How to Make a Mint Match Book
Mint match books make quick, charming party favors, wedding treats and can even be used to announce special occasions or tucked into a thank-you note. You can order custom-printed mint match books online, but you can also create them yourself with little more than card stock, a computer, a printer, and of course mints. You may also see these favors referred to as matchbook mints.
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Things You'll Need
- 8-1/2-inch-by-11-inch card stock
- Scissors or craft cutter
- Individually wrapped mints
- Stapler
Instructions
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1
Create four text or image boxes, one on top of the other, in your favorite graphics or word-processing program. They should all be two inches wide. The top box should be a half-inch high; the next box down should be two inches high; the next, 1 1/2 inches high, and the final one should be a quarter inch high.
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Type whatever message you'd like to appear on the front of your mint match book into the 1 1/2-inch box. You might also insert a graphic. Some programs will allow you to layer text on top of graphics.
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3
Adjust the borders of the four boxes so that there's one border around the outside of the four-box stack--this is the line you'll cut along--but no borders between the four boxes themselves. In other words, when printed, it should look like there is just one box, 4 1/4 inches tall and two inches wide, with your design in roughly the lower third of the box.
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4
Duplicate the boxes across the entire page so that you can create multiple match books with each sheet of paper. Load 8 1/2- by 11-inch card stock into your printer. Print as many sheets of the match books as you need.
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5
Cut along the lines to separate each individual match book. You can use scissors, if you're careful, but for best results you may want a craft-paper cutter. Then lay a match book with the message face down, pointing toward you. Starting at the top (blank) end of the matchbook, fold the edge down a half-inch, making sure the side edges line up neatly, and make a crease.
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Fold the bottom edge up until it's a quarter-inch from the top and make sure the edges line up evenly. There should be a quarter-inch overlap between the folded down top edge and the folded-up bottom edge (which has your message on it, facing up at you now).
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7
Place an individually-wrapped mint inside the match book, with one edge of its wrapper trapped inside the half-inch flap. Staple through the half-inch flap and the wrapper, as close to the fold as you can make it. Tuck the longer top flap underneath the half-inch flap to secure it. Repeat as necessary with the other mint match books.
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Tips & Warnings
You can also insert text or graphics on the back of the match book or on the flap; just keep in mind that anything you insert on the back (the largest box of the four-box stack) should be upside-down, so that once the match book is folded it displays right-side up.
