Craft: Exploding Box

For the box you will need:

* 3x 12x12 sheets of cardstock

For the lid you will need:

* 1x 12x12 sheet of cardstock (though this can be A4 also, you only need a 6 ¼”x6 ¼” piece)

Tools:

* Personal trimmer

* Scissors

* Rotary Trimmer with scoring blade

* Precision Point Adhesive

* 4 paperclips (to hold card in place while drying) – optional

* Corner rounder – optional


1. First we’ll do the box itself. Take your three sheets of cardstock and cut them as follows:


• one sheet to 9 x 9 inches (22.9cm)

• one sheet to 8 5/8 x 8 5/8 inches (21.8cm)

• one sheet to 8 ¼ x 8 ¼ inches (20.7cm)




2. Now score each sheet according to the measurements below. You score on all four sides.

• score the 9 x 9 sheet, 3 inches in from each side (7.6cm)

• score the 8 5/8 x 8 5/8 sheet, 2 7/8 inches in from each side (7.3cm)

• score the 8 ¼ x 8 ¼ sheet, 2 ¾ inches in from each side (7cm)

3. Following your scored lines, cut off all four corners on all three pieces.

You can do any corner rounding or inking at this point.

4. Now you need to put together your pieces. It’s easiest if you start by putting the smallest piece on to the middle piece and then the medium (+smallest) piece onto the largest one.

You ONLY put your tape/glue on the MIDDLE square.
…and don’t forget you do NOT need glue on the back of your largest piece.
5. Fold up the edges of your scored lines.
6. Now you can put the box to one side. It’s finished for you to continue decorating now or later. Onto the box lid:

7. Take your piece of cardstock for the lid and cut it to: 6 ¼ x 6 ¼ inches (15.8cm x 15.8cm)
8. Now score the lid, 1 ½ inch (3.8cm) in from each of the four edges.

9. Right, this might be a bit tricky to explain. TURN YOUR CARD OVER and you need to score from the tip of each corner, diagonally, until you meet your scored “corner” lines.

10. Fold all your scorelines and pinch the corners and fold them inwards.

11. Glue the corners in place. You can either hold the corners for a little minute until the glue is dry enough to hold the corners in place, or you can use some paperclips to hold the corners in place while drying.
...your lid should now be finished.

If you want to continue decorating your box, I would recommend the following measures for your paper (I’m swapping to metric now since it’s easier to be more exact):



• one 7,5x7,5 centimetre square for the top of the lid

• one 6,5x6,5 centimetre square for the centre inside your box


• eight 7x7cm squares for your largest “pages”

• eight 6,7x6,7cm squares for your medium “pages”

• eight 6,5x6,5 cm squares for your smallest “pages”

Here is a picture of some of the boxes my Craft Group ladies completed. If you want pictures for each of the instructions please let me know, for some reason the photos wouldn't work but I do have them on a print out.