Keepsake box
The structure of these boxes is pretty simple. The base is a foam board box with a cardboard cover. I’m going to show you how to make the basic structure and you can decorate your box however you like depending on what you’re going to use it for.
All you need to make the box is:
I made my box 5 inches square. Measure and cut from foam board using a sharp craft knife and a metal ruler. You can decide how deep you want it. You will need four sides.
Glue your sides on top of your square base. Two of your sides will be a little shorter because of the thickness of the foam board. It’s easier to measure and cut off the excess when you have two of the sides up. Remove any excess glue with a cotton bud.
For extra strength and to help keep the box together while drying, add some pins at the base of the box as shown keeping the pins straight so they’re in the centre of the foam board and perfectly safe.
You can add some to the sides of the box as well. Just use ordinary sewing pins.
Once you have your foam board box made, you need to make the cover. It’s a bit like a book cover, you need a top, a bottom and a spine. The cardboard squares are slightly bigger than your foam board box, but only on three sides. The spine is the depth of your box.
Leaving a small gap between each section (enough to fold at a 90 degree angle) use some fabric tape or masking tape to tape the joints.
Cover your cardboard with your chosen papers (front and back). You can do this in sections, just make sure the joins are at the folds. I used papers from Treasure the Memory : the Papers by Sugarplum Paperie at the Digichick.
So your foam board box should fit snugly into it’s cover, something like this. Next, you need to cover your foam board box in a contrasting paper. You only need to cover the sides.
I covered mine with some wide floral ribbon. Once you have the outside covered you need to line the inside, the easiest way to do this is with a panel for each side. I used this fab stripe paper from Treasure the Memory : the Papers by Sugarplum Paperie.
Before you stick the foam board box to it’s cover you’ll need to attach a piece of ribbon (to tie the box shut) to the base as shown. Make sure your ribbon is long enough so you’ll be able to tie a bow.
You’ll need to add another piece of ribbon to the inside of the cover (to the lid). I’m adding another piece of paper to the inside of my cover which will hide the ribbon but if you’re not you’ll have to add your ribbon when covering the boards so it’ll be hidden.
Attach your foam board box to the base first and then at the spine. This is the basic box finished at this stage, you could leave it like this or you could add some more decoration to the top of the box, whatever you like.
I added a square of paper from Webster’s Pages Sweet Season on the inside of the lid, to hide my ribbon. I added a few more bits and pieces to decorate mine to give it a shabby, vintage feel.
Other Articles by cbuswell:
- Trinket box with vellum flower - February 18th, 2011
- Love coupons - January 24th, 2011
- Vintage Christmas Crackers - November 17th, 2010
- Vintage Halloween Banner - October 20th, 2010
- Fabric flower gift box - September 22nd, 2010
