First I would like to say Congrats to all 2013 graduates! Getting through school is a wonderful accomplishment.
Instead of getting a card for a recent graduate or Father's Day create an explosion box. It can be a cute, and more personal gift. Today I am creating an explosion box for Father's Day. Here are the directions on how to create one.
Here are the items you need:
- 4x4 RTC Grid Paper
- Pencil
- Good Quality Eraser
- A Ruler
- An Exacto Knife
- Cutting Mat
- A Score
- Repositionable Tape
- Permanent Tape (to create lid)
- Embellishments and/or Photos
To begin, Take your RTC paper and lightly draw lines across the page as shown below (lines are darkened so you can see). Use your ruler to help measure the correct amount of spacing and to keep your lines straight. Notice on the page how the one inch squares with the solid lines has an 3/8 in. space and the sides that do not have the vertical lines need to have 1/2 in. of spacing. Tip: Always, Always remeasure to make sure everything is correct!!
Once you have you lines drawn, Use your exacto knife and ruler and carefully cut out the squares on each corner. The lines you need to cut are shown here in red:
After you cut, the grid paper should look like the image below. Now score (use your ruler to help keep the score straight) the other pencil lines left on the RTC paper. These lines are circled in the image. Fold each square towards the center of the page. Erase any pencil markings.
Now Embellish your page the way you like. Here are some detail shots of what I did to the inside of my box:
I put a picture of my siblings and me all around the box, and we each each put a message underneath our photographs.
You can also embellish the outside of your box. I used 6x6 paper and cut it into 4x4 in. squares. I glued two different pattern papers on the same box. (You can see the outside of my box at the bottom of this post).
To Finish your Box you also need to create a lid
To begin take a sheet of pattern paper or card-stock of your choice and cut into a 6x6 square (the 6x6 pattern paper packs are perfect for this). I chose paper from the This & That "Charming" paper pack.
Next, flip your paper over so you see the back. Take a pencil and lightly draw a one inch border on each side like in the image below (lines have been darkened so you can see better). When you are done Score along each of the lines. Use a ruler to help keep it straight.
Now take your Exacto knife and cut along the lines that circled in the image below. Just cut one inch of the line (don't cut past the horizontal lines).
After you cut your square, use permanent tape in the spots circled below in the image. Fold the little flaps (created with your Exacto knife) and fold them so they are on the inside of the lid.
Here is how the lid should look like when it is finished: When you are finished you can put it up on top of your box.
Here is the final box (shown below). This is a great project because it is not your typical gift card, and when you add photos it makes your gift more personal. To create the outside of this box I used "This & That Charming" 6x6 pattern paper. The 6x6 paper packs are perfect for creating the explosion box since they are a smaller size. To decorate the outside of the box cut pattern paper to a 4x4 square and glue it on the outside. If you look on the left side of the box I used extra paper to make an 4w x 1h border.
I hope you enjoyed learning about creating an explosion box. You can also check out Janine's Explosion box on this blog as well.
Thanks for stopping by this post!
