Jewellery Box Tutorial

So, you’ve finished your handmade jewellery and now you need something to put it in. Whether you plan to give it away as a gift or you want to sell it, you will need a box that’s just right to really show it off.

Why buy in jewellery boxes when you can make your own at home?

Here is a tutorial that will show you the fundamental steps in making your own jewellery box with lid. You can make this box any size and depth that you want. I will show you how to draw and plan your template using your own dimensions.

 

Jewellery Box with Lid, covered in recycled handmade paper.

Things you will need:

  • Cardboard – not corrugated packing cardboard but some thick card would be ideal
  • Ruler
  • Pencil & Rubber
  • Scissors
  • Craft Knife
  • Glue Stick
  • Various coloured papers
  • Tissue paper

 

Step OneDrawing the base

Firstly, decide how big you want the base of your box to be. It can be rectangular or square. I made my box 18cm x 18cm.

Draw out, using your ruler the shape of your box onto your piece of card. You will need to measure it so that it is a perfect rectangle or square shape. Position your drawing somewhere near the centre of your card so you have enough room to draw the sides around it. ( NB: If you have used pattern card, the side of the card you draw on will be the outside of the box).  You can extend your lines to reach the edge of the card as this will make things easier in the next stages.

Step two – Drawing the sides

Decide how deep you want your box.

Eg: You want your sides to be 3 cm high. Measure 3cm away from each of the four sides of your original rectangle/square. Draw another rectangle or square around your first shape.

Then repeat the process and draw another shape around that, that is also 3cm away, all the way round.

You should now have your first drawn shape ( the base), surrounded by two other rectangles/squares (the sides)

 

Step Three: Drawing the tabs

Draw diagonal lines going outwards from the corner of your box base as shown. Repeat for all four corners. This will later become the tabs used when folding your box.

Step Four – Drawing the fold down flaps

Draw another diagonal line as shown in the diagram. This is in two parts and at right angles to the first.

Step FiveCutting out

Now you need to cut out your template.  Cut out the area as shown in the photo, leaving the corner tab square.

Repeat on all four corners:


You will now need to cut the tabs. Cut out one half of the tab square by cutting along the diagonal line and removing one half of the square.

Each side of your box should have only one tab. So your finished template should look like this:

Step Six – Scoring the Lines:

Using your craft knife and ruler score the card along the lines that are left on your template. You will need to do all of them as each line represents a fold.

After you have scored the lines you can rub them out so that no pencil lines are visible on the outside of your box.

The template is complete!

Step Seven – Folding and Gluing

You are now ready to fold your box. Fold along all the scored lines. The little tabs are designed to slot between the two side sections. Use your glue to hold the side sections in place.

You now have one completed part of your jewellery box!

Step Eight – Making the lid

To make the lid you will need to measure the width of the box you have just finished. Add a millimetre or two, so that the lid is larger than the base section and will fit over the base easily. It is better to make the base first and then measure for the lid as it will depend on the thickness of your card as to how big the lid will need to be.  Then draw out the template as before.

Finishing touches

I covered my box with pretty recycled paper and lined it in a darker contrasting colour. You can have fun using different colours and patterns.

To finish off the gift box, I added shredded tissue paper for the packing and a handmade gift tag. Alternatively you can buy white wadding from craft or haberdashery stores.

Other tutorials available are:

Ageing Copper Tutorial will show you how to achieve an antique finish to your jewellery