A special birthday card in a box!

Hello and welcome to today’s blog post, which is a special birthday card in a box featuring some of my favorite bundles that are sadly retiring…TODAY! Can you believe today is the last day for the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog?? I made this special birthday card in a box for our oldest son (aka man cub #1) as today is his 30th birthday!! Really, where does the time go?? And how is it possible that he is turning 30, when I’m only 35?? Never mind what the government says my age is, lol!! Since red is his color, I used Real Red, Night of Navy, Granny Apple Green, and Silver for the color combination with the So Much Happy Bundle, Pattern Play Bundle, and Itty Bitty Birthdays for this super fun birthday card in box!

The box base is Real Red cardstock, cut at 5 ½” x 8 ½”. Along the 5 ½” side, you will score in half at 2 ¾”, and along the 8 ½” side, you will score at 2” , 4”, 6”, and 8”. I cut the ½” flap as shown:

For the insert, cut a piece of Real Red cardstock at 2 ¾” x 8” and score at ½”, 2 ½”, 3”, 5”, 5 ½”, and 7 ½”. You will fold into a “z”, burnishing the score lines:

For the outside of the box, I cut six pieces of Night of Navy cardstock at 1 7/8” x 2 5/8” and six pieces of this design from the Pattern Play 6” x 6” DSP at 1 ¾”x 2 ½”, which these will be layered on the Night of Navy cardstock pieces:

For the three inside flaps, I cut three pieces of Night of Navy cardstock at 1 7/8” x 2 and three pieces of Basic White cardstock at 1 ¾” x 2 ½”. I created my own DSP by using two of the small background stamps from Pattern Play in Real Red, Night of Navy, and Granny Apply Green inks, which will be layered on the Night of Navy cardstock pieces:

For the box elements, you will need:

1. From Granny Apple Green cardstock, use the balloon ribbon die to die-cut two pieces, the numbers 3 and 0 from Playful Alphabet Dies, and use the multi-star stamp from So Much Happy to heat emboss with Clear Embossing Powder and use the smallest Layering Squares Die to die-cut out.

2. From Night of Navy cardstock, use the balloon ribbon die to die-cut two pieces, the numbers 3 and 0 from Playful Alphabet Dies, and use the multi-star stamp from So Much Happy to heat emboss with Clear Embossing Powder and use the smallest Layering Squares Die to die-cut out.

3. From Real Red cardstock, use the balloon ribbon die to die-cut one piece, the numbers 3 and 0 from Playful Alphabet Dies, and use the multi-star stamp from So Much Happy to heat emboss with Clear Embossing Powder and use the smallest Layering Squares Die to die-cut out.

4. On Basic White cardstock, you will stamp all four balloons and the star once each in Real Red, Night of Navy, and Granny Apple inks, and then use the coordinating dies to die-cut out.

5. I cut a strip of the Silver Foil Sheet and placed a piece of adhesive on the back to die-cut out two of the banners (cutting them each into four pieces), three of the hashtags, six of the ribbons (one is on the above Real Red cardstock to show that these are used to make the die-cut squares into presents), two of the stars, and two of the triple stars dies.

6. For the inside back flap (the one you do not fold), cut a piece of Basic White cardstock at 1 7/8” x 2 5/8”, the sentiments from Itty Bitty Birthday are stamped in Real Red, Night of Navy, and Granny Apple Green inks, and the background stamp from Pattern Play is stamped in Smoky Slate ink.

7. For the back of the box sentiment piece, cut a piece of Basic White cardstock at 1 7/8” x 5 3/8” and stamp the sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthday in Real Red ink.

8. Cut eight pieces of Window Sheet at ¼” x 2 ¼”.

To assemble the box base, I used my trimmer to cut three of the scored lines (short) to the middle score line (long), folded the cardstock in half (4 ¼” x 5 ½”), and used liquid glue to adhere the ½” flap to what will be the back piece. I then folded and burnished three flaps, leaving the fourth back piece:

For the six outside squares, I used liquid glue to adhere the DSP to the cardstock and used the die-cuts on each square as shown:

These completed squares are adhered with liquid glue to the outside of the box and the back cardstock sentiment piece to the side that was not folded:

For the three inside squares, I used liquid glue to adhere the stamped cardstock to the Night of Navy cardstock pieces and added the die-cuts as shown:

Below is what die-cuts will be left, I used glue dots to adhere the balloons, ribbons, and stars to the window sheet strips:

I used liquid glue on the outside folds of the insert (the side facing the cardstock) and once it was in evenly, I wiped off any excess glue and folded the box over (or closed) to make sure that the insert worked properly. Using the three middle strips of the insert, I first used liquid glue to adhere the embossed presents to the front (green and blue to the front of the strip and red behind), glue dots to adhere the small balloons and stars to the middle (keeping them lower for the back balloons), and the large balloons to the back. I then used liquid glue to adhere the three flap squares as shown:

Here is what the box looks like folded and closed, which will fit perfectly into a medium envelope:

This was such a fun card to make that I’m sure my son will enjoy!! While I’m sad to see these stamp sets and dies retire, I am happy to see that the Playful Alphabet Dies carryover into the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog! Having a great set of alphabet and numbers dies is a must for me!

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I hope today’s project inspires you to get creative! Please contact me if you have any questions about the products used on this or any other project. I hope you enjoyed today’s blog and thanks for stopping by!

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