Making Christmas Gift Boxes

Whip up a container of homemade love and cheer. Use these cans as gift containers, or provide delicious treats in them for a special friend.

Holiday Treat Boxes

Dimensional paints add just the right touch to dress up take-out boxes. Here's what you will need:

Here are examples of finished Holiday Treat boxes.
©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
Here are examples of finished
Holiday Treat boxes.

  • Plastic take-out boxes: 1 small red, 1 small green, 1 large opaque white
  • Pliers
  • 4 mini silver brads
  • Dimensional paint for paper: glitter silver sterling, opaque wicker white, clear, licorice, pumpkin
  • Cardstock scraps: green, silver, orange
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • 2 foam mounting circles
  • 2 wiggle eyes, 18mm each
  • Jewelry glue
  • Green chenille stem, 6mm
  • 2 large red pom-poms
  • Glue gun, glue sticks
  • 5mm acrylic rhinestones
  • 7/8x24-inch length ribbon: metallic silver, sheer white
  • Double-sided tape
  • 1/16-inch round hole punch
  • 36-inch length metallic silver cord
To construct Holiday Treat Boxes:
  1. Use pliers to remove wire handles from red and green boxes. Insert a mini brad through each handle hole, and secure brads. Draw star shapes onto sides of red box using silver dimensional paint. With wicker white paint, create snow and snowflakes on green box as shown. Let dry.

    Using pliers, remove the wire handles from each box.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Using pliers, remove the
    wire handles from each box.

  2. On green and silver cardstock scraps, draw zigzag lines with clear dimensional paint. Let dry.

  3. Draw a mouth onto opaque white box with licorice paint. Using pattern from the template, trace carrot nose onto orange cardstock, but do not cut out. Refer to pattern to draw lines using pumpkin paint. Download the template here. Let dry.

  4. Cut out carrot nose. Place foam mounting circles on back of nose, and place nose onto front of white box above mouth. Attach wiggle eyes above nose with jewelry glue.

    Place foam mounting circles on the back of your carrot cutout.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Place foam mounting circles on the
    back of your carrot cutout.

  5. Center green chenille stem onto front top of wire handle of large box; wrap once at each top corner to secure. Place stem ends next to wire handle, inserting ends through handle holes at sides of box. Bend ends on inside of box to secure. Adjust stem as needed to conceal wire handle. Glue a red pom just below each handle hole with glue gun to create earmuffs.

    Glue a red pom just above each hole to form the earmuffs.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Glue a red pom just above each
    hole to form the earmuffs.

  6. Use jewelry glue to attach rhinestones to center of some snowflakes on green box, and place rhinestones randomly around red box. Let dry.

  7. Wrap silver ribbon around red box; taping ends at bottom. Form a double loop bow with remaining ribbon. Use double-sided tape or glue to hold ends in place. Glue bow to top of red box. Wrap green box with sheer white ribbon, and tie a bow.

  8. For tags, cut a Christmas tree and a circle out of silver cardstock prepared in step 2. Cut a larger green tree from green cardstock prepared in step 2. Punch a 1/16-inch hole at top of each tag. Attach tags to boxes with lengths of silver cord.

    Use the remaining silver cardstock to make a gift tag.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Use the remaining silver cardstock
    to make a gift tag.

Buckets of Cheer: Goodies by the Gallon

Here is an example of finished Goodies by the Gallon.
©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
Here is an example of finished
Goodies by the Gallon.

This is a very simple box that is essentially window-dressing on a simple can. Here are the materials you'll need:
  • Gallon can
  • Tape measure
  • 2 sheets patterned paper (main paper)
  • Craft scissors
  • Double-sided tape
  • 1 sheet red double-sided patterned paper
  • 12-inch paper trimmer
  • Pencil
  • 1 yard sheer deep red ribbon, 1/8 inch wide
  • 2 yards sheer olive green ribbon, 1/4 inch wide
  • Word charm
  • Circle punches: 5/8 inch, 1/4 inch
To construt a Goodies by the Gallon box:
  1. Cut 12x51/2-inch and 85/8x51/2-inch pieces from main paper. Tape smaller piece to bottom of can back, centering paper between handles. Tape larger piece around front of can. Cut 12x27/8-inch and 85/8x51/2-inch pieces from red paper. Tape smaller pieces to top of can back,above first piece placed. From larger piece, mark where handle knobs will hit paper, and cut out circles. Tape larger piece around front of can.

  2. From red paper, cut circle to fit lid top. Cut 2 strips from main paper. Tape pieces to lid top.

    Using the red paper cut a strip for the top of the can.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Using the red paper cut a strip
    for the top of the can.

  3. From main paper, cut 21/4x5-inch rectangle. From red paper, cut a 21/2x6-inch rectangle. Cut off corners from a short side to create a tag. From double-sided paper, cut 17/8x5/8-inch and 21/2x11/4-inch rectangles. Cut 21/2-inch length of red ribbon. Tape all tag pieces together. Tape charm to tag. From red paper, punch a 5/8-inch circle. Tape circle to top center of tag, and punch a 1/4-inch circle in 5/8-inch circle through all layers.

    Tape all the pieces of the tag together and attach the charm.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Tape all the pieces of the tag
    together and attach the charm.

  4. Over bucket, tape a length of red ribbon around seam between top and bottom papers. Tie a length of green ribbon around top paper, leaving 21/2-inch streamers. Cut 2 strips of ribbon to attach tag to can handle. Wrap remaining green ribbon around handle, slipping ends through twists at ends to secure.
Santa's Little Helpers

This is what the completed Santa's Little Helpers boxes will look like.
©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
This is what the completed
Santa's Little Helpers boxes
will look like.

The elves not only help Santa make the presents, this year they are also one of the presents! Cover a brand-new can of nuts or use a recycled nut can as a gift container. Fill the container with some tasty treats for your special elf! Here's what you will need:
  • Ruler
  • Recycled nut or small coffee can
  • Paper cutter
  • Paper: red or green
  • Adhesive: paper glue, fabric tape
  • Knit fabric: red or green
  • Scissors: craft, micro-tip
  • White felt
  • Pencil
  • Batting
  • Rubber band or string
  • 1 yard each: white satin ribbon, 1/8 inch wide; gold trim
  • Cardstock: baby pink, pink, peach or tan, hair color (your choice)
  • Black fine-tip marker
  • Colored pencils: pink, white
  • Optional: red ribbon, gold cord, large jingle bell
To construct Santa's Little Helpers boxes:
  1. Measure height (between top and bottom lips) and diameter of can. Use paper cutter to cut green paper this size. Adhere paper to can with paper glue. Cut knit fabric to 10 inches times diameter of lid plus 1/2 inch.

  2. Measure and cut white felt 2 inches times diameter of lid plus 1/2 inch. Along an edge of white felt, mark and cut 1-inch zigzag peaks.

    Cut a zigzag pattern into the white felt.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Cut a zigzag pattern into the white felt.

  3. Use fabric tape to adhere 10-inch sides of knit fabric together to create a tube. Slip an end of fabric over lid, and secure fabric to lid rim with fabric tape. Stuff batting through top to form hat. Gather and tie top of hat with rubber band or string. Tie white ribbon around gather. Using fabric tape, adhere white felt band over knit fabric at lid edge, and adhere gold trim to bottom of white felt.

    Stuff the bunting through the top of the red fabric to form the hat.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Stuff the bunting through the top
    of the red fabric to form the hat.

  4. Trace patterns from the template onto cardstock. Download template here. Cut them out with micro-tip scissors. Position and adhere pieces to face with paper glue. Mark eyes and smile line with black marker and inside ear lines with pink pencil. Make a dot in each eye with white pencil. Adhere face (do not glue ears) to front of can. Gently bend ears forward away from can.

    Cut out the patterns in stages to form the faces.
    ©2006 Publications International, Ltd.
    Cut out the patterns in stages
    to form the faces.

No present is complete without the appropriate gift tag to let the recipient know where the gift came from. On the next page, you will learn how to make some festive, handmade gift tags.