Jennifer Schaerer
While I’m a passionate paper crafter, I have never gotten into scrapbooking. I’m more interested in making cards, gift bags, tags, and altered items like journals and decopaged frames.
And I admit that I hoard collect patterned paper in my favorite themes – even the sheets that are designed with a scrapbooker in mind. You know the ones…beautifully detailed scenes that cover the whole page, large or bold patterns, and various sized journaling cards. But all I could do was give those sheets a longing glance as I flipped past them on my way to the pieces that would work for my smaller scale project at hand.
Then there are those beautiful die-cut sheets in many collections – scalloped or lacey edges, sometimes a circle, sometimes a large-scale label. My family of beautiful but orphaned papers really started to grow.
Until the day I figured out that my scoring board and these papers are a match made in paper heaven.
My solution? Gift boxes. I could make HUNDREDS of them!
Like this one, using the Et Cetera collection by BoBunny:
Die-cut patterned paper sheets make lovely lids for gift boxes!
The die-cut edges of the patterned paper add a nice decorative touch!
Make a sliding band with embellishments so the gift box can be opened easily!
I scored a 7” square in the center of the die-cut circle sheet, folded it, and tucked in the corners to make a box lid. Then I made a box bottom that is 7” x 7” x 2.5” by scoring at 2.5” on all four sides – perfect math for a 12” x 12” sheet of cardstock! I fussy-cut some pieces from the Et Cetera Cut Outs sheet (zigzag circle and tag), added a circle cut from the Watermark sheet, and a pleated rosette from Island Mist Double Dot cardstock. After adhering that to a band of Coffee Double Dot trimmed with ribbon from my stash, I added some buttons, more ribbon, and a few stick pins.
And, when I’m on a crafting roll, I score, fold, and trim several box lids and bottoms, then store them flat without adhering the corners. All it takes is a little adhesive, some ribbon and embellishments, and I’m ready to go with a paper crafted gift box in no time at all.
Wanna give it a try? Since I’m such a fan of the Et Cetera collection, I asked BoBunny if I could share with you. Have you ever tried scoring a gift box? Do you have any helpful tips for making/storing/embellishing them? Tell me all about it in the comments, no later than 5 PM MDT on Thursday evening, and I’ll pick a random winner for all these Et Cetera goodies:
Leave a comment and you could win this Et Cetera collection from BoBunny!
Happy scoring!
Jennifer
I have never made tham in advance. It is a great idea. Hope I win this fab line so I can make a few of my own.
What a wonderful gift box!! I’ ve made and explosion box before, but your little gift box is adorable! I would love to try it. Thanks for the chance to win!
This is stunning! I, like you, am an avid card maker etc, but I do not scrap although I wish I did and I feel a bit guilty that I do not, and I have those beautiful papers too that work best for scrapbooking TILL NOW! Thanks for the inspiration! This is a beautiful collection!
the collection is beautiful, I love the details and the aged look of the elements. I hope I get the chance to play around with the set, please please
xx
Oh my goodness, those boxes are just beautiful. I have made origami boxes but not one like these. I have made rosettes and yours is just lovely. Thanks so much for the chance to win!!!
As a rule I like to make cards and have not made gift boxes. Yours is so beautiful that it inspires me to try one! I do love this collection and would love to win it. Thanks for the chance!
These are so pretty!! I have never mad any, but would love to try!!
I love the idea of creating a gift box all pretty like that. I love BoBunny
This line is is a really fun one.
Ah, another paper “collector” and soul sister. I marble my own and some i love so much i cannot part with them…
the boxes look fun and I like the fact they are easy to make from 12×12 paper. thank you.
I use my scor pal to make boxes easier.
This is gorgeous. I would like to create such wonderful gift boxes..thanks for the chance to win!:)
I love this set, and the box is super cute.
this collection is so nice ! I made little boxes with my score pal to put chocolat for Christmas and used them as marker places
What a great idea – these little boxes are so darling and would be great for the upcoming holidays. I’ve often looked with longing at those big sheets of die cut papers too !
What a beautiful line of DP this is! I just recently purchased The Martha Stewart Scoring Board~~it has and instruction booklet showing how to make gift boxes, so I imagine myself using that. Your gift box is amazing, not sure I could duplicate, but it would be fun to try
What a cute project. I love the look of the vintage products used and the prize. Thanks so much!!
I LOVE making my own gift boxes. I make them all the time with my Crafter’s Companion Ultimate tool. You can make all kinds of shapes and sizes with it. You can even make an envelobox with it.
I love the idea of the belly band with the embelishment! I make a box with a paper cake inside and keeping the box closed with out loosing the lid too early has been an issue. I will try this out on the wedding cake card I am making tomorrow!
I haven’t tried a box myself, so I don’t have a tip, but will read the others. I totally loved this collection when BB previewed it on there blog, it’s just gorgeous! Thank you so much for the chance to win!
I love making gift boxes but I usually use Cardstock so I often background stamp on them. I love stamping a coordinating paper strip with the person’s name or the Occassion on it and wrapping it around the sides of the lid.
What a lovely box and all the embellishments are just lovely. I have made small boxes but nothing this big. TFS!
i have a tip, I always try folding/scoring a little of the card before I use it as some card can crack and this does not look nice on the finished box. Hope this helpsLynn
I’ve actually never made a box, but yours turned out so beautifully that I think I must give it a try! Thanks for your inspiration!
I have never scored a gift bos, but I have embellished them. I love to add little goodies to the top, and pretty much every surface has to be covered with pretty contrasting patterned paper. My tip is to use enough adhesive to make it very sturdy!
I have made a box like this but it was way before any scoring type products were made.
When I’m making boxes, I find it easier to decorate the box before I glue the sides. I add embellishments to the sides after I have glue the box and it’s dry.
For some reason, I never would’ve thought to use circle paper to make a box! Brilliant! And I love the colors you used.
This box is beautiful, and you used a circle paper to make the box, great idea, hope win this prize to try one of this boxes. =D
Love this Et cetera collection from Bo Bunny.
I, like you, “collect” papers,and have many in my collection that just don’t work for cards! I can’t help myself, they are all so gorgeous! I have never tried to make a gift box, but with this inspiration I going through the papers immediately! The ETC. collection would be perfect, and the box you made proves it! Thanks for the chance to win it!
Your gift box is gorgeous! Love the papers too! I’ve never made ahead any gift boxes, but your idea is great and I’m thinking it would really be a time saver for me this holiday season as well as any other time. Thanks for a chance to win some yummy goodies!
OMGOSH how beautiful! I have a ton of those die cuts and never had any ideas how I would use them! I love this idea, and with the holidays coming up the packaging can be just a good (better?) than the gift itself! I have never been great at making my own gift boxes, last attempts failed miserably! I bet Ican master this one pretty well! thank you!
Jenn Post
those are crazy-pretty!! thanks so much for the chance to win & create my own!
This box is beautiful… Great colors too! Thanks for for sharing the project and the chance to win!
Beautiful boxes! I put a layer of mod podge over mine so the edges aren’t ripped as easily
Thanks for the chance to win, love this collection!
Love making gift boxes to match the goodies that get tucked away inside. This is an amazing project!
I had an entire pad of beautiful Anna Griffin papers and did the exact same thing with them. The lighter weight papers aren’t the best for making a sturdy box, but I have found that they make perfect origami boxes. I even made towers of origami gift boxes out of stacks of coordinating papers- each box was 1/2-inch smaller than the previous. Then I tied a tower of three boxes together with a giant ribbon. Lots of fun, and I felt significantly less guilty about hoarding all that paper
I’ve recently been discovering how to make gift bags to use up my ever growing 12×12 pile cos I’m not a scrapbooker either yet I covet their stash too! Its really quite addictive and peaceful, scoring folding and sticking I’ve enjoyed myself n I’ve got a lot more to make!
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I love the rustic feel of the paper, and the teal and distress brown just make makes the gift box really really awesome
I HAVE made boxes, but it was before all the handy-dandy scoring tools came out. You know, THE OLD DAYS!
I have recently made tiny gift bags with the score tools, though. So easy. I love what you’ve done, here. Thanks for the chance to win!
I’ve made a couple of little gift boxes both with and without my scoring board, but yours is awesome and I just love that collection!
Thanks for the chance to win it!
I’m a paper/cardstock collector as well lol and my fav is Bo Bunny, as soon as I see a new set, I buy it, and I don’t scrapbook that much. I am a paper crafter too. I suscribed with pleasure. Hope to read some new stuff soon.
My granddaughter and I have been having a marvelous time making boxes of all sizes…some for her and many for her American Girl Dolls. Yours are many notches above ours but give us something to aim for as she gets older. Bravo.
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