Tutorial – Making Boxes Out of Christmas Cards

So you have stacks of Christmas cards with great art on the front and what can you do with them.  One thing is to make them into boxes.  These little boxes are great for ATCs, gift cards, jewelry etc. and they are so simple to make.

  What you need:

·        Christmas Cards

·        Ruler

·        Scoring tool

·        Scissors

·        Glue

Start by separating the front of the card from the back of the card by cutting along the fold.  The front of the card will become the lid of the box and the back of the card will become the bottom of the box.

Making the Box Lid

1. Score a line 3/8” from each edge of the card.
2. Score a line 3/8” from the first score lines.  You should now have two score lines on all four sides of the card.  The lines in the picture below represent the score lines.

3. Cut away part of each corner (see the pictures below).

4. To create the tabs, make cuts on each corner (see the pictures below).

5. Pre-fold the score lines.  This makes it easier to assemble the box.

6. Glue down the tabs to create the corners (see the picture below.)

7. Once all the tabs are glued in place, fold and glue down each flap or edge (see the picture below). 

MAKING THE BOX BOTTOM

Cut 1/16” from the longest edge and cut 1/16” from the shortest edge (only cut two edges not all four edges).  Trimming the two edges makes the bottom of the box slightly smaller than the top so that the lid will fit over the bottom. 

The rest of the steps are the same for making the bottom of the box as the steps for making the lid so repeat steps 1 through 7 above.

That’s it, you have a box!

If you want to hide any writing inside the box, you can add a decorative piece of paper to the inside once you’ve assembled the lid and bottom.  And of course you can always embellish the outside all you want.

If you want a smaller deeper box you can modify the measurement of the score lines.  I wouldn’t score lines smaller than 1/4”.  Just remember you need to take a little off the bottom so the top will fit over the bottom. 

Below is an example of a smaller deeper box where I used 1” for the score lines.

Click here to download a PDF version of this tutorial.