Ink Stains: Paris Card in a Box

Several people have asked for the instructions for the card in a box I made recently and even more people wanted to know how you mail it so here you go....

Let's make a card in a box....

Cut a piece of heavy cardstock (for the body) 5" x 8.5" - you could cut it 5.25" but I wanted the tip of the Eiffel tower to be the tallest point so I cut it a bit short.

Score as follows: 2", 4" 6" and 8" Turn your paper to so the 5" side is up - score at 2.5" down until the 6" score line then again from the 8" score line to 8.5" or the end of the piece of paper. The goal is to have one 2"x 5" section that is left un-scored in the center.

Cut off the upper 1/2" portion completely and make cut lines at the 2" intervals down to the center score mark.

Cut several 1.5" x 2.5" strips of paper - these will be your cross members that all of the extra bits will be glued to. Score and fold them in a "Z" formation.

Decorate the front three sides of the bottom of the box with pattern paper or stamping.

Flip and decorate the long 2" x 5" strip (this will be the back of your box/card) and the upper 2" x 2.5" flaps (these will be the folded down box edges.

I have found it's easier to glue down the elements you want to affixed to the actual box base before you glue it shut. This would be items on the fold down box flaps, the front panel of the card and the back of the box.

Next you'll need to add all of the little bits you want to the cross pieces. I like to start at the back and work forward starting with the tallest elements in the back and getting shorter as I move forward. Be sure to stack your pieces from time to time to ensure that each item is positioned as desired. It's easier to fix it now as opposed to trying to fix it once the cross members are adhered in the box.

Once you have all of the elements glued down apply little strips of double stick tape to the flaps on the "Z". Adhere them to one side of the box in the desired order. Then peel off the tape from the remaining side, close the box and hope that all of them line up - LOL!! No, you can gently peel them off and move them around until they line up on the last side. It just takes a bit of patience to do so.

Here is what your finished card in a box looks like....

A view from the bottom - you can see all of the little cross members in there...

A view from the top...

No you simply slide the front and back in opposite directions - the box will collapse taking all the various elements with it.... The first time you do this you may need to re-crease everything to get it to lay completely flat due to glue and mounting.

You're card is now somewhat flat...I added 4 inside layers (for a total of 6 counting front and back pieces) so mines a bit lumpy... If you add 2-3 inside pieces it will lay much flatter.