Greeting Cards to Gift Boxes
Jan. 17th, 2008 11:07 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
elfie-elfie.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
craftgrrlI saw this idea a few years ago on a kids' craft show (can't remember which one, sorry), and adopted it to deal with my growing seed storage crisis: I grow heirloom vegetables, and until I saw the greeting card idea, I had trouble properly and NEATLY storing the big bean and corn seeds. I also used them to give away handmilled soaps - they were the perfect size and shape, for the most part.
Then I saw the idea AGAIN in the last holiday issue of SewStylish, or something like that, with a different box shape.
These boxes can be created with any stiffer-than-construction paper and white glue. My daughter makes pyramids with cereal boxes, and covers them with glitter paint.
These ones are easiest: you need only a squared greeting card. If it's got glitter, consider taking a pass. It's MESSY. (Sorry for the blurry pics: I had to use the 1.0 megapixel camera without a macro feature because my DH had taken the good one to work.)
Cards with a centred motif work best for these boxes.
Tear your cards in half along the fold. Line up a straight edge diagonally from corner to corner on the inside, and mark your centre with a little X (where the diagonals intersect). Fold all four sides of your rectangle so that the edge lines up with that X. You will have a tic-tac-toe grid folded on your card. Snip the long end (the bottom and top of the page) on the fold from edge until the folds intersect. These form the sides of your box. Lift those long edges up, pivot your snipped ends inward and overlap, and then lift the bottom and top edges up and fold them over the flaps to secure them. Stick them down with a piece of tape. (Glue isn't the best for this task, but if you got it, wipe a thin film on with your finger or a popsicle stick, and pinch it closed for a few seconds. It helps to have binder clips to do this for you.) You can cut a piece of decorative paper so it will line the bottom of the box to disguise the writing, if you like. I tried papering over the entire page, and it made the box harder to construct, and less sleek on the outside as well as the inside.
Repeat the process for the lid of the box (the pretty picture on the front of the card), except instead of lining up the edges to the X in the centre, have them stop just a bit shy. You want the lid slightly bigger so it will slide on and off more easily.
These are the "apple pie" boxes you get at McDonald's. They're great for gift pens and chocolate-dipped spoons, or small candies. You can use a greeting card and take advantage of the fold, but in this example, I've used the glittery cover of a notebook. I found it to be a little too stiff to work, and I cut corners (so to speak) and it wouldn't stay closed without taping it down -- invisible tape isn't invisible on sparkly notebook covers. But it makes a great example.
You have to be careful to SCORE YOUR FOLD LINES before you fold them, or your box will dent and crease in the wrong places because you're folding a CURVE. I used a dried-up ballpoint pen and a big coffee mug. You can use anything that won't break or scratch the paper, because you have to press really hard, but have nothing show through to the right side. The part I skimped on was the "tongue", the overlap that got glued to the underside of the top of the box. I cut it only 1/4" wide. I should have cut it AT LEAST half an inch for a piece of card this stiff. So your measurements are: [2(width of box) + 1/2"] x (length of box +1"). Where you see my drawn lines, that's where you score your folds.
OK, I'm done my turn at Show-and-Tell. I'll sit back down on the carpet.
Then I saw the idea AGAIN in the last holiday issue of SewStylish, or something like that, with a different box shape.
These boxes can be created with any stiffer-than-construction paper and white glue. My daughter makes pyramids with cereal boxes, and covers them with glitter paint.
These ones are easiest: you need only a squared greeting card. If it's got glitter, consider taking a pass. It's MESSY. (Sorry for the blurry pics: I had to use the 1.0 megapixel camera without a macro feature because my DH had taken the good one to work.)
Cards with a centred motif work best for these boxes.
Tear your cards in half along the fold. Line up a straight edge diagonally from corner to corner on the inside, and mark your centre with a little X (where the diagonals intersect). Fold all four sides of your rectangle so that the edge lines up with that X. You will have a tic-tac-toe grid folded on your card. Snip the long end (the bottom and top of the page) on the fold from edge until the folds intersect. These form the sides of your box. Lift those long edges up, pivot your snipped ends inward and overlap, and then lift the bottom and top edges up and fold them over the flaps to secure them. Stick them down with a piece of tape. (Glue isn't the best for this task, but if you got it, wipe a thin film on with your finger or a popsicle stick, and pinch it closed for a few seconds. It helps to have binder clips to do this for you.) You can cut a piece of decorative paper so it will line the bottom of the box to disguise the writing, if you like. I tried papering over the entire page, and it made the box harder to construct, and less sleek on the outside as well as the inside.
Repeat the process for the lid of the box (the pretty picture on the front of the card), except instead of lining up the edges to the X in the centre, have them stop just a bit shy. You want the lid slightly bigger so it will slide on and off more easily.
These are the "apple pie" boxes you get at McDonald's. They're great for gift pens and chocolate-dipped spoons, or small candies. You can use a greeting card and take advantage of the fold, but in this example, I've used the glittery cover of a notebook. I found it to be a little too stiff to work, and I cut corners (so to speak) and it wouldn't stay closed without taping it down -- invisible tape isn't invisible on sparkly notebook covers. But it makes a great example.
You have to be careful to SCORE YOUR FOLD LINES before you fold them, or your box will dent and crease in the wrong places because you're folding a CURVE. I used a dried-up ballpoint pen and a big coffee mug. You can use anything that won't break or scratch the paper, because you have to press really hard, but have nothing show through to the right side. The part I skimped on was the "tongue", the overlap that got glued to the underside of the top of the box. I cut it only 1/4" wide. I should have cut it AT LEAST half an inch for a piece of card this stiff. So your measurements are: [2(width of box) + 1/2"] x (length of box +1"). Where you see my drawn lines, that's where you score your folds.
OK, I'm done my turn at Show-and-Tell. I'll sit back down on the carpet.
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