Unleash pet-pizazz into your home with Beastie Boxes’ 3D animal-shaped wooden boxes created by Cleveland Heights resident Alisha Camus.
Among Camus’ first designs were an owl, octopus and orangutan. Soon she was making custom ones based off customers’ pets, hand-sketching from photographs onto pieces of wood.
Due to their thinness, Camus uses either aspen, pine or poplar wood for each box. To cut her designs’ tight curves, she uses a scroll saw (think of a sewing machine with a blade). She varnishes each layer for color and keeps templates as she goes.
Between drying and gluing, each 4-by-5-1/2-inch box ($60-$85) can take six hours to make, but for kids of all ages, the adorable interpretations of a favorite critter are worth it.
“I need to be able to make Labradors all day long,” Camus says. “Cats have the internet, but dogs have Beastie Boxes.” beastieboxes.com
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