Gift Crate With Fall-away Sides

I thought since I made my gifts this year I would make the boxes they came in as well. The crate can be made whatever size you need and I made mine about 1 1/2" bigger than the gift

Step 1: You Need

I used scrap 2x4 and cut it down to 3/8" strips with my band saw but any wood works. I also used 8 hinges 12" of 1/4" dowel and 1/2" 1" dowel. I had some 1/2" finishing nails so I used them to nail the sides together.

Step 2: Cut the Lumber

I had a piece of 2x4 with a big knot hole that would have been scrap so I thought it would be perfect for a gift crate. I started with 12" long pieces and cut them so I wound up with as many 3/8×3 1/2×12 as I needed to make a box

Step 3: Making the Sides

I cut some small strips about 3/8×1×? depending on how big your sides are and nailed it together like, well, crate sides. I then added hinges to the inside side to bottom so the sides fall out.

Step 4: Handle, Lid and Pegs

I drilled out a piece of 1" dowel, cut it into 2 small pieces, and cut a slot in one to link them together and glued it back together. I then used 2" of 1/4" dowel to glue it to the lid. The hinge for the lid is 4 cubes roughly 3/4" square. The 2 outside cubes have 1/4" holes to hold the dowel and the inner cubes have 3/8" holes. all the cubes were cut on my band saw to cut the curves so the lid would open then just glued to the back and the lid. I drilled 6 holes in the lid and put 1/2" long pieces of 1/4" dowel through them to hold the sides. Close the box up and when someone pulls the ring the top lifts and all the sides fall away revealing the gift inside