How to… on Boxes
Today I’ll show you how to create your own box to perfectly fit any little gift item you please. I get a fair amount of emails asking this exact question — “I want to make a box for this or that, and how do I figure how to cut my paper and where to score?” Well, if that’s something you’d like to know, keep reading — and fair warning, this tutorial is about as simple and basic as it gets. I am writing this to assume you have no clue where to start. I don’t mean to offend anyone with my simplicity, but I know many of you truly haven’t done this before and don’t know how to begin. This is written for those people. Once you learn this, you’ll have so much fun creating boxes, I’ll bet you won’t be able to stop!!! (I can’t!!!)
Above is the style of box I’ll teach you to do today. It is a simple base with a slip on cover. A very simple and elegant box design in my opinion. For today’s boxes, I just grabbed two items in my house that might be likely items one would purchase for a little gift — I grabbed a bar of handmade, scented soap and a package of square, embossed cards from the $ Bin at Michaels. Here they are:
The first thing you need to do is determine the size box you need. We’ll start with the soap. You need to measure it. It measures 3 x 4.25″. I like my boxes with a little room inside for tissue paper, so I decided I want my box to be 3.5 x 4.75″. That’s 1/2″ larger than the soap as to both width and length. Take a sheet of paper to write your notes and sketch your box.
This is my worksheet. OK, we know the box is going to be 3.5 x 4.75″. But how deep does it need to be? Measure the soap. It is 1″ thick. Again, I want room to pad with tissue paper, so I’ll make my box 1.5″ deep. Now, sketch it out on your paper — it does NOT need to be to scale - just a rough drawing of a rectangle. Mark the shorter side as being 3.5″ and the longer side as being 4.75″. Again, this is NOT to scale. OK, now remember, we need this to be 1.5″ deep. That means our sides need to be 1.5″ tall. Draw on all the sides, all 4 sides. Looking at my drawing, our original rectangle is left in the middle, it has the X on it. That is the box base, the box size. We have now drawn the 1.5″ sides all the way around it. Write on all these sides that they are 1.5″
Now let’s do some math. How wide does your box need to be? The center is 3.5 wide, and the sides (look at your drawing) are 1.5″ each. There are 2 sides. So you add 3.5, plus 1.5 plus 1.5 = 6.5″. That’s how wide you need to cut your paper.
Now for the length. The center of your drawing (box base in the X) is 4.75 long, and you have 1.5″ sides on each end, so that is 4.75 plus 1.5 plus 1.5 = 7.75″. That’s how long you cut your paper. So for this box we cut our paper 6.5″ x 7.75″. That’s 6 1/2″ x 7 3/4″.
Then, where do I score? Well, remember our sides were 1.5″ high. That’s where we score — 1.5″ around all 4 sides. I’m using my full size Scor-It and I have set my guide at 1.5″ so there is perfect consistency on all my scores, making for a perfectly shaped box.
Now we need to clip our corners to form our tabs. You can see where I’ve clipped, and I actually take out a thin strip, rather just just one clip. Your box will bind a bit and not form quite as well if you don’t give those corner tabs room to bend in. This is particularly necessary when using a heavier paper. Then you need to put tape on your corner tabs. The tape goes on the RIGHT side of the paper (outside of the box) in the corners. When you fold this into shape, the tabs go on the inside of the box. Peel the tape and you’ll be all set!
Stamps: Small Self-inking Stamper by JustRite
Paper: Frosted Orange by Prism, SU Very Vanilla
Accessories: Scor-It, Ribbon, Tag Die by Spellbinders
Once my box base was made, I wrapped my soap with ribbon and hung on a little tag made using one of the Small Self-Inking Stampers by Justrite. These stampers have a great assortment of tiny words that fit perfectly into the Tag Dies by Spellbinders. Such fun for quick tags. I also made a similar tag to hang on the wrapped box.
Now you need a box top, and there are no step-by-step photos to show you. But you make it in exactly the same fashion as the bottom — the only difference is the size you cut the paper. Cut the paper 1/8″ larger as to both width and length. This gives you just the right amount of room to easily slide your top over your box bottom. So for this soap box, you’ll need to cut your paper 6 1/2 + 1/8 = 6 5/8 wide. For the length you’d figure 7 3/4 + 1/8 = 7 7/8 long. So cut your box top 6 5/8 x 7 7/8. Then score it exactly the same as the box bottom — score at 1.5″ on all four sides. Finish as above shown. Slip your cover on, tie with a ribbon, done — GORGEOUS!!!
Now let’s try another box in another size and shape. This box will house the white square embossed cards from the $ Bin at Michaels. Again, we’ll figure it out just like we did above. Here’s my worksheet:
Again, we start by measuring the item. The card package is 5 3/4″ square, so we’ll want the box to be 6 x 6″ . The card package is 1/2″ thick, so we’ll want our box to be 3/4″ high. Let’s sketch it out like we did above. Draw your 6 x 6 square in the middle and add your 3/4″ sides on all 4 sides. Now let’s do the math. 6 plus 3/4 plus 3/4 = 7 1/2. So cut your paper to a 7 1/2″ square. Take it to your Scor-It and score 3/4″ from all four edges. Refer to the photo of the first box to clip on the score lines to form your tabs, adhere tape, and put your box bottom together.
To make the top, this time I wanted a bit of a tighter fit. This box is so shallow, it can fit a bit tighter and still go on easily enough. So I want to make the box top 1/16″ inch larger, rather than the 1/8″ we did above on the deeper box. So when we add 1/16″ inch to our 7 1/2″ measurement, we get 7 9/16″. That’s how big you cut your top — 7 9/16″ square. Make the top just as you did the bottom. Again, done and GORGEOUS!!!
Stamps: 2X Stamper by Justrite
Paper: Spring Willow Medium by Prism, PTI White
Accessories: Scor-It, Ribbon, Tag Die by Spellbinders
I made a tag for this box also, this time using one of the 2x Self-Inking Stampers by Justrite. There’s a great assortment of these fun little stampers as well. They stamp really great, giving dark and clear images. Really, when we find good buys like this in the $ Bin, we should stock up and have little gifts like this all made and ready and on hand for those times when we just need a *little something*!
Here’s a Few Tips:
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I usually prefer a heavy weight paper for boxes. Today I used Prism Prismatics and it works nicely with it’s somewhat leathery texture. For DP I particularly love Crate Paper for boxes. It’s a really great weight and texture. I also got some new 12 x 12 cardstock from WorldWin called Double Mates. It has has a linen-like texture and it is a different color on each side and of a weight that would work well for boxes. I think the fact that it is 2 colors would be really fun for these boxes.
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Once you design a box, make it first out of plain white cardstock. Cut, score and fold it, but don’t tape it together. This will let you see if it turns out the size you intended. THEN save this white box as a template for future use. Because you didn’t tape it, it’ll store flat. Before you know it, you’ll have a nice collection of box templates at your disposal.
If you’d like to read more about the Scor-It, they have a lot of good info on the Scor-It site. To purchase either the full sized Scor-It or the Scor-It Mini, you do need to go through a retailer. My friend Joan over at Joan’s Garden just got her order of Scor-It’s in, I know Ellen Hutson usually has them in stock (listed under Tools), and Marco’s Paper also carries the Scor-It Boards.
And my apologies — I know I promised info today on my new stick pins. But this post ran so long again, it is late and I’m so tired — I’ll get it for you tomorow, OK — I’m sorry!!! Just want to say *thanks* for taking the time to click in and visit — much appreciated!!! Tomorrow we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming of quick, easy and flat cards for the season!!! Hope to see you then!!!












































