Part 3 of my Recycled Gift Wrap ideas - How to make little gift boxes from old greeting cards.

To make a gift box from an old card you will need:

• 2 old greeting cards

• Glue - Something like a Pritt Stick is ideal

• A ruler, pencil and scissors

• Clothes pegs

You need two cards which are roughly the same size. I only use the fronts of the cards so I need 2 cards for 1 box. If you use the back of the card too then you only need 1 card per box - you with me so far?

If you have a card with a small design in the centre and can centre that in your square then the design will end up in the centre of your box (like I did with the red card here)

Cut the cards into squares so that one is a few mm smaller than the other. The smaller card will be your base, the larger one will be the top.

Mark a line on each edge. This can be any distance but all the sides must be the same. The further the line is from the edge the taller (but smaller) your box will end up. 

This card measured 16cm x 15.5cm and I measured 3.5cm in from the edge. The box finished up approximately 9cm x 8.5cm x 3.5cm.

Score the lines and then cut where shown here:

It's a good idea to cut the top one way and the base another. This photo shows what I mean:

Put glue on the right side where the big red blobs are here (I had to use a fat permanent marker pen here as the card is shiny - I felt very "pulp fiction" as I drew the big red blobs! You don't put red blobs - you just put glue)

Fold the gluey sides in and stick in place to form the box.

 Then hold in place with clothes pegs until the glue is dry.

Repeat for the box base. Measure exactly the same distance from the edge on this slightly smaller piece of card as you did for the lid. Then the lid will end up just a fraction bigger and will fit!

(This is upside down, the red is the top and the black is the base)

Easy as that!

If you have friends and relatives who insist on writing warm, seasonal messages on the inside left of the cards they send you then ask them to stop, as they are inconveniencing your recycling crafts! If you don't mind a little bit of writing inside your gift boxes then don't mention it!

Julie

I'll be linking up this project at all these lovely link parties