We’re going to make a DIY explosion gift box, so plug in your Cricut or Silhouette and grab a pad or a few sheets of your prettiest cardstock crafters! This is the perfect craft project for creatives that like working with paper, plus it makes the ideal gift for everyone young and old. I love crafts that don’t take a lot of time, have difficult cuts, or require a lot of tools but still leave you with a beautiful result. There are a lot of explosion box ideas out there, and you can find or tweak the design to fit any holiday or occasion.
For those crafters that prefer video tutorials, you can watch our YouTube video How to Make An Explosion Box. These boxes can be complicated for a simple papercraft, especially if you don’t find instructions for assembly! But you can breathe easily, because in this tutorial I’m going to show you a step-by-step explosion box, along with pictures and instructions. If you’re wondering what to put in your box, I have a few explosion box inside decoration ideas you’ll love! Stay tuned until the end of this tutorial; I have a surprise for you!
Gather your supplies before you get started. For this project, you only need a few simple items. Before you start cutting, I recommend picking a few coordinating colors of your favorite cardstock. You can mix and match colors, use varying shades of the same color, or even add patterns. The choice is up to you! Light to medium-weight card stock is recommended with almost all papercrafts. I’ve used 65 lb cardstock. This project is simple enough that you could even do it without a cutting machine!
This truly is a quick craft and easy to do once you understand how the pieces are assembled! Setting up your mat and cutting the individual pieces will take longer than the assembly itself.
Open Design Space or whichever program you’re using and upload your SVG design. The Plus design that I am using comes with separate SVGs for each layer and includes separate layers for small squares, as you can see in the photo below. I elected not to use those squares, but the choice is up to you!
I would recommend that you leave the SVG the size it is so that you don’t end up with a tiny explosion box. If you choose to resize, you’ll want to add all the layers to your canvas and adjust the size for every piece, so they fit together.
The cardstock I’m using is fairly lightweight, so I’m using the Light Cardstock option and the default pressure. I used my standard grip mat, but you can also use the light grip mat depending on how sticky your mats are. My blade of choice is the fine point blade.
You’ll need to repeat steps 2 and 3 for each layer of the explosion box. The size of our SVG is small enough that you can use cardstock that is 8.5x11 inches or 12x12 inches. Make sure that you burnish or press your paper onto the mat well so that it doesn’t shift during cutting!
When removing the cut design from the cardstock, flip your mat over and peel the mat away from the paper. This helps to keep your paper from curling.
When I did a trial run on this DIY explosion gift box I initially used glue for the lid. I’m sure there are some great options for glue that works well with paper crafts, but I only had a glue stick on hand. I found out the hard way that is not the best choice. A switch to double-sided tape worked perfectly.
Fold each side of the lid approximately ½ inch down. You can see how far down you need to fold in order to “meet up” with the slit or tab is on each corner.
Bend each of the tabs inward and fold down. These will be folded inward as you assemble. See the photo below for how your lid should look after folding each side and tab.
Cut a small piece of double-sided tape and place them on the inside of each fold in the corner. Fold the tab in and attach it to the tape and press it so it stays in place. In the photo below, you can see that my finger is pointing to where the tape will be placed and where you’ll fold each tab.
Set your completed lid aside. Once fully assembled it should look like this.
The next thing you'll need to do in this step by step explosion box tutorial is to fold the base. Our first layer can look awkward at first, and you may be scratching your head trying to figure it out. No worries, I did the same! For this step, you’ll need to imagine there are lines on the base to have an idea of where to fold.
Fold each side, and crease the paper with your fingernail or a tool like your squeegee or a credit card to give you a more defined edge. Originally I attempted to fold the hearts through their center, but this step isn’t necessary as they will fold naturally when you squeeze the box together.
To help make it easier to picture in your mind these imaginary lines, check out the photo below from the base I used for my trial run. You should be able to see that you need to fold each side so that you end up with 5 “squares” and the 4 hearts in each corner.
When you pick up the base in your hand and gently squeeze from the sides, you should see how it will all fold together.
Stop for a moment and celebrate! You’ve completed the difficult parts, and the rest of your explosion box assembly is a piece of cake.
Grab the other 3 internal layers that you have already cut and fold each one in so that you end up with a square in the center.
Gather your layers, including the base and the 3 internal layers. To adhere the separate pieces together, you can use glue or double-sided tape. Add your adhesive of choice to the center of your base. You don’t need much since our material is so lightweight!
If using double sided tape, remove the backing so the sticky part is revealed. Pick up the next layer and center it inside the base and press it into place. Repeat these steps for each of your layers.
There are so many options for explosion box inside decoration ideas! Some fun choices include:
Here's a photo to show you the idea to use cash. This would be great for graduations, birthdays, or other celebratory events! I didn’t attach the cash, but rather folded it and just tucked it into the folds.
Stickers can be purchased or cut with your Cricut or Silhouette quite easily! I personally love stickers because they add a pop of color and interest to these explosion boxes. I used a few different sticker sets from the Plus products on Design Bundles and added them to the various sections in my explosion box. If you want to check out the stickers I used, here’s a list:
To put your lid on the box, simply squeeze the base pieces together in your hand gently and place the lid on top. Depending on how tightly you’ve folded and taped the lid, it may fit a little snug.
Sit back and enjoy your DIY explosion gift box! With just a few simple materials, you created something that anyone would love to receive as a gift or a sweet token for yourself. Hopefully, this step by step explosion box tutorial has inspired you to bust out your supply of cardstock and make some fun 3D paper crafts, and gave you some explosion box ideas!
As promised, I have a surprise for you crafters and makers! If you love this Plus Member SVG design and want to try it out yourself but don’t have a membership, you can sign up for a free month of Gold Membership today! If you make your own explosion box with this fun Plus Member design, be sure to share a picture of it in our Facebook Group, The Design Bundles Customer Community. We love to see what you create!
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