Terrarium Gift Box

Here's a cute little gift box that channels the trend for succulents and projects in South West colours. The slot-close box resembles a sand-painted terrarium - retro fun. Just the right size for a small treat.

Here are your freebie print-and-cut files, cut by hand, or digi-cut with a Silhouette machine:
TerrariumGiftBox.pdf
TerrariumGiftBox.studio3

Terrarium Gift Box

To make up:
1 Print onto photocopier card.
2 Score the fold lines with a fine-point embossing tool held against a small metal ruler.
3 If cutting by hand, cut the slots first. Alternatively, digi-cut with a Silhouette machine.
4 Crease the folds. Join the side tab to make a ring, then join the bottom tabs to the base. Use tacky PVA glue or d/s tape.
5 To close the box, slide apex tabs into adjacent slots.
6 The tag is optional. Tie it through a slot before closing the box.

Winter Woollies Gift Box

These dinky cubes (4.5cm/1-3/4in) are great as party favours - they are stackable and fun. They are decorated with a seasonal ski sweater motif. If you put a ribbon hanging loop in a cube corner, then you have a tree ornament!

I have given you two versions - .pdf printable, or print-and-cut for a Silhouette Curio machine. The Curio will emboss the fold lines and cut out the template pieces for you. 

Here are your free templates:
SkiSweaterGiftBox.pdf 
SkiSweaterGiftBox.studio3 

The .pdf printable is all-in-one.

The Silhouette Curio cube is in two pieces.

Winter Woollies Gift Box How-Tos:

.pdf Version:

Cut the box out (photocopier card is ideal), score the fold lines with a fine-point embossing tool and a small ruler, crease the folds, join the one flap to complete the box. 

Silhouette Curio Version

1 Open the file. The registration marks are turned on. Print the box portion on the mat on to photocopier card.

2 Place the print-out on the embossing mat. Move the folding guide over the box print-out, with edges aligned. Choose Advanced cutting.Place the fine embossing tool in the righthand carriage. Emboss = blue. Select Cardstock and the fine embossing tool. Send to cut - and the fold lines are embossed.

3 Re-insert the template into the Curio. Adjust the cut settings. Purple = cut, Ratchet Blade in the lefthand carriage. Deselect the blue. Select the purple. Choose Cardstock and Ratchet Blade. Send to the machine.

4 Repeat this process for the second half of the box. 

5 Join the two box pieces together, as shown above. Crease the folds. Join the end tab - your box is complete.

If you have the Silhouette Curio Long Base, you can enlarge the templates to make bigger boxes.

 

 

Fröbel Star Gift Box

Okay - you've done a quick study and you've mastered all the moves (as seen in yesterday's blogpost). Now you want to show off your new Fröbel Star-making skill to the world. You need a gift box - the perfect way to show off a single-sided Fröbel Star. It is the ideal adornment for a box lid - a fun alternative to a bow.

So - for you today, I have a freebie printable/print-and-cut box - sized exactly to fit a Fröbel Star on the lid. (The star must be constructed with 1.5cm/5/8in weaving strips.)

Here's the box:
FröbelStarGiftBox.pdf 
FröbelStarGiftBox.svg 
FröbelStarGiftBox.studio 

There's not much to know about making the box. Print, cut, score, fold. I've coloured-blocked the flaps to make them easy to fold. You need to attach the top flaps to either side of the top edge of the box, as indicated by the arrows. Quick method: d/s tape does the job.

Stick your Fröbel Star on top with a sticky dot.

I thought I'd give you an easy day today, since I ran you through the paces with all that Fröbel-folding yesterday. There's still more to come - playing with modular Fröbels!



 

Crazy Patchwork Valentine Gift Set

Today's project is a co-ordinated Valentine pop-up card and gift matchbox. The pop-up is engineered to fit the top of the matchbox perfectly. 

There are two different card styles, three different matchbox wraps, and three different drawer styles, too - so you can mix and match the patterns to your heart's content (see what I did there).

Here are your free downloads. (A tut follows - but everything's easy as pie!)
CrazyPatchworkPopUpA.pdf 
CrazyPatchworkPopUpB.pdf

ValentineMatchboxWrapA.pdf 
ValentineMatchboxWrapB.pdf 
ValentineMatchboxWrapCandTags.pdf 

ValentineMatchboxDrawer1.pdf 
ValentineMatchboxDrawer2.pdf 
ValentineMatchboxDrawer3.pdf 

Crazy Patchwork Valentine Gift Set Tutorial
The Card

1 Above, the card creased but unfinished. As you can see, the card is divided into thirds - the cover folds back to conceal the pop-up mechanism. The important thing to remember is this:

 
Crease the card centre fold - to either side of the heart pop-up - before
you cut the card out from the paper.

At the same time, mark all the other fold lines with an embossing tool held against a small metal ruler. Folds at the base of the heart, at the top and bottom ends of the two heart strips, and also mark the foldline across the base of the card front.

2 Cut out the card and the pop-up sections as require. Fold the pop-up - gently pull the heart outwards and upwards. On the back of the card, apply d/s tape as shown above.

3 Press the cover down onto the tape and smooth it down. Your card is now finished!:

Valentine Matchbox

1 Fold the drawer and the wrap as shown. The design lines guide your folds. You must fold the long sides of the matchbox drawer in half lengthwise, inwards. Punch the brad holes with a 1/8in circle hand punch.

2 On the right side of the drawer, apply d/s tape to the right sides of the short tabs. On the wrong side of the drawer, apply d/s tape to the outer edges of the long and short sides.

3 To assemble the drawer, fold up the drawer sides and join side tabs to their adjacent sides; then fold down and stick the long and short sides.
Insert the brads, spread their wings. 

4 To assemble the matchbox wrap, crease the folds and overlap the long side on one side of the box. The top long side is a smidge longer than the bottom one: this side belongs on top. Slid the drawer into the wrap. It's a wrap!: your matchbox is now finished:

You can fix the pop-up to the box top with sticky dots, or simply tie it on with ribbon (the preferred option). I like to make a stack of matchboxes with a card on top. Go wild!

There are gift tags, too - so you have the option of giving a gift box without the pop-up card.
Enjoy.

Doily Gift Boxes

Ribbons and paper lace. Pretty packaging for small gifts.

These sweet mini gift boxes are tailor-made to fit the Tonic Studios range of doily dies. I've used the Daisy Square Die 225E and the Daisy
Circle Die 221E, but all the designs in the range will fit the gift box template. The box measures about 4cm high x 7cm wide (1-1/2in x
2-3/4in), big enough for sweet treats or jewellery.

The box itself can be cut from a single piece of A4 paper. (The smaller size box - 20 per cent smaller - fits two to a page.) Cut the doily out from white pearlescent paper using a die-cutting system. (I used a Cuttlebug with the following set up: A plate, C plate, shims - 2 pieces of 160gsm cardstock - die, pearlescent paper, B plate.) You can cut 4 Tonic square doilies from an A4 piece of paper.

Here is your pattern template:

Once you have everything cut out, glue the doily, centred, onto the box paper. Use a glue stick. Immediately after applying the doily to the box, smooth it in place. Put a guard sheet of clean scrap paper over the doily and smooth it with your hand. The square doily can be applied straight-on or diagonally, as preferred. You engineer how you want the design to fall. (I personally prefer pretty handkerchief points.) The circle doily is, of course, simply centred.

Above: the exterior of the box - doily glued and folds pre-creased.

Inscribe the box folds with an embossing tool held against a metal ruler. Tip: to mark the base of the box, "candle" the box cutout. Align the cutout box (with doily applied) to the photocopied pattern template. Hold it up to the light. You can then see the position of the base square, which you can then inscribe. Once the base square is marked, it is easy to position all the other folds.

Carefully crease the folds. Punch or pierce the ribbon holes. Loosely assemble the top flaps, folding them consecutively and tucking the last one under (see pic above). For each corner bow, you need 25cm (10in) of 6mm (1/4in-wide) ribbon.

Thread the ribbon through adjacent corner holes with a tapestry needle.

Knot the ribbon, then tie a bow and trim the ends. Repeat for the three remaining sides.The doily gift box is now complete.

 

If you prefer a more streamlined look, here's another gift box pattern template:

For this style, the side flaps are glued inside the box and the top flaps interlock in a swirl closure:

For really classy gift presentation, line the inside of the gift box with another doily!

Mega-thanks to Leah, my daughter and photographer, for doing the photo session despite having a yucky cold. (I'm sure she would have preferred to have been curled up with a good book and a cuppa.)