Toolbox
- eight 1.5" wooden cubes
- eight 3" x 3" photos
- two 3" x 6" photos
- two 8" x 11" sheets of double-sided tape
Have you ever seen those little desktop photo cubes that fold and unfold to reveal more and more pictures on each side? If you’re not sure what I mean, check out the video at the bottom of this post to see one in action. They fascinate kids and adults alike (myself included), and make wonderful gifts for just about any occasion — birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day, and more — and are especially nice for people who are hard to shop for. Besides that, they’re just plain fun!
These photo cubes are not very difficult to make, as long as you know the steps to follow. The instructions I’ve found online are lacking a lot, so I’ve taken some common tips for making these and added a lot of extra hints and instructions to come up with the detailed guide below for making your own. Have fun!
Note that the guide below will tell you where you can buy all the items you’ll need to assemble your very own photo cube. You can find some items online and some in local stores, but to help you save time and money, you can buy the supplies directly from us. We’re now offering Photo Cube Kits available for sale in our store.
Gather the supplies
The first thing you’ll need to build this photo cube is 8 wooden cubes. 1.5″ cubes work best and create a finished product that is 3″x3″x3″, which is a nice size for handling and display. (You may use larger or smaller cubes if you wish, but you will need to adjust all the measurements in these instructions accordingly.) You can often find individual wooden blocks at your local craft store or online, but they can be quite expensive. If you are handy, you could make a trip to your local hardware store and purchase a piece of 1.5″ x 1.5″ stock (usually 36″ long) in a nice finish wood, and cut that down into cubes. (Note: If you’re not used to shopping for lumber, you may be surprised to find that the measurements are a bit off… 1.5″ wood is usually labeled as 2″, so take your pocket measuring tape
Whether your buy or make your cubes, be sure to check the edges of each one and sand lightly, if needed (we like these flexible sanding sponges
You’re also going to need some double-sided adhesive to attach your photos to the blocks. This adhesive will end up serving as hinges between blocks, too, so you need to choose it carefully. I highly recommend using sheets of a special double-sided tape sheets that’s commonly called “red liner tape”. This stuff is made up of a thin sheet of plastic that’s coated on both sides with a super-sticky adhesive. Besides being the stickiest stuff on Earth, it’s very, very durable, and thick and flexible enough to make perfect hinges between your blocks that won’t ever tear. You’ll need two 8″ x 11″ sheets of this tape to handle all ten of your photos.
Choosing and printing photos
You will need eight 3″x3″ pictures and two 3″x6″ pictures for this project. These photos can not be printed on typical photo paper, because photo paper is too thick to bend easily and won’t work for this project. Instead, you need to either have color copies made of your photos at the local copy shop, or print the pictures yourself on a thinner paper. We highly recommend HP’s Bright White Inkjet Paper,
I have one other tip that will help you with printing. When you print your pictures, if they aren’t coming out as bright or as you’d like, try telling your printer that you are printing on Photo/Glossy paper, rather than ordinary paper. This little lie will cause your printer to push out a lot more ink and your photos will be much bolder, giving you much better results.
Once you’ve selected all your photos and printed them out on proper paper, go ahead and cut them to size, but take note — cut each picture just a bit larger (about 1/16″ to 1/8″ of an inch) than the specified measurement. This extra little bit will help later when your photos have to span the gaps between the blocks. (Trust me, it’ll make sense when you get to that point.) If the pieces end up too big, you can always trim them later with a utility knife or scissors – better safe than sorry!
Preparing the photos
Now that your photos are printed and cut to size, you will need to back them with the double-sided adhesive. Peel one side of the backing off and arrange your photos on the sticky part you exposed, ensuring that the back of each photo is completely covered in adhesive. Trim the photos again to size. Don’t peel off the other backing layer yet!
Once all of your photos are cut and backed with adhesive, you’ll need to arrange them as indicated in the diagram below. Take note of the numbers in the diagram and assign these numbers to your photos. Then use a paper trimmer
Tip: Since your photos are actually a little larger than the finished size, be sure to cut them from the center, rather than just measuring 1.5″ from one side. This will keep the extra paper on all sides, instead of just one or two.
Make a spacer
After trimming your photos, you should have lots of scraps of paper and double-sided tape sheets. You’re going to use some of those scraps to make a spacer that will be used during assembly. Start with three pieces of adhesive that are about 3″ long and 1/2″ wide. Peel the backing off of each piece and stick the three of them together. Then cover the remaining two sticky sides with scraps of your photo paper. Trim the whole thing if needed to get rid of overhanging edges. What you’re created is a spacer that’s just a bit thicker that two layers of photos will be on your cubes. Just hang on to this for now. You’ll need it when we begin assembly.
Assemble the cube
With your photos all cut into the right pieces, you’re finally ready to start assembling the cube!
Start by lining 4 wooden blocks up into a square on the table. Then take the four squares of photo #1 and stick each one to one of the cubes, as seen in the diagram below.
Then take the other four wooden blocks and line them up into a square. You’re going to want to put one rectangle across the top two blocks and then another across the bottom, but wait! We need our spacer! Let’s think about this for a minute… later on, when our blocks are all covered in photos, they’re going to be a little thicker than they are now, right? If we stick a photo across two blocks without accounting for that space first, then later there won’t be room for the photos when we add them. So slide your spacer strip between the blocks, so that it sticks out where the arrows are in the diagram below. Then stick your two rectangles to the blocks as shown.
You’ll also notice, as you try to make your photo reach across the two blocks AND the space, that there’s a reason I had you cut them a tiny bit larger than 3 inches! That extra size will really come in handy for spans like this!
Now turn the set of four blocks with photo #1 on them over, like this:
Take the four blocks with photo #2 on them and place them on top of the four you just flipped, like this:
Ok, time for our first tricky fold. Put your hands on the left and right side of your cube, grabbing 4 blocks with each. Lift the sides up so that the top (photo #2) folds in on itself, as seen below, with the pivot being the red line in the diagram. The result will be all eight blocks laying in a rectangle.
Apply the pieces of photo #3 to the tops of the eight blocks, taking care to use the spacer whenever covering a span of two blocks, as indicated with arrows below:
Now fold the top four blocks down and the bottom four blocks up, with the pivot on the red line in the diagram. Your new photo #3 that you just attached will fold in on itself and become hidden inside. You’ll end up with eight blocks showing in a rectangle.
Apply the pieces of photo #4 to the tops of the eight blocks, taking care to use the spacer whenever covering a span of two blocks, as indicated with arrows below:
Now fold the two leftmost blocks and two rightmost blocks up towards the center, pivoting on the red lines in the diagram. Your new photo #4 that you just attached will become hidden inside. You’ll end up with a cube shape.
Apply the pieces of photo #5 to the tops of the four blocks. You do NOT need the spacer anymore because the blocks underneath already have photos attached to them.
Rotate the entire cube to the left, so that photo #5 moves from the top side to the left side. You will expose a new surface with no photo on it.
Apply the pieces of photo #6 to the tops of the four blocks. Again, you no longer need the spacer strip.
Rotate the entire cube to the left, so that photo #6 moves from the top side to the left side (and #5 is now face-down on the table). You will expose a new surface with no photo on it.
Apply the pieces of photo #7 to the tops of the four blocks. Again, you no longer need the spacer strip.
Rotate the entire cube to the left, so that photo #7 moves from the top side to the left side (and #6 is now face-down on the table and #5 is now on the right). You will expose a new surface with no photo on it.
Apply the pieces of photo #8 to the tops of the four blocks. Again, you no longer need the spacer strip.
Rotate the entire cube to the left, so that photo #8 moves from the top side to the left side. You will now have photo #5 showing on top.
Now rotate again, this time towards you, so that #5 becomes the side closest to you and the top has no photos on it.
Apply the pieces of photo #9 to the tops of the four blocks. Again, you no longer need the spacer strip.
Rotate the entire cube towards you, so that photo #9 moves from the top side to the side closest to you. You will now have photo #7 showing on top. Now rotate again, towards you, so that #7 becomes the side closest to you and the top has no photos on it.
Apply the pieces of photo #10 to the tops of the four blocks. Again, you no longer need the spacer strip.
The result
That’s it! You’re done! To view all the photos, just fold and unfold the cube, revealing a new side with every twist. You can display the cube with any photo showing that you want.
Now you have a custom photo cube that makes a great toy, gift, or even unique commemorative “album”. I made my mother a photo cube last year on Mother’s Day, with pictures of all of her kids and grandkids. Jo made one for her sister-in-law featuring pictures of the family dog. Because they will have 12 sides, you can also make a desk calendar out of them. Now that I think about it, they would even make a lovely, unique bridesmaid gift if made with pictures of the bride and bridesmaid together!
Want to see a photo cube in action? Check out this video!
If you can’t see the video, try viewing it directly on YouTube.
Update! How to achieve a glossy finish
Now that you’ve completed your photo cube, you may be noticing that it has a flat finish and you would like a glossy one. Because the cube needed to fold easily, you had to use a thin paper and couldn’t use glossy photo paper. However, we have developed a technique that will let you give your photo cube the shine it deserves, and also protect it from fingerprints and handling, making it last even longer. Check out our follow-up post titled “New glossy finish for our folding photo cube” for details.
Don’t forget – Photo Cube Kits are now available for sale in our store.
38 comments so far:
Hey folks, one more hint I just thought of. When you finish your photo cube, the pictures that will be on the outside six sides are photos #5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. So, if you want to have certain pictures show up on the outside, plan on using those pictures in these numbered positions.
I purchased a photo cube kit from Chica and Jo and the directions are SUPER easy to follow and the parts were perfect. I left a little too much border on my photos (it was more than Chica’s recommended 1/16″ of an inch) so be sure to have an exacto knife or Cutter Bee scissors on hand to fix any extras. My mom LOVED it.
My daughter and I made one of these for her cheerleading coach as a thank you gift with pictures of the squad throughout the season. She was thrilled with it! She said it was the most unique coaching gift she had ever received. Now all the girls on the squad want one too! Thanks for the great idea!
Just wanted to thank you for the kit – it worked great and the gift was a huge hit.
I’m so glad you are all enjoying this project and the kits. The best thing about these photo cubes is that every single person who sees one is amazed and says “You MADE that?” It always feels so good to say “Yes!”
Hi !
Although I realize that your site tells us how to create the folding picture cube I was wondering if you may know a company that makes them? We are hoping to give them as corporate gifts and so would need quite a few (which elimates the possiblity of us making them lol)
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Romanda
Romanda,
We found the following site that offers them for $12.85 for a minimum
order of 500. I believe these are made of plastic though.
http://www.freshnovelties.com.au/magic-cubes/magic-puzzle-cube.html
If you are looking for a smaller quantity, we would be willing to work
a deal with you to make them for you. Please let us know how many you
would need and thank you for visiting our site.
Hey everybody, I wanted to let you know that I’ve just updated this post to include lots of new pictures, a tip for printing your photos, and a video of a photo cube in action. Be sure to check it out!
WOW!!! This ROCKS HARD!! I CANNOT wait to make this. I am going to devote Friday 9/26 to looking for the tape sheets locally. If I can’t find them, I will have to order them from OTC. I teach preschool and only have 5 kids, I always take tons of pictures, I might make these as gifts for the parents. If I do, I am pretty sure I will become EVERYONE’S “Most Favorite-est Teacher” ever…;-)
Thanks for the info…
~me
Ok…I sooooo love the whole calendar idea…If one wanted to try it…how would one order the months?? Since there are only 10 pictures, some of the month’s are gonna have to play nice and share…which ones??
Please advise…
Naughty Mommy
Thanks for the great comments, Naughty Mommy! I’m sure your students’ parents will indeed love it if you made them all photo cubes.
Good luck finding the tape sheets locally (I was never able to at a reasonable price). If you have a hard time finding pieces, remember that we sell kits in our store too
For the calendar idea, you’ll want to make pictures #3 and #4, which are 6″x3″ rectangles, each display two square months. That will bring you up to 12 square months total, even though there are 10 pieces of paper.
And you’re right that two months will have to play nice and share. Since pictures #3 and #4 are displayed lengthwise (see here, you’ll be able to see two months at once. As for which ones you choose, that’s up to you. You could pick two months that are next to each other (like May and June) so that they make sense when both viewed at once, or you can pick two that are far apart (like May and September) so that you get to shift your cube every month and give yourself a new view.
We would love to see your calendar cube if you make one. Have fun!
Chica,
Thanks for the rapid response!!
I have a 50% off coupon from Michael’s that is BURNING a whole in my purse…I am going to run out today and price the cubes…whouldn’t it rock if I could get the blocks for next to nothing…? I guess I will find out once I get there.
I am going to place my order with OTC this weekend for the tape sheets. I might also go into Photoshop Elements and play around with some pictures/calendars.
As soon as I get all of the goods, I am gonna whip one of these bad boy’s up. I will post it when it’s ready.
Thanks a BUNCH for sharing this WONDERFUL project.
~NM
Hi I made this for my moms birthday and she loved it.
We made one for a friend’s 30th birthday – it was a big hit at the party!! TIP: we were in a rush and couldn’t find the Red Line tape paper, so we printed the pics from a color laser printer directly onto full-sheet labels (you can get them at officemax, etc). Inkjets generally have better photo-printing quality, but lasr prints have less possibility of smudging and that’s all they use at OfficeMax.
Then, we made the spacer from scraps of the full-sheet label material. We stuck the pics directly onto the cubes, THEN we cut between the blocks as per the diagrams, with a utility knife, turning the cube upside-down to trim the edges. It came out real nice; however, I’m sure it wasn’t quite as “finished-looking”, as it could have been, had we cut the pics before sticking them on. Also, although we got the more ‘permanent’ adhesive-backed labels, I’m not sure how they compare to the Red Line.
The assembly process took about an hour, start-to-finish, not counting the gathering and cropping of the photos on the computer.
It was so much FUN!! Chica & Jo – thanks for the instructions, they were great!! We’ll be making many more photo cubes!!
Hi Maria! We’re so delighted to hear your story, and glad you had fun with the project.
I admire your cleverness in coming up with the idea of using the full-sheet labels for printing your photos. You sure did make it work in a pinch, but I’m afraid I’m worried about how well your cube is going to hold up over time. The problem is that the adhesive paper is really thin, and as you fold the cubes over and over, you’ll find that the hinges will crease and probably tear
The biggest benefit of the “red liner tape” is not just its super-sticky nature — it’s the durability. The tape is actually a layer of flexible plastic that’s sticky on both sides. You can NOT tear it (trust me, I’ve tried!), so your cube’s hinges are going to be much more durable and last for ages. I really do love your creative thinking, but I suggest using the tape in the future, if at all possible 
I am quite intrigued by your other idea of applying the photos first and then cutting them later with a knife. For your paper adhesive, I’m sure that worked quite well, but it might not be as easy to do for the thicker tape. I might have to try it out on the next cube I make.
Thanks for posting your results and especially your assembly time. I’m sure our other readers appreciate the info! If you’d like to share photos of your finished product, feel free to add them to our new Flickr Pool.
P.S. I realized my original instructions were brief regarding tape selection, so I’ve modified them a bit above to make it clear how important it is to use the right tape. Hopefully that helps our readers
Love this!
Hi – Following Maria’s lead, I used sheet sticker paper as well and applied an 8×10 sheet of adhesive clear laminate to the top of each sheet, which not only adds strength to the hinges (which, as you noted, might be a concern with the sticker paper alone) but also has the benefit of making the whole thing glossy and water-resistant, in one easy step!! Worked like a charm and i was able to easily cut through the sheets after they had been applied. I made 25 for my son’s birthday party invitation, so avoiding all that pre-cutting saved time and prevented me from losing various bits in the process!!
Hi Claudia. That’s a good idea with the laminate. I’ve tried something similar once before, but found that the laminate was a bit too stiff to allow the blocks to bend easily, and it also wrinkled along the fold points, so I wasn’t very happy with the results. Sounds like it worked great for you, though. You must have had really thin laminate. Do you remember the brand?
Thanks so much for sharing your results with us. I can’t believe you made 25 photo cubes. Wow! Using them as a party invitation is a fun idea. We’d love to see them if you’ve got a picture.
I used Avery brand laminating sheets. To be honest, since they were for invitations and not for all posterity, I didnt mind too much if they wrinkled over time, But the extra one I kept has been duly handled by the 6yo birthday boy and seems to be holding up well with minimal wrinkling. I’ll post a picture soon.
I followed your insructions but found that the edges of my photos stuck out beyond the cubes and needed trimming. I soon realised what you meant about the additional allowance but I think it would be clearer if you stipulated that the edges of each photo must exactly meet the outside edges of the cubes – and that the additional allowance must just span the cracks. I was a bit confused by your instructons there. Otherwise – very clear and well laid out. Thank you. Not an easy project and mine does not look professional even though I am a life-long professional ‘craftsperson’. I will keep trying!
For what it’s worth – I prepared the pictures ( from a magazine) as I went along, to avoid confusion, and applied the tape to the cubes before removing the guard and pressing down the photo. I then cut through the cracks of the assembled blocks with a craft knife. I guess there are always more ways than one to skin a cat!
Hi Rosemary. Thanks for the input! As you’ve suggested, it is really hard to describe exactly how big to cut those photos. It takes some practice to get a feel for it, but I believe you’re better off having pictures that are too big (that you can trim later) than not big enough.
When I assemble a cube myself, I usually just leave the pictures extra big and stick them to the blocks, then trim the edges with a pair of scissors (OTC’s non-stick scissors are invaluable here).
Your sure found a clever new way to stick the pictures on… tape first! Your tip about cutting the blocks apart with a knife sounds a lot like Maria’s method. There really are lots of ways to tackle the details of this project, and thanks so much for sharing yours
Wow, this is an incredible site. I have just discovered so many interesting articles. This cube is high on my next gift list. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Justin, and welcome to the site! If you’re planning on making a cube, be sure to check out the photo cube kits in our store.
I love this! Thank you for letting me know about you all being at the local scrapbook store, I love that store! Please let me know if you all do another demo somewhere I would love to see it!!! This is right up my paper crafting alley. =) If you all have a newsletter please sign me up!
Hugs,
stephenie
Thanks Chica and Jo.
Made one for my girlfriend with pictures of our travelling trip.
I have a few tips on how I made mine.
Went to my local DIY shop and brought a square baluster (banister upright). I had to tweak the measurements but this choice of wood worked well and didn’t splinter.
For the tape I had trouble buying the red-liner tape so instead I brought a roll of 1 inch wide very strong double sided tape. So long as you lay the strips on the pictures so that they don’t overlap and make sure you lay the tape perpendicular to a hinge it works great!
Have now been charged to make another one for a family friends 50th!
Thanks again
Adam
Hi Adam! What a great gift idea. Thanks for sharing your tips. I love hearing the inventive solutions our readers come up with
Wow, what an absolutely fantastic idea. I’m itching to have a go at this now.
I got my kit in the mail this morning, and I am happy with the way things are going so far…the kiddos needed a snack, so it’s break-time for me, too!
I was thinking though…Could you coat the photos in glossy Mod Podge? It would seal the photo and keep it from getting worn, and it’s archival, too. I don’t think it would add significant bulk to the faces of the cube either.
Hi Teresa! Glad you got the kit and are having fun assembling it. We have not tried a Mod Podge finish, so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out. My only concern would be the hinge areas, where the dried finish might crackle. If you try it out, I would just use one thin coat. And please let us know how it goes!
One of our readers, Sebastian, purchased our kit and used it to assemble a photo cube for his girlfriend as a gift for their one-year anniversary. He shared his photos with us and we’ve posted them in our Flickr group for readers’ projects. Check them out here, here, here, and here. Thanks for sharing, Sebastian!
This is really a wonderful ideal–Thank you. Do you have a shorter version of the cube.
Thank you for this wonderful website
Hi Paulette, and thanks for the kind words. Are you asking about a smaller cube, or a shorter set of instructions?
If you want to make the cube smaller, you can use smaller blocks to start with. If you’re looking for shorter instructions, I’m afraid there are no easy shortcuts to this, and all steps are required. Good luck!
Is it possible to use larger blocks? For a project we are planning to make 9″ x 9″ blocks.. do you think that would work?
Hi Asdfjkl; Theoretically this project would work with any size of block, as long as you follow the same steps. 9″ blocks sound incredibly huge and cool! I wonder what you would use as the actual blocks, though? 9″ wood cubes would be hard to find and also heavy. Maybe Styrofoam instead? Also, you would have a hard time finding double-sided tape sheets large enough to make the hinges on blocks that big. Maybe you could use duct tape to attach the blocks to each other, and then glue the photos on top?
Whatever you end up with, we’d love to see it
Hi,
This cube thing is great but have any of you seen this done in a flat style? More like a card? I have seen it and would love to know how to make it. If you know how please let me know/send me a link.
Thanks! I’ll check back. Great site, found it stumbling and will give it a thumbs up!
Sandy
Oh, I just read the huge “on foam” idea, how cool is that idea!
Hi Sandy. Welcome to our site! I have not seen a flat style of cube like you’re described. Can you show us a picture of one somewhere on the Web? Maybe if we see one, we can figure out how to make it!