The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

The Spring 2015 issue of Scrollsaw Woodworking magazine has a nice pattern for making these cupcake style boxes.



I thought these might make great Christmas 2015 gifts for the ladies in the family.

Materials

The magazine article calls for mahogany, but I chose to use red oak for the lower cupcake box.  I used a light stain on this oak to keep the lighter color.

I kept with the walnut called out for in the magazine, to get the dark brown color.

Here are the stains I used:

White Fabric Paint

I got the white fabric paint from Hobby Lobby in Bloomington:

Google Sketchup

I entered the pattern into Google Sketchup. I printed paper full-scale patterns for the top of the box to cut on the scroll saw.

Rounding Over the Top of the Lid

I used my yellow plastic jig to hold the small lids on the router table.  I had to route top and bottom of the lid, then rotate the lid 180 degrees, then finish up around the lid.  This is much safer that trying to hold the small lid by hand.

Drilling the ID starting hole

I used the recommended method of making a small scrap block with a 15 degree angle, then using a portable drill to drill the starting hole for the scroll saw:

Staining the First Box

I probably should have stained the top first, then glued on the guide piece to the top......then I could have avoided taping it.  I will have to stain it first on future cupcakes.

 After 2 coats of polyurethane:

 Applying the White Icing

I practiced a few times using wax paper per the magazine directions.  I put 2 strips of masking tape on the lid to act as top and bottom guides.

The First Finished Cupcake Box

The 1st one came out pretty nice!

It takes a lot of pieces to make a dozen cupcakes!!

 Applying the Icing to 12 Cupcakes

I sawed a piece of scrap wood the right height for the letters. I centered it by eye on top of the cupcake, then applied masking tape above and below the stick. I removed the stick, then applied the icing by hand.  I removed the masking tape immediately after the icing was applied, otherwise the icing sticks to the masking tape.

Red Felt

I applied and glued red felt to the bottom of the cupcake box.

Finished Cupcakes

Concluding Thoughts

 Sawing 1.5 inch thick red oak at 15 degrees is really hard on scroll saw blades. I used about 1 blade per cupcake on average.  The Flying Dutchmen blades seem to last a little longer.

I used yellow glue mixed with red oak sawdust to fill the cracks on the bottom.  It is about impossible to get a perfect scroll saw fit between the cupcake and bottom. This bothered me, so I went back and studied the original magazine pattern. I made a mistake!  The pattern calls for scrollsawing the ID of the cupcake, marking and cutting the lid retainer, then gluing a 1/4" piece on the bottom of the cupcake, then scrollsawing the OD of the cupcake.............eliminating the nasty fitting problem I encountered!  My method still works, but it takes longer and the bottom is not as nice looking.

I tried the alternative method with gluing the 1/2" piece on the bottom. I was shocked to find that when I cut the OD, I had a hole in my box!  Apparently my scroll saw blade wandered too much when cutting the ID, leaving not enough stock for the wall thickness. I had used too thin of blade when cutting the ID.  Oh well, maybe just as well I used the method I did.

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