Handmade Gift Box

I've been trying to find a cute way to package the gift sets in my Etsy shop and this is what I came up with. My own box - made from card stock - and without a cutting machine!

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 pieces of card stock - heavier weight is better (I used 12x12)
• cutting mat (optional - to help ensure straight lines)
• long ruler
• glue stick
• tape
• scoring tool (I used a butter knife, but there are tools specifically for scoring)

Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Determine what size you want your box. I used 12"x12" card stock, and my box is 10"x10"x2". Based on the size you want, square up your paper with the cutting mat and ruler. Since my sides are 2", I went in 2 inches from each side.

Step 2: To score the paper, I used the smooth side of my butter knife and dragged it along the side of the ruler. You'll want to use pretty heavy pressure and after scoring, you should see an impression in the paper (but not any cuts or holes). You can kind of see the score lines in this picture here...

Step 3: Repeat for all 4 sides. Gently fold up the sides along the scorelines.

Step 4: Now for the corners. Gently pull in corner of the paper so that a triangle forms.  

Make the squared edges of the paper meet

and finish off the edge of the triangle.

Step 5: Repeat for all 4 corners.

Step 6: Glue the insides of the corners together.

Step 7: Fold the triangles over to the side of the box and glue down. Do this at all 4 triangles. I also added some tape for stability.

Step 8: I also added some tape to the outer corners of the box for more strength.

Step 9: Repeat for the other side of the box. You'll want to adjust the box size just a minor amount so that the box will comfortably fit together. For instance, I scored in exactly at 2" on each size and made this the bottom of the box. For the top, I scored at 1 7/8" instead.

Step 10: Make it pretty and fill it with your items! I added a label to the top and used some tape to help keep the box closed.

If you try this (especially with any other variations), I would love to see!!