By Noreen Doll.
Recycle your Christmas cards into a colorful box that can store Christmas ornaments, hide gifts, or hold baked goodies.
Create an easy whip stitched Christmas card box quickly and easily. Kids can make it, too.
If you don’t have enough cards to make boxes, buy an inexpensive box of cards at the Dollar Store.
Supplies.
6 Christmas Cards
Yarn, Twine, or Narrow Ribbon
Yarn Needle
Scissors
Paper Punch
How to Make an Easy Whip Stitched Christmas Card Box.
!. Assemble the cards.
You need 4 cards of equal size for the top, bottom, front and back of the box.
You need 2 cards of equal size for the ends, but different in size from the other 4 cards.
2. Cut the end cards to fit with the other cards.
My 4 cards are 4 inches tall, so the end cards I used needed to be 4 inches square to fit the others.
3. Punch the holes.
I punch the corners first. Then I punch the center hole,
and then add holes evenly between the center hole and the corner holes.
Don’t punch around the tops of the cards – except the hinged card on the back.
The card for the top will only be punched across the top where it hinges to the back.
I don’t measure for the holes – just guesstimate where they will be.
For this box, on the narrow side of the card I punched one hole between the center hole and the corner hole.
On the longer side I punched 2 holes between the center hole and the corner hole.
4. Lay your cards out as you will be putting them on the box.
The bottom card is face up so that you can see the Christmas picture when you open the box.
5. Stitch the bottom of the front card to the box bottom.
Stitch the bottom of the back card to the box bottom.
6. Attach an end card, starting at one top corner and stitching in a U shape down the side, across the bottom, and up the other side.
Make an extra stitch in each corner.
Attach the other end card.
7. Attach the top of the top card to the top of the back card.
Your finished box is ready to be filled.
Tips.
These boxes look really pretty stitched with narrow ribbon.
An added nice finish could be to stitch around the top of the box and around the lid.
If you want to measure where you put the holes, measure and punch 1 side of a card and then use it as a pattern for all the other sides.
If you want to make a really sturdy box – to be used year after year – cut a piece of file folder (or other card stock) the same size as the cards and glue it between the front and back of each card.
Punch the cards after the glue dries. They will be harder to punch, but the box will be very sturdy.
You can use tall cards to make a taller, narrower box. Then the 2 smaller end cards would be on the top and bottom of the box instead of the sides.
Here are more ideas for how to Turn Old Christmas Cards into New Treasures.
Noreen Doll.
Vickie Horsfall says
This is such a creative and clever idea on re-purposing Christmas cards. I would love to share this link on my pages, with your permisssion of course. Thank you!
Conniecrafter says
very cute idea to recycle those cards!
Noreen says
Thank you! I appreciate the link and I hope lots of people will see this idea and use it to re-purpose their cards.
Elaine says
Very cute Idea…I love the recycling aspect! Hey I would love it if you shared your stuff on my new Link Party that starts tomorrow…Thursday!
Heather says
What a great idea! I think this is something my kids would love to do as well. Something to keep their little treasures in 🙂
Lou Lou Girls says
Oh my! What a cute idea. Pinned and tweeted. Thank you so much for being a part of our party. We really appreciate you! I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. Happy Saturday! Lou Lou Girls
Maureen Perry says
Thanks for sharing this: It sounds like a great way to upcycle! Do I understand correctly that you use both the front and back of each card (You say “between the cards,” when you describe how to make ones that last.)? How does that work for the top? How do the two parts of the top card stay together?
Also, do you cut the thread and knot it between the two parts of step 5, between steps 5 and 6, and so on? That may seem like a silly question, but I’d rather ask. Thanks!!!
Noreen says
Yes, I use the whole card, just closing it before I punch it. Using just the front or back of a card would make a very thin side and would bend easily. When I say between the cards, I mean between the front and back of each card – and I glue a piece of cardboard cut from an old file folder. The glue makes the card really sturdy. You can also just glue the front of the card to the back of the card (on the inside) and it would make it sturdier, too.
As for stitching, I use the longest length of yarn I can so that I don’t have lots of ends to tuck in. So, no, I don’t cut and knot the thread any more than I have to.