How to Make Paper Boxes out of Chrismas Cards

You can cut, fold and glue Christmas cards to make paper gift boxes.

Many families send out Christmas cards every year to family and friends. By the end of the holiday season, you might have a large collection of Christmas cards. It's unrealistic to save every card that you receive year after year, but it seems wasteful to simply throw such beautiful cards out with the trash. You can recycle your Christmas cards by making paper boxes out of them. These make perfect gift boxes because they are already decorated with Christmas-themed pictures. Making paper boxes is also an easy way to entertain children with a simple craft project.

Things You'll Need

• Christmas card
• Scissors
• Graph paper
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Glue
• Paper clips

Instructions

1. Cut the card in half along the center crease to separate the front from the back.

2. Lay the cards on top of each other with the front facing down and the back piece with the greeting facing up.

3. Lay the cards on a piece of graph paper so you have straight lines to use as a guide.

4. Measure and draw a 1-inch margin around the outside edge to mark the fold lines. This will form 1-inch square boxes in each corner.

5. Fold each side of the cards along the lines, keeping the cards together.

6. Cut one side of the square in each corner to create tabs. You should have a cut on all four sides of the card, with each cut facing the same direction.

7. Separate the two pieces of the card to work with one at a time from this point, starting with the back portion of the card that has the greeting. This piece will form the bottom half of the box and the greeting can be read when the box is opened.

8. Fold flaps up along the other line formed in the corner squares; then fold the edges with the flaps up along the crease line.

9. Fold the other two sides of the box up along the crease line.

10. Apply a dab of glue to each tab and glue the tabs to secure the corner. Hold the tabs in the corner with a paper clip until the glue dries.

11. Repeat steps 8 to 10 with the top illustrated half of the original Christmas card, but create the folds with the bottom half as a guide to make sure the top half fits over it well.

12. Fit the top half of the box over the bottom half to complete the paper box.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have trouble fitting the top over the bottom of the box, try trimming 1/8 inch around the border of the bottom card before cutting and folding the tabs.

• You can use a greeting card for any occasion to create boxes with different themes.

• These instructions work for a short, wide box, but you can adjust the fold-line measurements to create tall, narrow boxes.

References

• Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality: Greeting Cards to Gift Boxes
• Crafty Pod: How to Make a Gift Box From an Old Greeting Card