Introduction: Decorative Box - Cardboard & Crepe Paper

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About: Hello! My name is Monika and I love recycling and DIY as a whole, hand-made gifts (both giving and receiving such!) and drawing. My husband and I like to call ourselves creative souls. He's more into electroni…

Hi All!

I made this colorful box long ago and it served as a gift for my dear friend – a huge bunny fan.

I’m not entirely happy with the outcome, but I decided to show you this, so that you got both inspired but also warned about what can actually go wrong with it.

I do recommend this decorating method anyway, cause it’s not so difficult (I learned it as a kid in primary school while attending additional artwork classes) and the outcome can be really satisfying.

What you need:

  • a cardboard box
  • a pencil & a rubber (to draw a helpful pattern on the box)
  • colorful crepe paper
  • scissors (but not necessarily)
  • paper glue
  • some lace, string or ribbon of choice

You'll see that one wall of my box is decorated differently. That's just me experimenting. I like the outcome although there are some glue stains visible.

Step 1: Learn the Method

What’s the method? You simply make small balls/croquettes (the size of your smallest fingernail or a bit bigger) from your crepe paper. You can cut paper pieces with scissors or you can simply use your hands to make the pieces. Then you form little balls with your fingers, making sure that they do not lose shape.

Warning: you need a lot of PATIENCE to make as much balls as you need for your idea and the size of your box!! :-)

Step 2: Come Up With an Idea for a Pattern

I strongly recommend not so detailed one, so that you could avoid disappointment with the outcome. The balls can turn out to be too puffy for your idea and the result can be deformed (as my little moon bunny and dancing bunny did...).

Still, it’s good not to get too attached to the drawing, since the outcome will be a little bit different anyway.

Step 3: Placing the Balls on the Box

What you need here is patience again, some paper glue (it doesn’t have to be any fancy craft-related glue – we glue paper to paper here ;-) Just test the ones you have at home).

What I can recommend here is a bottled glue instead of a glue stick. Easier to put on the ball, and you won’t get too messy. Still – do a test and choose a glue you feel comfortable with.

Remember not to hurry with placing the balls! Let the glue work a bit and dry on the box, so that you could avoid the ball moving while you place another one.

You can either:

- put a drop of glue on the box and place a ball

or:

- put a drop of glue on the ball and place it on the box.

It’s your choice – try both ways to decide which is better with your glue.

Step 4: Remember About the Edges!

When you are finished with decorating the walls of your box, cover the edges if you see that the cardboard is still visible under the balls. Remember that you can shape the balls however you like, so you can make tiny ones to cover tiny holes or bigger to cover more space.

Oh, watch out for the edges of the movable walls. You might need to leave some space without the balls, so that the walls could move easily.

Step 5: Finishing Touch - How to Close the Box

Use a ribbon, string lace of choice to close the box.

You can also come up with your own idea for closing the box depending on its shape. If you have a box like mine, you can make two holes (on at each each of the two parts of the cover) and bond the parts with a ribbon or something else. Of course, make the holes before placing balls on the box.

I hope you like this decorating method and I keep my fingers crossed for your work! I'd love to see it!