Make a Christmas Gift Box

Thinking about a family member or friend? Want to give them a really nice gift this Christmas? Well, first impressions always count, and the first we see when we see a present is a box, right? Get ready for the ultimate How-To article on how to make a gift box to put the present in!

[Edit]Steps

1. What does the person like? Does the person you are giving a gift like video games? Makeup? Shopping sprees? Crafts like sewing? This step is do determine the personality of your recipient. This will make sure you are not in the dark when choosing the gifts and the decoration on the box.
2. Buy materials. When you thought through, go and buy the materials to make the box. The items you need are listed here in this article, further down the page under “Things You’ll Need”.
   
3. Go out and get the store bought gifts. Stores like Target, Walmart, PBteen, and others may have good teen décor, although PBteen is expensive. GameStop is the ideal place is your recipient is an avid or novice gamer alike, and used games are ideal if you plan on a tighter budget. There are many deals online. Use Google Products or a similar sales search engine for online sales, once you have rough ideas of what to get.
   
4. Music for the Music Lover. If your recipient is an audiophile (an individual who listens to loads of music), get them an iTunes Gift Card (only applies to iTunes users) or a different gift card for their preferred music store. A new iPod/Zune/other MP3/MP4 player upwards of 40-50GB would be good for moderate audiophiles, or up to an iPod classic 160GB for the serious audiophile who is on the go.
   
5. The Christmas Card. If you chose not to buy the store bought card of your choice, make your homemade card. Insert a gift card (if you bought one) and/or some cash. Do it well.
   
6. Gather materials to make the box. Gather the gifts, card, wrapping paper, box, scissors, tape, tissue paper, and anything else you want to use (Don’t forget the Christmas To/From Label!)
   
7. Securing the box. The task is now present. Take the box, and use shipping tape to close the bottom (this applies to shipping boxes or any box that is non-taped on the bottom).
   
8. Inserting the gift. Take your store bought gifts and wrap them in at least 3-8 sheets of tissue paper over each other. Depending on the weight and physical size, you may need to adjust this amount. The heavier the more paper, the less, the less paper, but don’t reduce the paper below 2 sheets! This is for obvious reasons as the gift needs to be wrapped well to be cushioned. Tissue paper is very thin.
   
9. Inserting the card. For the cards, find a regular security mailing envelope (the kind with the special see-out no see-in pattern) and fold the card to fit in it. Write the recipient’s name on the front of the envelope exterior.
   
   • Stick the card in the box, but wrap that too, as if they try to shake the box, a heavy present could easily rip open the card and spoil the surprise.
10. Seal the box with shipping tape. Get your wrapping paper ready.
    
11. There are many methods on How to Wrap Presents. Find your favorite method, or use one you already know you like. Use a Christmas Wrapping Paper! This is not a birthday, Easter, or Halloween. If you don’t have any, look in your favorite special occasion store, like Hallmark for an example. Many awesome styles of Christmas wrapping paper are out there.
    
12. Find ribbon and a stick and a bow. Find a nice, beautiful, bow with strong, sticky adhesive. Take a strand of ribbon long enough to make it from the middle of the bottom, over the top, and back to the middle of the bottom where taping is needed. Then repeat with the opposing direction (first up-down, then L to R). Stick on the bow at the intersection. If desired, take a strand of ribbon, run it across on scissor blade, and then, once curled, pop a gift tag (the kind you can put on string/ribbon) into the strand of ribbon, and tape using the same method above. Only do it once, alongside the up-down strand. make the ribbon still have the curl effect, and do the taping at the bottom.
    
13. If you chose to do the ribbon attachment method, skip this step. Read on if you have chosen the easy adhesive sticker tag (to/from). Write the recipients name next to or under “To”, depending on the tag. Next, write your name under “From” or to the right of it, depending on the tag again.
    

[Edit]Tips

• Make sure to find a way to add extra anti-tamper closures to the container. You may never know if someone opened it and closed it again, to be sneaky, and find out what they received.
• Try including some non-perishable mini-marshmallows, and dried hot cocoa mix (powder). This would be nice as the recipient could make hot chocolate on a cold day in late December or as late as March.
• Gift Cards and slightly more high-end models will be nice gifts, as anything nice will be.

[Edit]Warnings

• Based on the materials required, please do not let children under 5 do this. This project requires a responsible adult or teen to do the shopping, and handle sharp scissors if the child (if any) is NOT over the age of 7.

[Edit]Things You’ll Need

• Large Box (11″x8.5″x5.5″ ideally)
• Wrapping Paper (A 3/4 full roll will always do)
• Scissors (give small children rounded tips to prevent accidents)
• Tissue Paper (The kind you stuff gift bags with)
• Adhesive Gift Label (Christmas Themed To-and-From-Tag)
• Scotch Tape (A roll with at least 18″ to be safe)
• Homemade Gifts
• Homemade Card (or store bought)
• Store Bought Gifts
• Ribbon Roll
• Stick-on (adhesive) bow

[Edit]Related wikiHows

• Wrap Your Hands for Boxing