Tutorial: Boxes!

Who would have thought that I'd have time for a tutorial?? I didn't even think I'd have time to scratch my nose these days, but somehow it occurred to me to photograph this quick project. Okay, so it's not a hard project, but still...

See, here's the thing: I HATE spending money on disposable things!! And I feel very warm and fuzzy about reusing materials. This adds up to, among other things, reusing packaging materials to mail my Etsy orders (most of the time). MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) recently sent me an envelope of goodies that was reinforced with two 8.5" x 11" (notebook paper sized) cardboard sheets. I decided to try to make a box out of them, as they were pretty sturdy pieces of cardboard. And here's how it went:

Your finished box will be about 4.5" x 7" x 2" when using 8.5" x 11" sheets and following these measurements.

Start with 2 sheets of cardboard. Mark lines 2" in from all sides (2 inches is the depth of the box--change that as you please). Cut one side of the square in the corner, on all corners.

Be uniform in your choices of which side to cut. It'll look better that way.

Fold on the lines so that your sides come in toward the middle. Fold the corner flaps in, like in the photo.

Apply a good amount of hot glue or other strong glue (especially if you're mailing this box) to the inside of the corner flap.

(Folding to the inside or outside works--I just thought this way seemed more stable.) Hold the flaps down tightly until the glue hardens. Repeat for the remaining 3 corners. Be uniform on all corners.

Repeat all steps with your other sheet of cardboard. There is a VERY tiny (1/8" or less) difference in the size of the boxes. To make this difference, just move your lines in about 1/8" more from the edge of your second box. This will allow one to fit inside of the other, giving you a top and a bottom.

And there you go, a completely free, eco-friendly, customizable box!
Wrap it up, cover it with fabric, stamp it, paint it... whatever suits your cause.

So I'm thinking that using greeting cards could make adorable small boxes, and cereal boxes are probably the perfect size for this project. But really, it's a great way to reuse just about any pieces of cardboard that's big enough to fold up. It's fast, easy, cheap--oh, there's a very inappropriate joke in there somewhere... Anyway, I love it, so I just thought I'd share.

Happy Holidays!