As the title says, this post is about making a box out of cardboard. It may sound quite simple but I had trouble finding a template online that told me where to cut and glue ect. Therefore, I thought it might be quite useful to post the method I used here in case anyone wants to do a similar thing to me.
The box I wanted to make was the type where the lid could be completly removed, similar to those used for board games. Therefore, the base and the lid would be made seperatly. The cardboard I used was around 1.5mm in thickness. If you can get cardboard of 1 or 1.25mm, go with that instead. The thicker the cardboard, the harder it is to bend. The template I used is shown here:
Step one: Mark the template for both the base and the lid on a sheet of card. The lid should be able to fit completly over the base. Therefore, the top section of the lid should be slightly larger than the bottom section of the base. The top section of my lid was 23 * 16mm. The bottom section of my base was 22 * 15mm. The sides of both the base and the lid were 3.5mm in height.
Step two: Using a knife, cut round the edge of the template for both the base and the lid. If you want to end up with stright lines (and all fingers intact), it is advisable to use a metal ruler here.
Step three: Use the knife again to score the folds of both the base and the lid. Also, cut out one side of each of the flaps.
Step four: Apply glue to the reverse of each flap. It is probabily a good idea to do just two flaps at a time. If you want to know why this is a good idea, go ahead and glue all four flaps at once.
Step five: Stick the flaps onto the sides of the base/lid. If you have trouble bending the sides, score the folds a bit more deeply. You may need to hold the joins while the glue dries. This is the very moment your mum will phone you… be strong, don’t answer, keep holding those joins.
Once all four flaps have been glued to the sides of both the base and the lid, you should have somthing resembling this. Hopefully, the base and the lid should fit snugly together. If they don’t fit snugly together… no, I’m sure they will fit perfectly.
Michael's Blog 
Honestly, I don’t mean to offend you, but seeing you make these things so carefully and then caring enough to share them is…well…quite touching. I hadn’t really thought about making a cardboard box, but I remember times when I would have sold my oldest-born (well, no, maybe not that drastic) but something really valuable if I could find a box to put a blanket or set of towels in to wrap for Christmas. These lovely step-by-step instructions would have been a blessing. (I really enjoyed the crokinole project too).
Thanks. As you may have seen now, I used these boxes for my game set. Originally, I just wanted to buy boxes, but it was impossible to get just the size I wanted… hence this post.
This is great! You may think it’s such a simple blog about how to make a box but I have a canvas that I need to mail and it’s soooo difficult to find the ‘right’ size box to send it in. The canvas is 12×36 and 3in. high. Where am I going to find a box like that?! I was meant to see this post and get my answer!! Many thanks!
Glad that this was helpful then. I’m sure you can make a box like this to fit those dimensions.
Oh wow that was amazing the best set of instructions i have read in my life!!
i made a box of a monster.thanks. it help me a lot.p.sits instructions help when i messed up.p.p.sits wrong but its perfect.
oOo i like this a lot! i love doing things with my hands and crafty things too! thats pretty cool 😀 haha maybe ill make my own boxes! since i loove to collect boxes and bottles 🙂
Why not??? You can even make some boxes to store all your bottles.
Well explained step by step instructions. Useful to make homemade gift boxes. Cheers.
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hahahaa =) i will totally sound like a girl if i say this, but you left a part out: decorations! you should really do that . might brighten your day everytime you see it =)
Ha ha, of course I had not forgotten that! Just look at Sunday’s post!
This is great!and this blog is very useful.to improve your knowledge abut making boxes I suggest you go to
http://makeaboxes.blogspot.com/p/reed-boxes.html
also.nice work .keep posting new item..
Thanx Michael. I needed to get gift box size boxes for my Sunday school class. Thot I’d make them instead though I hadn’t a clue. I googled ‘how to make a cardboard box’ and up you came. Glad I did cos your template was just what i needed. Big thanx!
Ngo
Wow these are great! You are so talented! You have taken cardboard to new heights!!!
Just what I wanted and excellent instructions. When your mother phones and you just know you have to answer try a clothes peg – works brilliantly.
I might make this amzing box it’s frantic .
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been trying to find the perfect box to put roses in (the heads were dipped in wax) as a gift. Everywhere I looked… nothing! So, I got fed up. My boyfriend is now bringing over some old boxes I can use… Thank you ever so much! *smiles*
I’m sooooooo much thankful to you. I went to market for such boxes and they need an order of minimum 1000 boxes to do my work. I just started my enterprise and don’t have that budget (just 50 boxes per week).
Now, I’m making my own boxes, saving a lot of cost. Thanks Buddyy 🙂
Will pray for you 🙂
Michael, u r simply intelligent.Thanks for ur clear. Explanations.
Thank you I am looking forward to making lids this weekend. I ‘found’ several sturdy boxes that I am wrapping (either contact paper from the dollar store or fancy drawer liner i found at a thrift (2 packages, 8 sheets each with a very attractive design). The end purpose is to obtain organization in a shelf unit located in our kitchen/family area.
Thank you kindly,
Ribota de Sajambre
on pinterest Ten Fe En Ti (tenfeenti)
Yep, really very touching post, agree with sanra bell,kirchman,a boy doing a cardbox and a nice step by step guide…snif, Thanks a lot michael, this is what i was looking for, now i can do boxes exactly the size i need..blessings from Chile!
wow. thanks a lot . This really helps 😀 i made my project like 5 minutes only ? woah .thanks a lot .
Like you, my friend and I were looking for templates of great proportions for boxes and couldn’t find any. this simple step by step tutorial has solved our problem. Thank you.
mine looked terrible!
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brilliant, thank you!!
Thank you so much!!! This is just what I need!
Excellent work you’re sharing here! I was looking for a box template with lid on, made out of card. All the templates I’ve come across were too overcomplicated for the paper thickness I am using. This is perfect and simple to make! Thank you
Thank you so much … now I can make my own boxes for my cards that I make 🙂
Thwnk you a lot for sharing tuis with aall oof us you really knnow wht you’re talkijng approximately!
Bookmarked. Please also sseek advice from my site =).
We will have a hyperlink lternate agreement bbetween us
What is the best type of glue to use on cardboard?
What is the best type of glue to use on cardboard?
I believe that I just used PVC glue for this. Cardboard is not a particularly difficult material to work with, so anything reasonable strong should do the trick.