No Glue Valentines Boxes

Intro: No Glue Valentines Boxes

I had an hour to kill, so I though I might put together some valentines cardstock boxes. I wanted to make them 'no glue' as I tend to get PVA glue everywhere when I use it!

You could use these to put anything inside; sweets, messages, a ring!?!

Date Made: Feb 2014
Approx Cost: £1
Approx Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy/Medium

STEP 1: Things You Need

Materials You Need

* Card or Thick Paper (A4 or A3, coloured or not)
* Ribbon for box type 4


Tools You Need

* Computer/Printer
* Sharp Knife/Scissors
* A ruler for getting straight cuts
* Selotape or glue to fix down the templates

STEP 2: Designs / Templates

I drew up my templates as approx 50mm square boxes. I used autocad as I am familiar with it, but this could be done with any program.

I have attached the pdfs for you to use and I have also attached my autocad file in case you want to resize, adjust or edit anything.

Note that the templates here are newer/updated versions compared to the ones I made - basically they have had corner wings added which you can cut off if you wish...

STEP 3: Print, Cut & Fold

My pdfs have been designed to be printed on A3.

Once printed, they can however be orientated so that they can be used on an A4 piece of card.

The solid lines are generally cut lines (however there are a couple of exceptions as noted on each box type later).

These can be cut with scissors, a sharp knife or an electronic cutter. It would however be difficult to use scissors on the internal cuts as they are so small.

The dotted lines are fold lines.

Use the back of the knife or scissors to score the fold lines so that you get straight folds.

STEP 4: Type 1

The hearts on this one feed through the slots in the adjacent wings. The solid lines under the hearts are not cut lines. I left those lines on just to define the heart. I drew these lines on to the card.

STEP 5: Type 2

This type of box slots one half of the heart in to the other to lock them off.

I added wings to the latest template to close up the corners.

STEP 6: Type 3

This type has slots in each lid section for the adjacent heart to be fed through to lock them all together.

I added wings to the latest template to close up the corners.

STEP 7: Type 4

I covered this in hearts so that you can choose which hearts to cut out. I went with just the top ones, but you can pick and choose.

This type requires a ribbon to tie all the lid sections together.

I added wings to the latest template to close up the corners. You may have to trim these back so they aren't visible through any of the cut hearts (depending which ones you choose).

STEP 8: Give the Gift of Love

You can put anything in them!

Like I said earlier, you can adapt these to fit your size and style. You may want to pick different bits from each box and combine them to make your own.

You may wish to decorate them also?

Hopefully these will give you some inspiration for your own boxes!

Comments

[60965]

This seem really hard.

[Mr_o_uk]

Was there a particular part you struggled with? Maybe I could help or make the explanation a bit clearer...

[wyvernisgod]

Thank you for this tutorial! It's very clearly made, and the templates are easy to follow. I'm making quite a few of these for my friends, and I'm sure they'll love them!

[Mr_o_uk]

Thanks, I hope they serve you well.

Don't forget to leave another comment after you've made them if you think they can be improved to help others. Thanks.

[Egret03]

i a making the 3rd box for my boyfriend. i hope he likes it! ( and the present of course)

[Mr_o_uk]

Hope it works well for you...

[Egret03]

thank you

[Mr_o_uk]

Thanks.

[YerGramma]

These are charming! I especially like #4, which is particularly well suited for a ring--or maybe just a truffle :-).

[Mr_o_uk]

Truffle sounds good to me!

[moulizzz war]

hiii hw r u???...

[icelandinthesun]

wonderful! thank you for including the templates and very good instructions. I am going to make these with my 1st graders :-)

[Mr_o_uk]

If you are going to do multiple copies you may want to print 1no on A3, then orientate it to fit on A4. Then copy it multiple times on A4. Will save you some money/paper!

[sunshiine]

Thanks for sharing this. I am faving now.

sunshiine

[Mr_o_uk]

No problem!

[ntinumirov]

no lazer cutter? boring. but i have Cricut!

[Mr_o_uk]

Unfortunately I don't have a laser cutter or an electronic cutter, otherwise I may well have used them. The files are there ready to convert and use on either though!

I have just been accepted in the papercraft contest, so voting for me might change that!

[knitwitcharm]

That's so cool! I love how they don't need glue or tape. It makes them easier to reuse each year.

[Mr_o_uk]

And it saves ruining the carpet!!!

[mrwolfe]

Very nice work!
Instead of Autocad, I use Draftsight. It is identical to Autocad R12, but is freely available for download from Dassault Systemes website: http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/d...

Edit: As of 2019, Draftsight is no longer free to download. Sad, but true. They have an annual subscription, but it is really too expensive for a hobbyist who will only use it a few times a year. QCad or LibreCad are freeware alternatives, although they can be a little finnicky to work with. I have also found that the DXF files they produce cannot be read by AutoCad. For this application, however, they are ideal.