Sometimes you need a cute little box. Home Depot and Lowes are no help in that department. You don’t need something the size of a moving box and smaller boxes are usually considered specialty items and cost a lot more than a small box ought to cost. The good news is that you can make your very own DIY box out of cardstock paper.
What Cardstock Is Used For Boxes
When making your own cardstock box, it is important to select the correct cardstock weight for the project. Logically, it might make sense to choose a cardstock that is very heavyweight. After all, you want your box to be strong and durable. However, too heavy of a cardstock can be a negative. When paper is very thick, it can break when it is folded.
Therefore, it is generally best to stay away from cardstock with a weight of over one hundred pounds. An eighty-pound weight is usually the best cardstock for making boxes. You can obviously play with the cardstock weight a little bit depending on what you plan to put inside the box. Something very light can even use a sixty-pound cardstock weight and something heavier might need a cardstock weight closer to one hundred pounds.
How To Make A Box From Cardstock
In order to make your DIY cardstock box, you must first think about what it is that you plan to put inside. With that knowledge, you can select the correct cardstock weight. You can also choose which color you would like your box to be. Once you have your selected 8.5 x 11 inch cardstock paper in hand, you can begin making your very own unique small box.
- Place the sheet vertically on the table in front of you.
- Draw a line the width of a ruler across the top and bottom of your cardstock paper.
- Then draw a line the width of a ruler once more going down the right hand and left hand sides of the paper. These four lines determine the depth of your box.
- Fold all four traced lines inwards. Use a scoring tool such as the back of a kitchen knife to ensure a neat and even fold.
- Then fold the bottom folded section up to the edge of the fold near the top of the page. Once again, use a scoring tool to achieve a good fold.
- Allow that fold to open up and trace a line across that folded line that you created.
- Do the same thing at the top of the page – fold the top folded section down to the edge of the fold near the bottom of the page.
- Allow the folded section to open again and trace another line across that folded line you created.
- With a pair of scissors, cut into the short lines on the right hand and left hand sides of the paper. There should be a total of 4 short lines on each side.
- Fold in the six small squares that you have created by cutting into the short lines.
- Take a glue stick and place glue on each of the six folded-in squares.
- Fold the bottom of the paper upward and start sticking the box together using the glue flaps as guides on how to assemble the box.
- Do the same at the top of the paper to create the lid of the box.
- Use binder clips to hold the glued parts together until they fully dry.
Fourteen steps may seem daunting in order to create one rectangular box, but you will whiz through each step pretty quickly. Once you have the method down pat, it will take you no more than a few minutes, if even, to create your very own cardstock box. If you would like a square box instead of a rectangular one, the above method works in exactly the same way. The only difference is that you would need to begin the project with an 8 x 8 inch sheet of cardstock paper.
How To Make A Gift Box Out Of Cardstock
Now that you know how to assemble your cardstock box, you can make your own small gift box from the comfort of your home. Depending on the theme of the occasion, be it birthday, wedding keepsakes, or graduation, you can decorate your cardstock paper accordingly before beginning the 14 steps.
The back of the cardstock paper is what will be the outside of the box so that is what you should decorate first. However, if you would like to get really creative, you can also decorate the front of the cardstock paper so that the inside of the box looks beautiful as well. Imagine a piece of jewelry sitting inside a decorated space, the visual would be stunning.
How To Make Cupcake Boxes Out Of Cardstock
You can even use your cardstock boxes for party favors. What party favor is more delicious than mini cupcakes? There’s no need to place them inside ugly sandwich bags. You can use the same 14 step method listed above, however, you will have to make adjustments to the initial four folds. Those four folds determine the depth of your single cupcake box and you obviously need a more significant depth for a cupcake. So instead of using the width of a ruler to create those folds, measure 3-inches worth of space for each of those folds. The remaining steps are all the same. When completed, you will have your very own party favor box.
As you can see, once you understand the fourteen steps needed to create your cardstock box, the sky is really the limit in terms of what types of boxes you can create. If you need a larger box, you can use an 8.5 x 14 inch sheet of paper, or even an 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper. If you want the box to be rectangular, you can keep the size of the paper as is. If you would like the box to be square-shaped, you can simply trim it down to create an even square before you begin.
As described above, you can also play with the depth of the box that you create. For shorter depths, you can use the width of a ruler for steps number two and three. If you need more depth, you can adjust the space of those folds accordingly. You can really create just about any size box you need depending on what you would like to place inside.
When it comes to design, the levels of creativity are endless. You can use watercolor or acrylic paints to decorate your cardstock paper before beginning the assembly process. You can use glitter, marker, metallic embellishments, you name it. You can decorate just the outside of the box or you can decorate the inside of the box as well. The personalization options are limitless so let those creative juices start flowing and make your masterpiece of a DIY cardstock box.