Scrolling Paper Art Sunset Box

I was scrolling through videos recently and saw a similar project and knew I needed one of these little art objects in my life. I love that they are so versatile in what type of art you can display and they feel really nice!

This is a project you can probably do with whatever paper you have laying around in your house and I have made them with more flimsy materials, however, for this project, I'll show what I used for this more sturdy version.

I used:

Paper

• 1 sheet of 12x12" chipboard, not sure of the weight/thickness, but thin enough to cut with scissors
• 1 sheet of 12x12" corrugated paper (like what is inside cardboard)
• 1 sheet of 8.5x11" Sketching paper, 50lb (or any thin paper)
• 1 sheet of 8.5x11" brown cardstock (thinner than the chipboard)

Other supplies

• 1- 0.5" wooden dowel
• Paint- I used gouache and white acrylic, but you could use whatever you have/are comfortable with
• cup of water for painting
• Hot glue and hot glue gun

Tools

• Scissors
• Exacto Knife
• Ruler
• Cutting mat
• Pencil
• Hole Punch (I used a 3 hole punch, but a single hole punch would be much easier)

First, cut out all the paper pieces you'll be using. It can be helpful to label the pieces lightly in pencil on the back.

Chipboard

This is the sturdiest paper that will be used to construct the box. For this size box, you'll need:

• 2 - 2"x3" rectangles - Front and Back
• 2 - 1"x3" rectangles- Sides
• 2 - 1"x2.5" rectangles - Top and Bottom

Corrugated Paper

This will be used for the handles. Make sure to cut these rectangles so that your paper rolls up easily.

• 2 - 0.5"x3" rectangles
• 2 - 1"x3" rectangles

Sketching Paper

Your thinnest paper, this will be what you paint the background on.

• 1 - 1.75"x11"

You can change the length of the paper to change how far your image will scroll.

Sides

Punch two holes in each side piece. They should be about 0.25" from each end and centered. I used the pictured 3 hole punch, but it would definitely be easier with a regular single punch. You just want to make sure both side pieces are the same.

Top and Bottom

Mark a line 0.25" from each end of your top and bottom, as shown. Use an exacto knife to score along the line about halfway through the chipboard. Do not cut all the way through. Fold the pieces along the scored line for a crisp corner. This creates two small glueing tabs.

Front

Mark a line 0.25" from every side. Cut out the center rectangle those lines make with an exacto knife to create a frame.

Using hot glue, attach the sides to the small tabs on the top and bottom pieces. Be sure not to cover the holes you punched in the side pieces.

Attach the back. It is ok if the inside is messy looking, as it will be covered up in our finished piece. Glue along all the joined edges for maximum stability.

Tip!- Use a scrap piece of chipboard to spread and smooth the glue while it is still hot.

Measure and mark 3.5" from the end of your wooden dowel. If you have a small hand saw to cut this with, it will give you a better finish. I didn't have that, so I just used scissors to score along my mark and broke it off. Give the end a quick sanding. Don't worry too much about how smooth it is, though since this will be covered soon.

For this project, the background is a sunset image. Plan out how you'd like your image to change as your scroll through it. Consider how much of the image will be showing at once.

For this painting, I used gouache paints to create a gradient wash of different colors. If you are using gouache or watercolors, let the wash completely dry before painting anything on top of it.

For the clouds, I used watered-down white acrylic paint.

Cut out and paint any foreground objects you want. You can make your foreground anything you want!

For this project, I just cut out some simple mountain shapes and painted them three shades of dark blue.

The rest of the steps will cover assembling the box.

A note to help it go smoothly. Make sure to move the pegs throughout assembly to ensure that the moving parts don't get glued in place.

Take your peg and a 0.5" wide piece of the corrugated paper. Glue the end of the paper to the peg, roll it up and glue in place.

Gently push the peg through the punched holes.

Repeat with the second peg.

Add a line of glue to the back of the bottom of your background paper. Glue it to the bottom peg.

Important!- Make sure the paper is lined up straight with the sides of the box! Otherwise, it won't roll up properly.

Give the glue a few seconds to harden, then roll the background up on the bottom peg.

Glue the top of the background to the top peg.

Glue in your foreground objects, being careful to not get any glue on the background scroll. You can add them in multiple layers, like I did, or just attach them directly to the back of the frame.

Glue your front frame piece on. Take your time to keep the glue all on the inside.

Attach the corrugated paper to the other side of the handles the same way you did the first side.

You did it! Scroll through your art piece and enjoy!

There are so many things you could make with this by changing the size of the box, what you paint in the background, and your foreground objects!