Stationary Box step by step

I'd love to claim this idea as mine but it isnt. I've seen many similar templates and diecut kits around but my favourite and the one on which I took inspiration from is Dannie She has a pdf template for a US sized box and 2 video tutorials on making them. It's well worth watching and may make some of my instructions a bit clearer.

Going back to my version.

I'm going to assume that everyone knows the basics of boxmaking and only show some of the more important steps otherwise we'd have ended up with 100+ boring photos and an awful lot of waiting for the page to load.





First thing you need to do is cut your back, front, sides and lid either by hand or with my svg patterns for scal. If you're cutting by hand you will need at least 4 sheets of strong but not too thick card. Scal will take 3 sheets of 12*12.





Once cut and all the fold lines are scored you will need to think about which areas are going to be on show and need to be decorated. Stick all your paper in place apart from the inside of the front. You'll need to do that last so you can attach all your ribbons and slots before sticking into place.






This is the inside of the back, because only the top area will ever show I've only stuck the paper part way down. All of the sides have been folded inwards and the creases sharpened with a bone folder.



Attach strong dst to the 2 small flaps and stick them to the inside of the sides of the back.

You'll now have this shape section, I've turned it upside down so that it's easier to photo. Some people find it easier to attach to the front now, others find it easier to add the sections. I'm going to show adding the sections first because it was easier to photo.

Next you need to attach dst to the 2 larger sections if making the box to fit a6 cards. Please pay attention to one of the panels not having dst. Or just the outer edges of the 6*6 section panel. The bottom inch or so will not be seen so I've saved on paper.

I find it best to rub some glue stick over the tape before carefully sliding them together as shown. It's essential to have them butted together precisely, I find it helps to hold them flat to the table.

Remove the dst from one side and butt the side and tab against the back. Again it's essential to be precise.

Remove the rest of the dst and again butt up against the back and side. If you've been accurate with your cutting and folding the section will be level with the cutaway section.

Repeat this with the bottom panels. You'll see on this photo I chose the smaller sections of the scal cutting pattern to leave me room to stand a pen. If you want to do the same when cutting by hand cut one of the sections 1.5cms smaller

Now I'm going to add the front to the back, as I said earlier you can do this before attaching the sections.

Add some strong dst to the flap that was on the bottom of the cutting diagram. Rub over some glue stick and carefully attach to the bottom of the back. It must have all the folds lined properly or your front will not fold up properly.

The lid is a standard box so I've shown no step by steps.

Now you'll want to start adding all your contents.

The more of these boxes I make the more tips I'm discovering.

1, don't add the decoartive paper to the inside of the front until you've worked out what's going to be attached, where and how you're going to attach it. Specially important if you need to poke ribbon/elastic through to hold pencils/rubbers.

2, Slots to hold memo pads are normally a great idea but because of how the front folds upwards the memo pads will slide out. Making a small lid helps as it will hold the pad in place while the box is closed as well as looking pretty. You will still need to cut 2 slits to hold the back panel but think about having them quite low towards the end of the pad otherwise you wont be able to remove it.

3, Larger & busier patterns seem to work better on the outside with pretty delicate ones inside.

4, If you've aquired the plain wooden pencils like the ones from Ikea or Argos they can be inked to match the papers quite nicely but make sure you let them dry for an hour or so before putting them in the box, you don't want inky fingers or pencils ruining all your work.

5, If you've cut by hand the back fold around section can look a bit unsightly. A border punch can help liven it up a bit but you don't want to cut too much away or fold it in on itself. This fold around is needed to stop the front crashing down once you have your pad attached.

I'm sure I'll think up some more tips as I'm making more boxes but if you think of any please leave a comment and share it with others.