Do-it-yourself fashionable postcard: magic box or a box with a surprise. #21 Gift box in the form of a cup

When shooting professionally indoors, the photographer must have good light sources. Good means not only the brightness of the lighting, but also its distraction, which allows you to avoid glare and harsh shadows. The light source is a softbox.

Professional photographers use light sources to improve the image quality of subjects and subjects. The best way to improve the quality of lighting is to use light modifiers, such as softboxes.

Softbox is a device with the function of creating soft diffused lighting. Active use of the design is necessary when shooting in the studio. The equipment consists of 2 elements: diffuser and reflector. This results in a plane that is evenly illuminated by the light source, which provides high detail in dark areas.

The main types of equipment:

  • stripbox - a design of a narrow rectangular type;
  • octobox is a figure with 8 corners.

The most popular softboxes are rectangular in shape, which creates lighting similar to light from a window. Narrow long models allow you to emphasize the contours of the object.

There are portable and stationary models. The former are used for outdoor photo shoots, they must be quickly folded, the latter are for studios that need to be kept folded all the time.

Not every novice photographer can afford to buy an expensive softbox. Some experts prefer not to spend money on something that you can easily do yourself. Today we will talk about how to make a softbox with your own hands - this is possible in several ways. Let's consider the simplest of them.

1. Budget build

materials

Various materials are used for this device. The cheapest and most available are:

  • Thick cardboard
  • Foil
  • Scotch
  • Velcro
  • PVA glue
  • Tracing paper (can be replaced with a translucent white fabric)
  • Bolts and nuts
  • L-shaped bracket for mounting a tripod
  • black paint

Any softbox material can be found at home or purchased at any hardware store.

Instruments

Since the listed materials do not require any complex processing, you will need simple tools to interact with them, such as:

  • Pencil or pen for drawing blanks on cardboard;
  • School ruler for the same as mentioned above;
  • Scissors or a paper knife to cut out the base of cardboard and the diffuser of tracing paper (fabric);
  • Brush for applying glue;
  • brush for coloring;
  • Screwdriver and wrench to fix the l-bracket.

Having prepared all the necessary materials and tools, you can get to work. It may seem to you that assembling a softbox is not an easy task, but it is worth the result.

Manufacturing procedure

The base of the softbox should consist of four trapeziums. However, it is required to take measurements for two of them, since the lower trapezoid is equal to the upper one, and the side ones are also equal to each other. For the top and bottom details, measure the length of the flash, which will be in the center of the softbox. This indicator is equal to the upper side of the trapezoid. The optimal length for the bottom side is 90 cm.

The side parts of the softbox are built according to the same principle, only their lower side should be equal to 65 cm, and the upper side should be the height of the flash. Blanks are first drawn on sheets of cardboard, and then cut out. To help you, a drawing of a softbox, however, with a slightly different size.

The finished parts for the base of the softbox look like this:

  • reflective surface;
  • flash attachment method;
  • product assembly.

Foil is used to reflect the light from the flash. It is cut out in the form of cardboard blanks and glued with PVA glue on one side of each of them.

When the product is ready, you will have to attach a flash to it, so now you need to take care of a reliable method of attachment. Velcro will serve as such a fastener, which must be attached to the short sides of the trapezoid with adhesive tape, as shown in the figure:

Now you need to glue the four parts of the softbox together with adhesive tape, but gluing is carried out on the outside of the frame, and on its inside there should be a surface covered with foil.

The outer, cardboard surface of the softbox can be coated with a layer of black paint. This is not done out of necessity, but rather for aesthetic satisfaction, to give the device a more professional look.

In order for a softbox to become a full-fledged photography tool, it needs:

  1. tripod mount;
  2. diffuser.

You need to install them in this order, since the diffuser will have to be glued to the front of the softbox. After that, it will be impossible to screw the mount and you will have to tear off the tracing paper or fabric.

Instead of fastening, an L-shaped bracket is used. It is screwed with bolts and nuts from the back of the device.

It remains to install the final component - the diffuser. Instead, a tracing paper or white cloth is taken. It is spread on a flat surface, the frame of the future softbox is placed on it face down and the material is cut to the shape of the frame, with a margin of 1-2 cm.

The remaining edges are glued to the outside of the device with glue. After the glue dries, the softbox is attached to a tripod, a flash is installed in it and this light source is used for its intended purpose.

2. Making from wire and cloth

The above softbox is quite simple in execution. It can be assembled even by a person who does not have any experience in construction work or in electrical assembly work. However, there is also an easier way to make a diffused light source. All you need is a white lining (a satin-type fabric is best for a softbox) and thick wire.

A frame is made of wire, which is then sheathed with pieces of fabric cut out in the shape of this frame.

This homemade softbox does not look as neat and professional as the one made in the first way, but for temporary use it is fine. Despite its appearance, it copes well with the functions required of it.

3. Manufactured from rope and fabric

It's a more complicated way making a softbox, but the result is a beautiful and functional device. For him you will need:

  • a cable that is used to clean the sewer;
  • 4 lugs for Faston cable;
  • cardboard;
  • 6 meters of black braid;
  • 1 sq. m. white nylon;
  • 1 sq. m black nylon;
  • 1 sq. m. silver nylon;
  • 2 meters Velcro;
  • l-shaped bracket;
  • bolts and nuts;
  • metal ring.

The cable is divided by wire cutters into four parts. Each piece must be 135 mm long. Rings are made from these pieces by connecting the ends of the segment with Faston tips and soldering the junctions. When the solder has cooled, they clean the soldering points from sharp protrusions and wrap them with electrical tape.

Finished rings are sheathed on a sewing machine with black braid. The braid is taken wide so that you can fold it in half along the length of the braid and pass the cable through the center.

For the manufacture of four sides in advance making a cardboard pattern softbox in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The length of the side of this triangle is 55 cm. Its corners are rounded off by measuring the radius of 7.5 cm with a compass.

Blanks are cut out of the fabric according to the template and fixed with pins on the rings of the cable, sheathed with braid. As a result, the cable takes the desired shape.

The fabric is attached, gradually removing the pins. The other three sides of the softbox are also sewn together. For the back of the device, you need to make a square blank with a hole of a suitable size for a flash. It is sewn from fabric, without the use of a cable frame. All triangles are sewn to the square part, and the basis for the softbox is obtained.

Velcro is sewn on the outer sides of the device. With it, it will be possible to attach white nylon to the softbox, which will serve as a diffuser for a direct light source.

The use of Velcro is very convenient, as it allows you to replace the fabric if it is damaged or, if necessary, in a denser diffuser. If the nylon is simply sewn to the base, you will have to tear it off each time and sew on a new one. This takes a long time and ruins both the fabric for the diffuser and the braid on the cable.

The tripod mount in this case is done a little differently. The L-bracket is not screwed directly to the base of the softbox as it cannot be secured to the thin nylon. For this, a metal spacer ring is taken and inserted from the back of the device.

The bracket for the tripod is attached to this ring. The ring itself does not need to be fixed to the softbox in any way, as it will hold well thanks to the metal cables that are at the base of the device.
If the ring does not hold firmly, you should sew the back of the triangles a little tighter. When, when you find it difficult to bring an idea to life, you can watch the video how to assemble a softbox for an external flash with your own hands:

By putting into practice any of the listed methods for making a softbox, you can get an excellent device for scattering direct light.

The choice of method depends only on the availability of the necessary materials and certain skills.

For example, in order to make the last softbox, you need to be able to sew and solder. If there are no such skills, it's better to stick with the first way, in which all work is based on drawing blanks, cutting them out and gluing them into a finished device.



The New Year is approaching, there is very little left, and we will again plunge into the atmosphere of the holiday, good mood, magic and, of course, gifts!

Gifts are different: big and small, serious and humorous, expensive and symbolic. But almost every gift needs wrapping. It allows you to add mystery to the moment of giving, the first impression of the gift depends on it, which means that it should be bright and memorable.

I offer a master class on making a DIY Magic Box gift box. Magic box or a magic box will be a great addition to a gift, whether it be jewelry, cash, keepsakes, perfumes and more. The box combines not only the function of storage, but also the function of a postcard, because inside it are warm words and wishes. But first things first.

To work, you will need the following materials:

- thick watercolor paper (cardboard),
- square pieces of scrap paper - 5 pcs.,
- rhinestones on an adhesive basis,
- 1 large brads (button),
- satin ribbon 2 cm wide, 15 cm long,
- fabric flowers
- paper flowers
- stamens of several shades,
- Printed on paper for watercolor Wordart (inscriptions at your discretion),
- contour stickers,
- double sided tape,
- glue "Moment",
- scissors,
- stationery knife,
- ruler,
- knitting needle.




How to make a DIY Magic Box

First you need to decide on the size of the box, it depends on the size of the gift. I will make a box 9x9 cm. Accordingly, from paper for watercolor I will make a square blank measuring 27x27 cm. Using a ruler and a knitting needle (you can use any sharp, thin object), you need to divide the square into 9 identical parts.





Now you need to cut off the extra parts, i.e. corner pieces to end up with a cross. If we bend the four parts that we have left to the center, we will get a model of the future box.





Let's take a lid for the box. To do this, you need to cut out a square of watercolor paper measuring 13x13 cm (based on: 9 + 2 + 2, where 9 cm is the size of the bottom of the box, 2 cm is the height of the lid). Using a ruler and knitting needles, draw, as shown in the photo.



Fold the edges towards the center. You can cut off the corners, as in the photo, so that later it would be more convenient to glue the cover. Having smeared the corners with glue, we form a lid.



From scrap paper of any shade we cut out 5 squares measuring 8x8 cm. Four of them will be used to decorate the sides of the box, one to decorate the lid. Using double-sided tape, carefully glue the squares to the outside of the Magic box and onto its lid.




Let's put the lid aside and start decorating the inside of the box. To do this, we need glue-based rhinestones and fabric flowers.




Their number can be different, depending on your desire and taste. On average, you need 25-30 flowers with a diameter of 1.5 cm and the same number of rhinestones. We glue the flowers to the bottom of the magic box with Moment glue and make the centers of the flowers from rhinestones.



Let's move on to the lid. We will decorate it with a paper flower, satin ribbon and stamens. Satin ribbon can be omitted and limited to a large flower. I glued the tape in the middle of the lid, hiding the ends of the tape under the lid.



Now we take stamens, brads and a flower. With the help of brads, we attach the flower and stamens to the lid.




The lid is ready!

We decorate the outer sides of the box with contour stickers. I decorated the magic box with butterflies and flowers.




Only the inside of the box remains, which we will also decorate in a peculiar way. To make the box remind you of the holiday for a long time, we will glue beautiful wishes inside it. To do this, on white watercolor paper, you need to print Wordart (these are words or phrases written in a beautiful font), you can download it on the Internet.







Our magic box magic box is ready.



How to make an original postcard and spectacular gift wrapping at the same time? There is nothing easier! You just need to cut them correctly, decorate them with taste and turn them into a box with a surprise with your own hands! This little box, also known as a magic box, reveals its secrets when the lid is removed. The inner walls of such a postcard are decorated with photographs or simply good wishes for the addressee. How they can be arranged for different holidays, how to fill and how to decorate, more similarly in this article. And also a step-by-step master class on how to make a box with a surprise with your own hands, having 2 sheets of scrapbooking paper, some decor and one free evening in stock.

Content ideas

Magic box is an unusual postcard and, oddly enough, absolutely universal! It is perfect for small gifts. Here are some good ideas.
1. The most ordinary money, which is so often given to everyone around, will look much more interesting if it is rolled up in the form of a scroll, tied with a satin ribbon and placed inside such a postcard, surrounded by a variety of three-dimensional decor - flowers, butterflies, rhinestones, and inside, on the walls , write your wishes and leave signatures as a keepsake. In the master class at the end of the article you will find a description of how you can quickly and beautifully make a money mount inside.

2. Such packaging is ideal for gift certificates of various salons and shops. You can attach it to the bottom in exactly the same way as money. If the card is hard, then you can make an envelope-pocket for it at the bottom or on one of the side walls.
3. Ornaments or other jewelry will look just great in a magic box and will surely become a real surprise for the gift recipient. You can attach a paper cake with a removable lid to the bottom, or simply build a small pillow covered with velvet with your own hands.
4. A CD or flash drives are also nice to put in such a beautiful postcard. For disks, a pocket is most often made on the side wall using scrapbooking paper. In the future, in such a package it will be convenient not only to give, but also to store any important and memorable little things.

Decor themed boxes for different holidays

Magic box can be made for any holiday and even without it. You can make such a thing with your own hands and give it as a small sign of attention without any reason at all, but just like that, for a good mood. For example, decorate the sidewalls inside with bags of different tea or coffee, place a cupcake in the center and present it to a friend or work colleague before starting a working day.
If another important date is on the nose, and you are painfully looking for the right gift, then here are some thematic ideas for different holidays that can inspire you to make a festive box with your own hands.

For birthday

The most traditional holiday for such gifts. Even if you just give money inside, you can beat the idea itself in such simple ways:
- place a photo of the birthday person in the center, and write wishes for memory on the side walls;
- make the box “multi-walled”, that is, glue more walls inside, only 5 mm. narrower, and on each side stick photos united by one idea (for example, “smiles of all friends” or “best photos of this year”), you get a real mini-album;

- if there are no photos, you can simply place inside a decorative composition of butterflies or flowers on springs that will jump out when opened.

New Year's

Winter-colored paper, Christmas pictures, blue or red stamp ink, tinsel decorations, confetti and small Christmas decorations - all this will look cute and harmonious.
Another idea is to make a small box (in the master class, a diagram is given for a 10x10 format, but here you need to take a size of 5x5 cm, no more), put a candy inside, tie a satin ribbon on the outside and hang it on a Christmas tree as a toy. Any child will be sincerely delighted to find a favorite treat inside the surprise.
Also, a magic box can be an excellent package for a handmade Christmas decoration, for example, a painted glass ball or a bell hidden under a lid inside the box.

Wedding

Ideal and always appropriate packaging for a wedding gift, if you decide to give money. A wedding magic box will help you add a hand-made element to your usual gift and stand out in the crowd of guests. To perform it according to the master class below, take cardboard with a delicate decor, pastel colors, prepare lace and paper or fabric flowers in light shades. All this is perfectly combined with the theme of the holiday.

Easter

Magic box will be the perfect packaging for any Easter souvenir. In order to place a painted testicle inside, you can line the bottom with sisal or paper shavings. If you want to put a cake inside, the bottom and walls must be laid with baking paper.
You can decorate the walls with decorative stickers, pictures with painted chickens, thematic inscriptions. There is a whole collection of images of pre-revolutionary Easter cards that are perfect for such decor.

Manufacturing instructions

Materials for the master class.
1. Cardboard with a density of at least 180g:
- sheet 30x30cm. - for the main template,
- sheet 15x15cm. - for the lid.
2. Paper for scrapbooking 30x30cm. - at least 2 sheets (needed for decoration)
3. Decorative materials - three-dimensional flowers, ribbons, beads, etc.
4. Scrap tools - edge and corner punches, if available, gold or bronze acrylic paint or an ink pad for tinting paper cuts.
5. Scissors, glue stick, pencil with a ruler and an eraser.

The box can be made in any size, it is only important to make a pattern correctly. In this master class, we will take the size 10x10x10 cm.
1. We draw a sheet of 30x30cm. into 9 squares with a side of 10 cm. We press lightly with a pencil, then all the lines will be erased.
2. Cut four corner squares from the workpiece. We draw along the remaining pencil lines with a creasing stick or any other convenient tool (I use a knitting needle).

3. We remove all traces of the pencil and paste the four remaining squares on the side walls of the box inside, stepping back 1-2 mm. from the fold lines so as not to touch them. Now the walls are reinforced and will look stronger than ordinary thin cardboard.
Advice. It is better to glue all the details with a glue stick, because PVA cardboard can warp.
4. We take scrapbooking paper and cut out 4 squares with a side of 9 cm from it to decorate the outside of the side walls and 4 more squares to decorate the inside. If the paper is double-sided, then it is most convenient to take 4 squares on one side and 4 on the other.
5. We tint each side of each square with a stamp pad or acrylic paint. In each square, we cut out one figured corner with the help of a Martha Stewart figured hole punch and glue all the squares in their places on the front and inside of the box.


6. At the bottom of our postcard, we will build a mount for a cash gift using paper lace. Cut out a strip of scrapbooking paper, working both sides with an edge hole punch, and glue its ends to the bottom of the card. Now you can put banknotes rolled up there.
7. Let's move on to the second part of our master class - making the lid. For her, you need a square of cardboard measuring 14.2x14.2 cm. 2 mm. needed for a margin so that the card closes neatly and evenly. We take a ruler and draw lines at a distance of 2 cm. from each side.


8. We cut 2 cm from both sides along the marked lines as shown in the photo. This will be needed in order to glue the sides of the cover. All fold lines must be punched so that they bend evenly.
9. To decorate the lid, cut out 2 squares of scrapbooking paper 9x9 cm: glue one inside, the second on the top of the lid. In addition, we cut out 4 rectangles from the same paper 9x1.5 cm. and glue them on the sides of our cover. Of course, do not forget to tint the edges of all parts before gluing. This will give depth and texture to the details.


10. Glue the sides of the lid. After drying, we put the lid on the box and try on how it sits. Everything is good.
11. It remains to decorate our postcard with voluminous decor and you can give it! Flowers can be made from any suitable cardboard: cut them out according to the template with a clerical knife and cut them out with a hole punch. To make them look voluminous, the edges of all the petals need to be twisted with a knitting needle or a toothpick outwards. Pens can draw veins on the leaves or stamens. Toning the edges of the petals in the selected color scheme will enhance the effect of volume and make the decor an integral part of the overall composition. Flowers for postcards can also be made using fabric or ribbons.
The master class on making a box with a surprise with your own hands is completed. Now you can enjoy the result of your work and look forward to the pleasant moment of presenting such an original gift.


Try to make a magic box with your own hands, and you will get a lot of pleasure not only when handing it over, but also during its production! Do yourself a favor and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of creativity, where beauty and harmony rule. With the help of this simple master class, you can learn how to make a simple and elegant gift that will remain in your memory for a long time, and will always please!

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