DIY Ornaments

Everyone who grew up watching Looney Tunes will get a smile out of this Wile E. Coyote ornament. It's a matchbox that is made to look like a crate from Wile E's favorite supply house, ACME.

You can make the ornament either by printing a matchbox on 110-lb cardstock and making it up yourself, or by covering a ready-made matchbox with brown kraft paper and gluing on suitable labels. I made my matchbox from scratch (you'll find a jpg at the very bottom of the page) and decided to label my crate "Practice Bombs" -- which Wile E employed with predictable results in one of the classic cartoons. The box pieces were assembled using tacky glue.

Before cutting out the matchbox shapes, I scored along the fold lines with a ruler and stylus (the fold lines are shown as dashed lines on the image). Accuracy is important here or the lid may not fit the box bottom -- use a ruler to guide the scoring tool along the line (a fine metal knitting needle works well, as does a ballpoint pen that has dried up).

Once you've scored all the folds, cut out the box pieces carefully. I used scissors for cutting but some people prefer to use a craft knife. Pre-fold along all of the scored lines, and then assemble the bottom (tray) portion of the box by gluing the small tabs and then folding the sides and ends to the inside. Glue them down with tacky glue.

This will give you a tray with a white interior, but since I wanted the inside back of my crate to be black, I lined it with a small rectangle of black construction paper glued down with a glue stick. The added layer will also help make the ornament a bit sturdier.

At this point you should add a hanging loop for the ornament. I threaded a seed bead onto a head pin, and using a needle, I made a hole in one end of the box tray. I pushed the head pin up through the hole from the inside of the box tray, then strung another seed bead on the pin. I cut cut the wire about 3/8" to 1/2" from the bead, and using round-nosed jewellery pliers, I made a small loop in the wire that will receive an ornament hanger when I hang it on the tree. (You can see the beads and loop in the picture).

To make the box sleeve, fold on the scored lines, then apply tacky glue to the tab portion. You wrap the sleeve around the tray to make sure it fits, folding the top edge over the tab and pressing it in place until it holds. Remove the sleeve and give the two pieces -- box tray and sleeve -- a very light skim coat of podgy, just enough to seal the printed images. Set them both aside to dry.

This crate is the perfect place to display a small figurine of Wile E, if you happen to have one. I didn't, so I had to make my own figure out of cardboard (If you need an image of Wiley, you can easily find a suitable one on the Internet if you search). To make my figure, I printed an image on 110-lb cardstock, in a size to scale for the crate. (In the size shown, he was actually a little too tall, so I had to trim his feet, which didn't matter too much since I intended to glue the crate halfway closed and his feet wouldn't show).

I cut him out very carefully with scissors, then glued him to heavy black construction paper. When the glue was dry, I cut him out again and glued him to a second layer of black construction paper. When that was dry, I cut him out a third time. To help ensure that he would stand inside the crate, I made a small triangle of black construction paper as a stand for the figure and glued it to the back.

Once the glue had set, I gave the figure a light skim coat of podgy and let him dry. When everything had dried thoroughly, I positioned Wile E inside the crate and glued him in place with tacky glue. To add a bit of dimension, I let his sign protrude outside the crate just along the edge. For extra stability, I added a dab of tacky glue at the point where the sign touches the box tray. Once the glue had dried, I inserted the matchbox bottom inside the sleeve, leaving it open to reveal Wiley inside. I wanted the partially open lid to be permanent, so I added some tacky glue to keep the lid in position.

I am so pleased with this matchbox style ornament that I am thinking about doing a different version, this time with Daffy Duck. The crate ornament could also work with a leg lamp inside and "Fragile" stenciled across the front.

If it's half decently taken care of and not stored in a damp area, an ornament made from card stock will last for years. I have several that have been on my tree every year for more than 30 years and they're still in great shape.

Matchbox ACME Crate Ornament