Milk Carton Perpetual Calendars

I'm still on my milk carton binge. Today's printable project is ideal as a stocking filler. The calendar system is fun and easy - just pop the date blocks onto the "shelves". There's storage for the unneeded blocks in the bottom drawer and on the shelves behind "today's date".

Choose from blue, green or red. Four sheet of A4 paper per calendar. Here are your free printables:
MilkCartonCalendarBlue1of4.pdf 
MilkCartonCalendarBlue2of4.pdf 
MilkCartonCalendarBlue3of4.pdf 
MilkCartonCalendarBlue4of4.pdf 

MilkCartonCalendarBlue1of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarBlue2of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarBlue3of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarBlue4of4.svg

MilkCartonCalendarGreen1of4.pdf
MilkCartonCalendarGreen2of4.pdf
MilkCartonCalendarGreen3of4.pdf
MilkCartonCalendarGreen4of4.pdf

MilkCartonCalendarGreen1of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarGreen2of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarGreen3of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarGreen4of4.svg

MilkCartonCalendarRed1of4.pdf
MilkCartonCalendarRed2of4.pdf
MilkCartonCalendarRed3of4.pdf
MilkCartonCalendarRed4of4.pdf

MilkCartonCalendarRed1of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarRed2of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarRed3of4.svg
MilkCartonCalendarRed4of4.svg

I don't have time to do a tutorial for you, but I'll talk you through the making-up:

Milk Carton Perpetual Calendar

1 Print out the pattern templates. Cut them out by hand or digital cutter. Score the folds and then crease them.
2 Make up the milk carton "frame" - it is sideless. Don't squeeze the top together until the "shelves" are in place.
3 Fold the wraps - the casings that make up the shelf unit. Stack them one on top of the other, joining them with d/s tape. The green panels go at the sides. You now have a four-tiered shelf unit. Apply tape to the base and sides and carefully slide it into the milk carton casing. Smooth the sides down.
4 You can now squeeze the top of the milk carton together.Seal it shut with d/s tape. Tie a piece of baker's twine through the top holes  and make a bow.
5 Make up the drawer. A mini brad is the drawer-pull. Slip the drawer into the bottom shelf.
6 Make up all the date blocks. Select your calendar date and slip it onto the front of the shelves. Store the remaining blocks in the drawer and behind the blocks of "today's date".

Have fun making your Milk Carton Perpetual Calendars - a cheerful alternative to digital date-keepers. Hope 2015 is a happy and creative year for you.

Mini Milk Carton Gift Boxes

Continuing with my co-ordinated range of festive makes - today I have for you Mini Milk Carton Gift Boxes - my contribution to milk carton mania. They feature all-in-one construction and are so very easy to make. Print and cut; score, fold and glue: voilà - an almost-instant milk carton.

Here are your printable freebies:
MiniMilkCartonGiftBoxRed.pdf
MiniMilkCartonGiftBoxGreen.pdf
MiniMilkCartonGiftBoxBlue.pdf 

MiniMilkCartonGiftBoxRed.svg
MiniMilkCartonGiftBoxGreen.svg
MiniMilkCartonGiftBoxBlue.svg

Now, you can make your Mini MCs smaller - but you can't enlarge them beyond the size of your paper...

Watch this space. If you want to make bigger Milk Carton Gift Boxes, I'll be posting templates with individual printable sides, each side almost A4 in height. 


Reminder: tomorrow, Oct 4, is World Card Making Day. So why not make a card to send? Now... with your Mini MC printables, you can also make it carton-making day!

Milk Carton Bells

I haven't had any makes on the blog for a while - so I thought I'd resume my batch of festive decs for 2014. I love all things Milk Carton, so today I have for you Milk Carton Bell ornaments. They are mostly fun and decorative - but if you attach a jingle bell as a clapper, you will make a gentle noise:

A button or a pony bead can also serve as a clapper - low-noise variety.

Here are your freebie files:
MilkCartonBellRed.pdf 
MilkCartonBellGreen.pdf 
MilkCartonBellBlue.pdf 

MilkCartonBellRed.svg
MilkCartonBellGreen.svg 
MilkCartonBellBlue.svg 

The bells are a cinch to make. Cut out the pieces, punch the top holes (1/8in circle punch). Score, then crease all the folds. (All the folds are mountain folds, apart from the top flaps and the indentations at the sides, which are valley folds.) Join the sides, alternating tall and short sides. (Use either PVA glue or d/s tape.) Loop a piece of string, tie on the clapper. Thread the clapper though the top hole, then secure the bell top, pressing sides together. Make a hanging loop with the remainder of the bell string. I like to add beads to the string tails.

The bells can be used as tree ornaments, or as hanging features on paper chains.