On the seventh day of crafting. . . 🎁BOXING DAY DELIGHTS🏷️ (mini boxes & gift tags from repurposed Christmas cards!)

Welcome back to our 12 Days of Crunchy Christmas Crafts for the whole family! So far, we’ve made: pinecone bird treats, gingerbread nativities, “snowed-in” candle crafts, fruity festoons, foraged ornaments, and a little bathtime bliss.

Welp, my friends, we’re halfway through! This has been like Craft Mom Boot Camp for me! It’s been amazing but also tiring and definitely a bit on the messy side.

After nearly a week of peanut butter, royal icing, Mod Podge, and beeswax. . . I really needed a break from gloop! So, for day seven, we decided to go for crisp, clean, and bright with two crafts made from repurposed Christmas cards!

Ahhh, sweet relief! Our clean-up crew merely swept paper scraps into a waste basket today and we were done; no table washing, hand washing, or floor scrubbing required.

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Hoarders, Purgers, and Crafters

There are three kinds of people in the world.

The first receives a Christmas card, joyfully files it away in a shoebox ordered with alphabetized labels… and then saves it. Forever.

The second says “well now, ain’t that nice,” looks at the card for a moment, then drops it promptly into the trash while looking absently in the opposite direction.

Then there’s me. The third type. A Christmas card arrives, and I joyfully display it. Then, I dutifully display it a little longer. And a little longer after that. Christmas comes and goes, and I have my annual Card Conundrum. Do I (A) throw my loved ones’ sweet tidings away, (B) throw them into a Christmas tote and toss them next year when my guilt has had time to diminish, or (C) go buy a new pair of shoes so that I have a shoebox to store more cards in. Hmmm, there’s an idea.

Well, a couple years ago I rediscovered the remedy for my Christmas Card Conundrum. Mom had taught it to us growing up. Just think inside the box!

Every Christmas when I was a kid, we turned the previous year’s cards into these adorable little boxes as well as into gift tags! When we ran out of cards, Mom would make extra gift tags in a pinch out of the festive paper bags from the grocery store. You know, back when they gave you bags.

I was an adult before I discovered that you can actually buy gift tags at a store. I just assumed everyone made them out of paper grocery bags and Christmas cards like we did!

Making Christmas cards into boxes and tags ticks two boxes for the person like me who lives between the identities of emotional hoarder and aspiring minimalist. Ha! Talk about identity crisis. By repurposing the Christmas cards into keepsake crafts, you are technically KEEPING the card… but you’re also kind of PURGING IT. And for those of us who complicate things even further by living on the crunchy side, this craft is entirely recycled for an ever-green Christmas activity that the whole family will love!

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First up. . . TAG, you’re it!

1.) Gather Christmas cards, twine, mini hole punch, and fun scissors.

2.) Set aside cards with good “centers” for boxes (next) and use the rejects to make these tags!

3.) Use templates or household items to trace out various shapes, give ’em a little punch (hole punch that is), string with a little twine, and voila!

Aren’t those sweet?? Thanks, Mom!

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Next up. . . Christmas Card Boxes!

“This might be my favorite craft yet.” -The Captain, age 9

1.) Gather Christmas Cards with ” good centers” along with your other supplies.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: These boxes are tiny and will only display the very center of the card. If we had made a box out of the horse and cardinal card, we would have showcased… umm… the horse’s nose. And if we had made one out of the Merry Christmas card on the left, we would have had the letters “rist” to show for it. Think SMALL as you choose your cards.

2.) Separate the fronts from the backs of the cards to make a box set.

3.) Print and cut out templates (don’t worry, we’ve got you covered)!

Here’s the templates we made:

*Print onto CARDSTOCK. I like to use a different color for each size which makes for less mistakes during crafting. There are three sizes depending on what size cards you have handy

*BE SURE TO PAY ATTENTION TO “TOP” AND “BOTTOM” labels. The top of your box has to be a little larger than the bottom to fit!

4.) Select a template size set and trace each card (top lid, and bottom).

Our box sets are ready!

5.) Use a straight edge to draw X’s on the non-show sides of all cards, tops and bottoms!

6.) Ready, set, FOLD! (repeat for box bottom and top)

Step One: fold each corner to the center line and crease well. Repeat x 4.

Step Two: fold each triangle corner on itself in half, again to the center line, and crease well. (Make sure the triangle point doesn’t protrude too far from the center line when doing this. You will need to stuff in back in as you fold.) Repeat x 4.

Step Three: make a small dot on the folded corner lines of the “inner square.”

Step Four: cut along the folded lines to the dots (not through the dots) and only in one lengthwise “train track” as we call them. In other words, only in one direction will the lines be cut, not on all four sides. See photos above to clarify.

Step Five: fold the more “elaborate triangles” into the center line.

Step Six: fold in the “froggy legs” to form right-angled rectangles on two mirror-image sides.

Step Seven: spring those two sides up into the first walls of your box and hold in place!

Step Eight: MAGIC! Fold the remaining envelope sides tightly over your first two box walls and press in firmly, creasing the edges into place.

Step Nine: Pinch tight and secure the inside of the box with a little piece of clear tape.

Step Ten: repeat to make the bottom or top of the box. *Remember to use the slightly smaller square template for your base and the slightly larger one for the top lid.

7.) Fill with little stocking stuffers, small gifts, or simply display!

Aren’t these little guys just precious? Good things come in small packages, indeed.

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Thanks for crafting with us today!

Love, ~Candace Arden