Box-making

In getting ready for my retreat this weekend, I've had to skip a few days of posts - but I want to make up for it.

These instructions are for a box, but I want to tell you ahead of time that I have never made them with cardstock before this time and I wouldn't advise it for you. This box can fit 2 Hershey's kisses perfectly. I'm using it for "pillow chocolates" for my retreaters.

You will need to start with a 5x6" rectangle. Score the 5" side at every inch and score the 6" side at all but the center inch (score at 1, 2, 4, 5 inches). Your rectangle will eventually look like the one below, but it will take some cutting. I'm going to start in the top, left-hand section of this image. First, along the 6" side, cut at the first score mark going in 2 inches. Then cut at the second score mark going in 1 inch. Cut the score line between those two cuts, removing a 1-inch square. (Picture the image as a grid. Each column is labeled with a letter and each row is labeled with a number. You just removed the grid square at 2A.) The final cut in this "quandrant" (that is, this quarter of the image) is along the second scored line on the 5" side. In the image below, you're making the little flap under my thumbnail. You've already cut the top and left side of it with your first few cuts, now you need to cut the right side of it.

Rotate your rectangle (or what is left of it) 180 degrees and repeat the cuts from above on the diagonally opposite corner. Then flip your project upside down and complete the other two corners. All of them should look alike.

Once you have made the primary cuts, you will want to do a little trimming on them. You can see from both the images that the top of the "flap" has been trimmed about 1/8 inch. If you hold your project so that the 5" sides are the top and bottom, the left corner "flap" is at grid square 2B. I also trimmed about the same amount from either end of the long flaps across the top and bottom of the project. Finally, I trimmed the same on both sides of the 2" (non-scored) center sections on the right and left of the project. You can see me doing that part in that second cutting picture.

Once your cuts are made, you need to fold all of the scores. All of them fold inward, except the top and bottom long flaps. They will fold backward as shown in this folding picture. You can see that the top inch is folded inward, but the side flaps both fold backward. The same is done on the bottom.

Now to put the box together, start on the top. Push the side flaps (the short ones at 2B and 2D) to the inside of the inch square at 2C. Fold 1C (the center inch with the 2 long flaps attached to it) over the short flaps. The long flaps will follow; tuck them in to the long sides of your box. Do the same thing on the bottom of the box. You may have to do a little more trimming if some of the sides don't want to fold all the way in.

Once you finish with the top and bottom, the two sides are easy. You will want to put adhesive on both flaps before you fold them in. Mine still had a tendancy to pull out a little since I didn't use any adhesive on the long flaps, but once I put in the candy, there was no problem at all.

This will complete your box bottom. You can cover it a couple of ways. You can make a matchbox slide for it which would require another piece of paper measuring 5 x 2. Basically wrap the paper around it and impress the corners on it. Overlap the last 2 almost-inches and adhere them together.

You can also cover it with another box, but this one is more light weight. I don't have pictures of this one so I'll save it for next week! :-)