Sunday, November 4, 2012

Instructions For Creating An "Exploding Box" **UPDATED**

Since I posted my "Exploding Boxes" here and on the Two Peas in Bucket message boards, a few people had asked for directions. I grabbed a couple of scrap pieces of cardstock and put this together. I hope it is helpful!

1. Trim a 12inx12in piece of cardstock to 30cm x 30cm. Then score every 10 cm. Turn 90˚, then score again every 10cm. When you are done scoring, your paper should have a tic-tac-toe like pattern.

2. Now, cut some of the scored edges so that you can fold the paper into a box: Place your paper on the cutter. Go to the fold that separates the center column and the right column. Cut 1/3 of the way up. Turn 90˚ and do again. Do on all four sides. (It's hard to explain in words, so see pic!)

Here is how the paper folds into a box. Take the corner flaps and slide them behind the adjacent flap. See pic! Press the sides up......and voila! You have a box.

You are done with the first layer! It gets much easier from here.

3. Now take another sheet of cardstock and trim down to 28.5cm x 28.5cm. Score again, but instead of every 10 cm, score every 9.5cm. You should again have a tic-tac-toe like pattern.

Now, you will cut this piece differently. This time, cut out the four corners so that you are left with just this:
Here is how the layers now look so far...
Now you are done with the second layer!

4. For the innermost layer, trim down your third piece of cardstock to 27cm x 27 cm. Score this piece like you did before, but this time, score every 9cm. Then, cut the four corners out like you did for the previous layer.

Here is the inner layer added to the others. See again how the sides work to make a box? At this point you might want to use an adhesive to keep the layers together. You can tape/glue the center box of each layer together. I've also seen people use brads, eyelets...whatever!

You're almost done! Let's make the lid now...


5. While there are a couple of different ways to make the lid from here, here is one of the easiest. Take your final piece of cardstock and trim down to 18.5cm x 18.5cm. Score 4cm around each edge. (This leaves an inside square of 10.5cm.) Cut according to the pic.

Now, fold the outer edges up and tuck the corner flaps behind the top and bottom edges.
Secure with your favorite adhesive. (See pic.)

UPDATE: Some people were asking how to make the tab/bracket like things on the lids that I have pictured below. Here are instructions.

1. Using PP, cut a piece 6cm long x 3 cm wide. Then score halfway (at 3cm).


For the boxes I have pictured below, I used a corner rounder to round the corners on this piece, and actually all the corners on the boxes. For these demo pics though, I'll leave as is.

Next, attach the tab to the corners. You can just attach using your favorite adhesive, or you can attach with brads, eyelets...whatever you like! The only tip I have is that if you do use brads, keep in mind the inside of the lid. The prongs on the back of the brad may catch on the sides of the box when you are trying to put the lid on. To prevent this, make sure the prongs on the brad are as flat as possible. You can also cover the brad prongs with scotch tape or you can cover with PP for a more finished look.


Now you’re done!
Here is how it should look closed and open...



Congratulations! Your basic box is complete. Now let the fun begin with embellishing and of course, adding pics!
Here are some helpful hints:

Practice first on some extra cardstock before using your favorite paper! Also, think how much paper you're willing to use on these. Some people choose to make these boxes using double-sided cardstock. All that's left then is to add some embellies and pics! Others use plain cardstock to make the box, then cover with patterned paper.

If you would like to cover each square with patterned paper, here are some measurements for you to trim the paper:

Bottom layer: trim to 9.5cm x 9.5cm square
Middle layer: trim to 9cm x 9cm
Inner layer: trim to 8.5cm x 8.5cm

These sizes will leave a nice border in each section.

I hope you find these instructions helpful! Feel free to ask questions if anything is unclear. Have fun and please share your results!

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