NEW! (S) Box Boy Plant Holder Tutorial

Oh boy, the past few weeks were not so good for me. I've been very ill, but am now on the road to recovery and getting better each day. Thanks to this incident, I also stopped all work and went on a small self-pampering shopping spree. So I went and bought some pairs of shoes and other material delights and guess what, since I didn't have any use for the (S)hoeboxes, I figured out that I would use them for something else. So here is the (S) Box Boy tutorial that I've been dying to show you all.

(S) Box Boy is a (S)hoebox plant holder that you can use as a center display for your home, or simply place him in your garden like a cute garden display. There are infinite ways in which you can customize these (S) Box Boys. You can even make an army of it with different cutting edge designs. It all only depends on how many (S)hoeboxes you've got. See, what did I tell you guys about keeping your trash? Let's go eco : )

We will be needing:
1. (S)hoebox (preferably with a full lid)
2. Any outdoor/indoor potted plant that you like (I'm using a Cactus Leaf plant a.k.a. Goldfish Grass)
3. Plant holder/tray/plate
4. Cardboard (thick)
5. Acrylic paint
6. Brushes
7. Fabric/other materials (optional)
8. Penknife/ Scissors
9. Strong glue
10. Acrylic varnish (optional)
11. Downloaded (S) Box Boy Template



Click on the image below to get a high-res file of the (S) Box Boy template:



Now with the (S)hoebox and template, we start off by brainstorming how we want our (S) Box Boy to look like. Come up with a fantastic concept and colour palette, and also play around with other materials such as fabric and recycled materials. Once we've got that going, we measure out a diameter on the (S)hoebox lid that the potted plant can peek out through then cut a hole. Once we've done that, we can now start to paint the lid and the box with the acrylic paint.




Leave it to dry while we work on the next interesting bit. Print out two sheets of the downloaded body template. You can scale it to any size that you like, depending on the size of your (S)hoebox. I printed mine on an A4 paper, scaled to fit. Tape one sheet at a time on the thick cardboard so that you can cut it out nicely. Be extra careful with the curved arms. Once both that's done, measure out the depth of how 'fat/thin' you want your (S) Box Boy's body to be. Then measure and cut out rectangles to 'extrude' the body. Glue these on nicely.





Now for the curved arms, measure out the rectangle piece and score it with a penknife in equal widths. Give it a little bend. You'll see that the cardboard curves up nicely without any creases. Glue these on too, and then fix the other cut out body template on top.




Finally, after all the cutting and measuring, we can finally get to the best part of all. The painting and designing of your own (S) Box Boy! That is, after you've glued the (S) Box Boy's head and body together ; ) This is where I like to say: GET CREATIVE & EXPLORE. Just let your imagination go wild. Choose between simple and extreme, or go for both : ) This time I'm going for something simple and cute. I painted the body white and added a touch of pink flesh paint in two areas.



When you've finished customizing, coat with a varnish (optional), then place the potted plant into the (S)hoebox. Let the pot sit on a tray so that the excess water can drain off without spilling onto the box. Close the lid*.

After all the hard work, treat yourself to a cam-whoring session with your masterpiece. You can leave it out in the open concrete jungle.







Or standing in the comfort of your own home.





Whichever way you choose, I hope (S) Box Boy brings a smile to you every time you see it.

While searching for some inspiration, you might want to check out come of these cool dudes:
Shin Tanaka
Kidrobot DUNNY
Undoboy (Check out Super-Bastard box toy)
Dolly Oblong
Marshall Alexander
Cubeecraft
Paper Foldables
Sal Azad
Oh-Sheet
Jerom

Toodles! : )



*For gift ideas: Decorate the inside of the box with lovely items to surprise your friend.

--Contributors--
Andy
Pearly