Yesterday I showed off a few of the candy box Valentines I handed out this year.  I think they turned out far better than I expected and I have a few ideas up my sleeve for ways to use them in the future.  Today…I’ll go through how to make your own!  Warning:  this is a photo heavy post because I think it makes it a bit easier to follow along with the process.

Tools Needed:

• Cutting Device of Choice (Scissors work great, and I used a cutting board and craft knife)
• Ruler
• Bone Folder or Scoring Pad (I used my new Martha Scoring board look for a review coming soon).

Supplies Needed:

• Cardstock – (1 standard piece of 8.5×11 makes one complete box)
• Box bottom template – DPP’s large matchbox template
• Double Stick Tape

Instructions:
Creating the Box Bottom (instructions below photo)

1. Print out the template for the box bottom and cut it out with scissors.  If you plan to make several boxes it might be easier to go ahead and trace the template on a sheet of stencil plastic before cutting it out so you have a sturdier template.
2. Lay the box bottom template down on the long edge of your sheet of paper and align it to the left or right edge to decrease the number of cuts you’ll make later.
3. Cut out your box bottom along the blue lines on the template (this will be the outside edges and then an extra inside cut on each side to create the side flaps.
4. Now it’s time to score the sides.  Using your template’s green lines faintly mark the lines to be scored on the inside of your box bottom.
5. Carefully score the box from the inside (this only matters if your paper is different on the flip side) using a bone folder or scoring board.  I typically use a ScorPal, but picked up the new Martha one at Michael’s recently and decided to give it a spin).
6. Now it’s time to fold! Turn your box so that it is laying horizontally on your table, and start by folding the left and ride sides down.  Feel free to add a piece of double-sided tape inside the center of the fold if you want to make the box a bit more sturdy.
7. Now on the same pieces fold the sides to create the flaps (these will be created by the internal cuts you made earlier).
8. Fold the outside edge of both horizontal sides of the box toward the center (do not tape).  Repeat by folding it over again towards the center (again not taping).
9. Open up the folds, and place a piece of double-sided tape on the inside of the outside fold, and make sure that the side flaps are “down”.  The left and right sides of the box should form a bracket shape on both sides.
10. Carefully fold the horizontal side of the box flap over the flaps and press down on the inside of the box to seal the tape.
11. Repeat for other side of the box… and you are finished with the box bottom!

Creating the Box Top (instructions below photo):

1. This is the easy part, no template required (but feel free to make one if it makes it easier on you)!  Take out the sheet of paper leftover from cutting out the box bottom.
2. Using the 8.5 inch edge you didn’t cut from before measure up 4 3/8 inches and cut straight across creating a rectangle that is 4 3/8 inches by 8.5 inches.
3. Lay the paper out horizontally and again using your ruler & scoring tool score the rectangle from top to bottom vertically in the following increments (from left to right).  This is where the Martha score board was a wonderful addition, I didn’t have to mark out the scores since the ruler is built right in!  Note:  All measurements are in inches and measured from left to right from the edge of the page.
   1. 2 inches
   2. 2 3/4 inches
   3. 5 3/4 inches
   4. 6 1/2 inches
4. Carefully fold all scores upwards toward the center of the page.
5. Insert the box bottom with the open side down
6. Carefully fold top around the bottom and secure with a piece of double-sided tape.
7. You now have a box perfectly sized to hold 8 Hershey’s Nuggets (or a gift card perhaps).

(Click here to see more Valentines Boxes)

Now…how will YOU decorate your candy box?