Making a Christmas Card Box

My mother is always collecting great crafty ideas for the local 4-H club.  I really liked this one that she got from her sister.

Find a Christmas card to use.  The bigger the card, the bigger the finished box will be.  The ones I used were five inches wide, and the finished box is right at one and three-fourths inches.

Once you get your card, tear it on the fold.  You can try cutting it if you are really talented, but it was a lot easier for Mom and me to just tear down the crease.

Next you need to make the card into a square shape.  Measure the width, and cut the extra length off.  Like I said, my card was five inches wide, so after cutting the long side, it was also five inches.

When you cut the back side, you want to take 1/4 inch off the width and cut the length 1/4 inch shorter than the front also.  If you are using a really heavy paper, you might want to make it 3/8 inch smaller so the lid will fit easier.

Once you have both parts of the card square, draw a line making an x.  You will use these marks as a folding guide.

Start with one point and fold it to the center where your lines cross.

Then you fold the same side up to the line.  Make sure to crease your folds well, and then you can unfold it.

Repeat this process with all four points.

You’ll have a whole bunch of fold lines after you’ve gone all the way around.

Repeat this process with the other square.

Pick a side and cut from the first fold line to the third fold line on each side of the point.

Make the same cuts on the opposite side.

Again, you’ll do this with both pieces of the card.

On one side that was not cut, refold it.  This is one side of the box.  Bend in the flaps from where you cut the card.

Do the same thing with the other side.  You’ll see the points will meet in the center where your lines cross.

You should be able to see how the box is going to look now.

All you have to do is fold the shorter end over the flaps.

Fold the other short side over the flaps, and your lid is finished.

You still have to make the bottom part of the box.  You’ll repeat the process of folding the sides and bending the flaps in and folding the short side over the flaps.

Now you have both parts completed.  All that’s left is putting the lid on the box.

I’ve heard so many great ideas for what to use them for~putting a thread through it to hang from the tree, jewelry,and even peanuts.  The local 4-H club is going to put some candy in the boxes and deliver them to a nearby nursing home.

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