Springtime Vintage birthday box tutorial

Did I mention my father was 85 last month and, on the same day, my sister was 50? What a very special occasion that was! And what a very special present that must have been for my dad - to have his first daughter born on his birthday! Next week, I'll show you the 85th birthday card I made for him but today I thought you might like to see a box I made for my sister.

While my lovely sister is very feminine, she isn't a frilly person so I thought this paper would be lovely for her. I love the way it looks with the roses frame from Four Frames.

It's so easy to colour these stamps directly with markers, stamp them and cut them out with the coordinating Decorative Label punch. I attached the label to the box lid with dimensionals.

Lots of you have asked me how I make my boxes and I've been promising a tutorial, so here it is at last:

The box tutorial:
I started with a 10.5cm x 11.5cm piece of designer paper and an identically sized piece of Crumb Cake card stock.

Here they are! The Crumb Cake card stock is going to become the base of the box.

Score 2cm in from each edge - I'm using my beloved Fiskars trimmer with a scoring blade. Now, you're going to want to make your lid a little bigger than the base...

... so take the designer paper and score in from all four edges a scant millimetre LESS than 2cm. Can you see where I've got the paper?

Okay. It's time to fold all your creases with a bold folder to make them nice and crisp. And when you've done that, you need to make four snips in the base and the lid to create fold-in tabs.

I like to make little indents in my lids with a 3/4" circle punch to make them more comfortable to take off.

To make sure your boxes stay together, I recommend the brilliantly strong Sticky Strip! Put some on the tabs as shown...

... and assemble the box. If anything overlaps, trim it off with sharp paper snips - the Stampin' Up ones have fantastic long, thin, sharp blades and are a brilliant investment at £7.95.

Time for more Sticky Strip! Put some on the lid tabs - and now for the clever bit:

Wrap your lid around the base and stick the tabs at one end down. Then do the same on the other end. Wrapping the lid around the base ensures you get a nice, snug fit every time!

Here we go! All ready to decorate!

I placed my sister's box on another prezzie, wrapped with pink paper in the same design, and tied Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon round them both. The tag was made with this gorgeous chintzy paper mounted on Crumb Cake card stock, decorated with a jumbo eyelet and stamped with a sentiment from Sincere Salutations. I tied it onto the pile of presents with Crumb Cake seam binding - which is just perfect for tying into floppy bows!

Goodness - what a long post! But I hope you've found this tutorial useful. Do let me know if you use it -and I'd love to see your projects! And don't forget that I can supply any of the items you need to make my designs. Just email me or give me a ring on 01280 820593 - I'm always happy to help.

Thank you for popping in today - I really do appreciate your visits. Three Minute Thursday is back tomorrow if you're looking for fast inspiration, so I'll hope to see you then.