Last year I made a custom blade caddy. With the addition of the Foiling Kit, I needed a redesigned blade holder with the new tips. I love my old blade holder but I was losing my foiling tips. If you want more info on the foiling tips, I have a description of using it here. If you want to see the old tutorial, it is here, but this one contains much of the same information.
When I origionally designed the caddy, I wanted each blade to have its own home so I could find the right one quickly. I labeled each blade position and it holds all the blades and the housing. This is an improved version. It is the perfect holder and it is made from heavy cardstock and glued together. But is amazingly sturdy and stable. The new one is a little bigger and requires 2 sheets of 12 X 12 paper.
What you will need
- Heavy cardstock (I used poster board)
- Pen
- glue
- Download File (for the original)
- Download File for the new design
Paper Selection for the Redesigned Blade Holder
The holder can be made from any color. Choose a pen that will show up on that paper. I wanted to try a patterned paper but all my heavy poster board is solid. If you want to change the design on the sides, just change the line drawing.
Cutting the Redesigned Blade Holder
Assembling the Redesigned Blade Holder (and the old design too)
The pictures are of the old design but they are put together the same way. Why reinvent the wheel?
Once all the pieces are cut out, re-crease all the folds. Then lay the top down and glue all the sides to the tabs on the top piece like the picture. Make sure all the tabs on the sides are lined up like the picture (pointing the same way).
Once the glue dries, fold the sides down but don’t glue them yet. Take the piece with 7 holes and line it up so that the 7 holes are under the fine point and the housing holes. Then glue the top of the 7 hole piece even with the flap on the inside of one side. This creates a slight gap between the top and the center layer. One at a time, glue the sides together and attach the center layer until it looks like this from the bottom (the last side in the picture isn’t glued yet so there is a little gap. Yours will not have this gap):
Take the bottom piece and glue it to the sides inside the bottom rim of the box. Make the flaps even with the bottom of the box. This makes a little lip in the bottom and gives it a little more stability.
Again the box in the picture is not completely glued yet, so there are gaps. Your box will not have these.
The redesigned blade holder is done and there is a place for all the blades. The long blades (Housing, fine point, fabric etc) go in the holes with the lower level cut out so that they hang down. The tips used with the interchangeable housing sit in the other holes and can still be grabbed easily without the danger of cutting yourself.
Enjoy your Original or Redesigned Blade Holder!
Fun Facts: Which Blades Do I Use the Most?
- The fine point blade is the workhorse of the blade family. I use it all the time, of course.
- The single scoring wheel. I make a lot of cards and they all have folds.
- The foiling tips. But these are new and I do love the look of foil.
- The engraving tip. I am always engraving mirrors and metal items. They make great personalized gifts.
And then there are the tips/blades I rarely use:
- The debossing tip. I don’t think I have ever used it. Maybe I need to try it.
- The Double Score blade. I use it occasionally but I would rather change the tool and use the single scoring wheel.
- The wavy tip. It is too unpredictable where the wave goes. I wish Cricut would make the wave show up on the design when you select it.
- The fabric blade. Most of what I do is paper or vinyl so I don’t use it a lot, but it is useful when I need it.