Candy Cauldron - Raised Die Cut Technique

This Candy Cauldron treat box was such a fun piece to make. I was looking at the delightful Sweet Treats candy die cuts and the fabulous Cauldron bigz die and as I was mulling over them, my mind kept going back to a trip I took to Salem, Massachusetts with my mom and sister several years ago while we were in Boston for my sister's cancer treatments.

While in Salem, we visited the House of Seven Gables, the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawethorne's novel and where his birthplace has moved. I love the dark grey, weathered wood siding on the house.

Directly across the street was America's oldest candy store, Ye Olde Pepper Companie Candies, founded in 1806.

Of course they had lots of delicious candies and sweets, but that day, being the history lover that I am, I had to try the historical candies that were displayed in copper cauldrons. The Black Jacks were a molasses chip candy and the Gibralters were a hard candy as well that came in lemon and peppermint. My sister got the butterscotch chips.

It was with this candy store in mind that I wanted to make a display that I thought would fit perfectly on a counter or shelf in their store, so this is the outcome.

The main technique I want to focus on in this post is how to make the raised designs on this piece. I'm calling it a raised die cut technique.

I used a large Etcetera Tag and a Vignette Drawer to make this piece.

The tag was too tall for the Vignette Drawer, so I cut off 4-5 inches to make the height ratio of tag to drawer fit better.

 I began by cutting the smallest candy die cuts and some bats from the Bat Crazy dies out of a thick cardstock. This is a #130 weight cardstock.

 Each candy piece has several pieces that you layer on top of them to make colorful interesting candies. But for this technique, you only need to cut the base pieces several times. Enough to fit all around the outside of the large Etcetera Tag that I used as a backing.

 I had to make another one for step out photos for this tutorial so my step out photos are using the 2nd smallest Vignette Boxes and the #8 Etcetera Tag. As I said before, for my actual piece, I used the Large Etcetera tag and the Vignette Drawer as the base.
I drew a line on the tag to show me where the candy border needed to end.

 I placed the candy pieces along the border and then when I was happy with their placement I adhered them with Distress Collage Medium.

 I also attached the bats to the drawer. Here I attached bats and candy to the front and side of the small Vignette Box.

 You want a layer of Collage Medium on the box and then over the die cut once it is securely in place.

 Here you can see the pieces all adhered to the boxes and the tag. Bear in mind you would do these same steps to the large tag and Vignette Drawer.

 Paint the pieces with Black Soot Distress Paint.

 Once it is dry, put a light covering of Hickory Smoke Distress Paint over it.

 Then lightly wipe away excess Hickory Smoke paint while it is still wet, revealing the die cut shapes.

 Once the paint is dry, get out Walnut Stain and Black Soot Distress Crayons.

 Scribble some of the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the die cuts.

 Rub it in with a slightly damp finger.

 It will look something like this. Remember, only slightly damp or it will look much differently.

 Then scribble some of the Black Soot Distress Crayon onto the die cuts.

 Rub it in with a slightly damp finger.

It should look like this when you are done. I was going for the distress grey wood look that is on so many buildings in Salem, including the House of Seven Gables.

You can see how it looks on the Vignette Drawer and tag.

For the Mini Hardware I put a little bit of Grit Paste on it and then painted it the same way as the wood pieces.

I have used this Raised Die Cut Technique in many different ways and it is very easy to change the look and feel of a piece just by changing the dies and the colors of Distress Paint and Distress Crayons that you use.For example, you could make one of these same pieces with the candy border, but change out the bats for other candy pieces and then paint it red or green for Christmas, or bright colors for a birthday or Easter.
As with all techniques, just take the time to practice, experiment,  and see what works best for you, but have fun.
Thank you for stopping by, and if you have any questions, please contact me through the form at the right.
Tami

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