Cereal Box Mini Boxes by Valerie

Intro: Cereal Box Mini Boxes by Valerie

This craft came about when flipping through olden times craft books, and I saw 'how to make a hat box'. The hat box they showed required cutting about 400 tabs on the outside of each piece of heavy card stock and securing them together with glue and then bias that was glued around the decorative paper the entire box was flawlessly covered in. I sat there for about an hour thinking, there has to be an easier way to do this craft, when it hit me.... sew it! So I set out to make a hat box in miniature out of old cereal boxes (the best card stock around).

STEP 1: Supplies You Will Need.

A pen
scissors
a needle
thick embroidery thread
a small hole punch
an old cereal box

STEP 2:

First measure out how large you want your box to be. I just made mine as big as the box was tall... it made for easy measuring. A shorter piece, just as long as the first piece, made for the lip of the lid.

STEP 3:

I folded that part around until I had a circle or oval, and traced the bottom of it on to the cereal box... and that was the lid and bottom of the box.

STEP 4:

The only special tool I would really recommend would be a mini hole punch. I bought mine 11 years ago in preparation for our wedding invitations where I had to tie tiny ribbon through two sheets of paper, and around the end of a skeleton leaf. Yes, it was just as tedious as it sounds. lol! But it works great for other projects too... mostly ones that involve a needle, thread, and my 7 year old.

STEP 5:

After measuring the pieces and cutting the lid and bottom, I punched holes along the bottom and both short sides of the main box piece. I then secured the thread through both holes and sew down and back up again to bind the sides together leaving me with a ring of cardboard.

STEP 6:

Then comes the tricky part... attaching the bottom. I tied a middle hole to the back next to the seam, then I tied hole that was directly across from it to the front. Then I sewed all the way around... not being picky about the way it looked... until I met up at the other tie. I tied it off, not cutting the thread, and then continued around until I got back to where I started, and tied it off again. This part really doesn't have to be neat. I didn't have any problems skipping a hole or two on each box, or doubling up if I needed to... it doesn't take away from the box at all.

STEP 7:

I then did the same thing with the lid.

STEP 8:

Put the two together and you have a whole mini hat box!

STEP 9:

Then all that is left to do is decorate!

This is one that my daughter and her friend decorated for their "someday drive through lemonade stand".

STEP 10:

And here is the one I pictured up top. I really love how it turned out.

Comments

[muhammadu88]

good i like it

[greentrees]

Very clever idea :)

[princesszmd]

nice

[wisk778]

The sewing in step six is easier to understands once you realize she is just using a knot in middle of the front the front and back to tack the bottom in place so things don't get misshapen as she sews. This is very helpfull if the holes in the side aren't perfectly alligned with the holes on the bottom, which they usually aren't. Neat project Bluerosemama, classy too.

[whopoder]

Creative! And perfect box to a gift ; )

[potatoluver5]

cool

[ChrysN]

Pretty box! Sewing cardboard, that's really cool.

[BlueRoseMama]

I set the round of cardboard on the top (both with holes in them) and tied the front center holes together with the string... then did the same to the back center. Then I started at one of those, and sewed around until I got to the other side. Tied it off, and then continued around again. Maybe pictures would help??? Let me know. Thanks for the comment! Val

[loximuthal]

Fantastic! My only problem is that I can't quite follow your instructions in step 6. Maybe if I understood "I tied a middle hole to the back next to the seam" the rest would follow?