Spring greetings! Jenn, here, with a new twist on an old favorite: The Exploding Box.
Expoding/explosion box albums and cards have been around for ages but I realized I'd never actually sat down and made one and thought it would be a fun project for Easter. And while I've seen some with paper-pieced sculptures in the center, I decided to showcase some Easter treats in mine.
To make your own Exploding Easter Box you'll need:
- 12"x12" Card stock in 3 shades of green, along with other colors for embellishments
- Scoring tools
- Scissors or paper trimmer
- Small flower punch or dies
- Picket fence die or template
- Deckle-edged scissors or grass die
- Helmar Super-Tac Glue
- Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots
- Pearl embellishing pen
- Markers
- Ribbon and other embellishments
- Plastic egg
- Craft moss
For the Box Lid:
Cut a 7 1/8" square of card stock for your lid and score at 1 1/2" on all four sides. Cut along one side of each corner section to create tabs (do not remove the corners)
Make a large bow from two types of ribbon, securing the bow with Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots and holding with a clothes pin or clip until set.
Layer two ribbons together for the sides of the lid, gluing them together with Helmar Super-Tac Glue.
Start the end of the ribbons on one tab and, assembling the lid as you work your way around the lid by gluing the tabs under the sides with Helmar Super-Tac Glue. Fold the other end of the ribbons under the box side, hiding the ends on the same corner you started from. Set the lid aside to dry.
Set the bow onto the center of the lid, along with your other decorations, with more Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots.
For the Box:
Score your three sheets of green card stock horizontally as well as vertically. The bottom layer will score at 4" and 8", the middle layer at 4 1/8" and 7 7/8", and the top layer at 4 1/4" x 7 3/4". I chose to add a second bottom layer, in a lightweight pink, to make the outside of the box a different color. Remove the scored corners and set aside. Round the box corners if you want to. Crease along the score lines to set the fold, but leave flat for decorating.
Trim the flaps of the top and middle layers with deckle-edged scissors. Where you trim them is up to you, but I opted for dividing the flaps into thirds so that each layer would be exposed about the same amount.
Fringe the ends of each flap to make it look like grass. Alternately, if you have a grass die you could save yourself a little effort by using that. Save your cut-off sections for later on in the project.
Attach the bottom layer of the box to the outside layer (if you're using one) with Helmar Super-Tac Glue, securing only the center square–leave the flaps/sides free. Layer the middle and top box sections on the base, gluing only the center squares down, and centering each piece on top of the other.
Decorate the outside of the box while everything is still flat. I used die cut flowers, "grass" cut from some of the corner cast-offs from the inside layers of the box, and flowers punched from colored card stock. Each element was attached with Helmar Super Tac-Glue and a toothpick to get tiny dabs of glue under the smaller elements. Remember that the lid is going to cover the top 1 1/2 inches of the box sides, so arrange your decorations so they will be seen when the box is closed.
Embellish the interior flaps of the box with flower shapes to look like a spring meadow in bloom.
Use the trimmed pieces of card stock from the flaps, fringed as the flaps were, to create decorations for the center of your box. Fold 1/2" on the bottom of the trimmed pieces and stack the larger one behind the shorter piece and glue in place with Helmar Super-Tac Glue. Place these behind your picket fence cut outs and stand them up along the perimeter of the center square, gluing down once you're happy with their placement. I also cut a square of green card stock to place in the center and cover up the flat ends of my border.
Tip: I folded the card stock for my fence shapes and placed the fold just above the bottom cut edge of the die, creating a folded cutout. By opening each fold I created a base for my standing fence and grass.
Attach the base of your plastic egg or other container to the center of the box with Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots.
Fill in between the paper grass and the egg base with craft moss (found in the model craft section of the craft store) and Helmar Super-Tac Glue.
Finish your flowers with pearl centers (best to save this for the very end to avoid smudging) and let dry completely before assembling your box.
You can fill your egg with candy or other small treats or use a decorative egg alone. Once it's ready to go, just fold up the sides and tuck them under the lid to keep the box closed until you're ready for the big reveal.
Wishing you creative days!
