Have you ever heard of the so-called Exploding box? Well, as the name suggests, it is a box or a box. Now don't imagine an ordinary box for storing various things. Instead, it is a model made of paper or craft paper that can be beautifully decorated depending on the occasion and “falls apart” in an interesting way when the lid is opened to reveal its interior. You can easily make such an explosion box and you can choose between square, but also hexagonal or octagonal models. Today you will learn how to make this alternative to greeting cards yourself for Christmas.
Template and craft instructions for the box
Would you like one like this?Make your own box, you have come to the right place because we have put together some templates and instructions that you can use for your project. More specifically, it's about how best to make an explosion box for Christmas, although the templates can of course also be used for other occasions. Use paper in matching Christmas colors when making the surprise box for Christmas. Your imagination is also required when designing the interior. Come up with interesting surprises to make someone happy in a special way.
Instructions for a cube-shaped box
The easiest way to make it is probably the classic box in the shape of a cube. For the basic shape, you need the box itself and then a lid, both of which you can cut out of craft paper and fold. You can also see exactly how in the explosion box instructions above. You start with a large square. Divide this into 9 equal squares (8 x 8 cm each) and mark them thinly with a pencil. Then cut the four corners of the large square diagonally. For the lid you will again need a square that consists of 9 squares, each measuring 8.5 x 8.5 cm. To this you add side walls, each of which should be 2 cm wide, as well as adhesive tabs with a width of 0.5 cm. Make the box from these two elements.
You can then equip this with the paper crosses shown, which makes the box even more interesting and diverse. The first consists of squares measuring 7 x 7 cm and the second of 6 x 6 cm. To get the cross shape, simply cut off the four corner squares. Then fold everything and place the crosses in the explosion box as shown. The basic square, the base so to speak, is glued to the bottom of the box. The crosses can now be labeled or designed as desired. Of course, you don't necessarily have to make the explosion box this way. If you have come up with something different for the interior, you can change things up.
Make your own hexagonal explosion box
Another variant of the shape is the hexagon. This undoubtedly makes the box even more interesting. This also gives you even more space to decorate. If you want to make the hexagonal explosion box, you can use the following templates. Since the elements are on a smaller scale, they serve more as a guide for the shapes required. Nevertheless, the dimensions for the original surprise box are included.
In the first part you can see the basic shape of the box and in the following the elements for the internal design, as well as the required shape and size for the lid. You can take a closer look at the dimensions in the link at the end of the article. Use any color of paper and feel free to make the box larger or smaller than specified.
Decorate for Christmas
If you make a Christmas box yourself, the design is of course the most important thing in the end. And what possibilities there aren't here! This is particularly attractiveStampin upExplosion box. You may have seen stampin up greeting cards before. Actually, it is a company or an online shop where you can find everything about crafting with paper. This includes stamps, stickers, glue and much more. This can then be used to implement attractive design ideas, including interesting 3D motifs and elements. So consider this option when making an explosion box.
Homemade 3D figures made of paper are particularly original and are glued to the middle of the box and revealed when opened. It should be nice and Christmassy here too, assuming you want to make an explosion box for Christmas. A Christmas tree made of paper (e.gmade using the quilling technique), a small tower of gifts or other motifs that you can stick out with the help of toothpicks make a great impression. You can cover the inside of the side walls with cut-out Christmas card motifs or even photos.
A beautiful and original gift idea
A practical idea is also to fill the surprise box with small gifts. These can include banknotes that are rolled up and placed in the box. Small sweets are also great alongside the paper decorations. Whether it's chocolates, sweets or homemade cookies, it doesn't matter! Or how about a self-designed Christmas tree ball or other tree decoration? Come up with a little gift!
We also find this idea very interesting and original, which you can use if you make your own explosion box. In the explosion box there is another box that has been perforated with snowflake motifs and serves as a lantern. Of course no real candle is used. Instead, LED tea lights can be used, which you quickly switch on shortly before giving the box as a gift. Beautiful Christmas motifs in 3D look can be seen all around.
Make a box with protruding pictures
If you leave out the lid of the surprise box, you can also use such protruding motifs and figures to design the box. In this case, the side walls do not necessarily have to fall to the side. But if you do, you can hold them together with a ribbon instead of a lid. So as you can see, a lot can be done if you want to make an explosion box. Each instruction for an explosion box can be changed individually.
Instructions for hexagonal boxhere.