch of your elastic thread or rubber band, match up the two pumpkin halves and start gluing the sections together.

The glue goes on the tabs with the holes punched in them. Glue one tab to the corresponding tab of the other pumpkin half and use a clothespin to hold them together. Work around the pumpkin, gluing and clipping together. Allow to dry.



Cut out a stem and face and glue to the pumpkin.