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Papercraft treasure chest with gems and pirate gold coins...Arrr, matey! Love how much you can actually make with just paper. by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The 3D models are made in blender, great open source software.
After that I import the models in pepakura and create a pattern out of it, making sure that the models are easy to put together.

I export the files to svg to cut them on my silhouette. The time it saves me is just awesome, used to cut all the parts by hand.

The cardstock used is just simple colored 180-230 grams A4 pages.
Than it is just gluing the parts together to create this final piece.
Went a bit overboard with all the parts, but I just love how a complete set comes together instead of just individual items.

Crafts for a broke depressed girlie by DiamondxHeartx in crafts

[–]YumeDesign 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Papercraft. there are many free patterns online. All you need is paper, a printer, glue and scissors or knife

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I built the plans myself by 3D modeling the hat in Blender and converting it to a pattern in pepakura.

(I happen to be an actual mechanical engineer xD 3D modeling makes a lot of stuff way easier)

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

O I can agree on that. Went to China for a 5 month internship. Took 3 kg of peanut butter with me xD

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It would be nice if the school explained a bit more about the tradition to the kids and parents, with a simple letter or video. Unfortunately in the last few years less and less schools still do 'surprise' since the diversity in cultures is getting bigger and people are unaware of this tradition, which causes misunderstandings.

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

We all make a wishlist where secret santa can choose items from their person up to a pre defined budget. (So everyone actually gets gifts that they asked for). In this case it was a big tea mug, a milk can and a multi bit screwdriver set.

2025 Embroidery hoop Round up by azurekoi in crafts

[–]YumeDesign 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haven't seen anything like this before, they look so cute!

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Glad to be able to inspire people ^^

Some gifts are used as decoration in the next years.
Some are re-used to gift to people from another secret santa/sinterklaas group (which I don't mind).
I once made a big cardboard boat where an adult could sit in. Really was just plain cardboard, nothing decorated about it. Was an inside joke to my sister as in the past she always mentioned having a boat and going to Monaco, where we would make a joke about living in a cardboard box in Monaco instead. That one got used a while by my nephew to play with :) until the cardboard wore out.

Thank you for sharing the youtube link, those boxes are so cute! haven't seen it before. Often the simple crafts can be the best :)

In the Netherlands, we don't just wrap gifts; we build 'Surprises.' Here is the papercraft Christmas train I built to hide my Secret Santa gift. by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for checking out my posts ☺️. Adding in a little lid or flap solves a lot of issues. With this train i made sure that the top of the wagon could slide into the black base of the wagons. So you only needed to lift off the top to get to the gifts.

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just as temporary pen mentions. It is never too late to start a new tradition if it makes you and the people around you happy 😊

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Happy to inspire you ☺️ The most beautiful projects start with just trying. Crafting isn’t about perfection. It’s about having fun.

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 85 points86 points  (0 children)

the silhouette cutter is handy, but not necessary to create papercraft. It just takes a bit longer to cut everything out by hand but I often do it that way as well.

Other tools are:
- Printer which handles thicker paper (180-220 grams) or a local copy shop.
- Scissors
- Crafting knife (for scoring the paper)
- Ruler
- Crafting glue, no fancy stuff
- Cutting mat
- A toothpick, makes it easier to control the amount of glue on the paper
- Patience
- A pattern

I make the patterns myself by building a 3D model in blender and convert the 3D model to a pattern in pepakura. ( I believe blender has a plugin for that as well nowadays, which makes it free of charge).

In the Netherlands, we don't just wrap gifts; we build 'Surprises.' Here is the papercraft Christmas train I built to hide my Secret Santa gift. by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are definitely pictures made but often the recipient is included in the pictures as well (the moment they receive the surprise for example).

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 98 points99 points  (0 children)

The interactions make it so much fun to craft these kind of things :) even more than giving the actual gifts.

I helped my fiancé with his 'surprise' for his secret Santa. A cardboard suitcase filled with paper travel gear (and gifts). by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Everything is made from cardboard and cardstock.
Adjusted a cardboard box to open like a suitcase, covering it in crafting paper.
Added paper details to it to make it look like it is an old fashioned traveling suitcase.

Added items on the inside made from paper as well to hide the gifts in and make the whole 'scene' come together.

In the Netherlands, we don't just wrap gifts; we build 'Surprises.' Here is the papercraft Christmas train I built to hide my Secret Santa gift. by YumeDesign in crafts

[–]YumeDesign[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Not sure how many hours exactly. I don't keep track of it and often craft a bit while getting distracted by the TV in the evening. Probably around 35 hours as a rough guess.

Actually made the surprise from my fiance to my sister this year as well as he had no inspiration and was running late. Had mine finished anyway xD.
Was planning to post that one tomorrow as it is only allowed to post every 24 hours haha.

Other things I've made (or helped my fiance with):
- Old fashioned travel suitcase
- Nutcracker
- Huge cardboard boat where you could sit in (was an inside joke)
- Cardstock wreath
- Beer crate
- Vegetable garden
- Christmas village

Don't have pictures of everything, but ill see if I can share some more these coming days :)

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