Valentine Card Box

My daughter's 3rd grade class got an assignment to make Valentine card boxes to bring to collect their cards and goodies in this year. Being that she's completely dog crazy, I came up with this idea for a dog box for her and I to make together. She needed to have it in by today, so of course, we waited until last night to make it. I'm guessing that we aren't the only ones out there who've waited until the last minute and need a Valentine box, so I figured I'd do a tutorial in case anyone needed a little help out there. Unfortunately, I didn't think about doing the tutorial until after we'd completed the box, so I did some drawings to show the steps instead. Yes, I did the drawings, not my 8 year old. Next time I should probably consider getting out a ruler...

What you'll need

A box that has good depth to it (so it won't tip over when loaded w/cards)
paint and paint brush
markers
tape
glue
colored construction paper
card stock
box cutter or exacto knife
scissors
sticker

Close up the top of your box and paint it the color you'd like your dog (or other animal that your child picks). Once the paint is dry, tape down the sides of the lid so they don't stand away from the box.

Draw the dog's face on the card stock. You'll want to make it about ½" to 1" wider than your box. Color in the face of the dog with markers or paint. We outlined the dog's head with black marker to make sure it showed up nicely.

Draw a line across the front of the box that's a couple of inches above where the bottom of the dog's head will be. This will be where you'll need to make a cut. Then on the sides of your box, measure down a couple of inches on the back edge and make a line going from that measurement down to where it will meet up with the line on the front. You should have a diagonal line on each side like I've drawn in the picture above. Then very carefully cut along those lines with the box cutter or exacto knife, leaving the back of the box still connected. Fold back the part you've cut and that will become the lid of the box.

Now to make the envelope that the dog is holding in its mouth. Cut out a rectangular piece of construction paper that's width is suitable size to fit your dog's face. Make a three-way fold as I've shown in the above picture and tape the sides of the bottom two folds to create the pocket of the envelope. Cut the top piece in a triangular shape so that when it's folded down again, it will look like the back of an envelope. We took markers and outlined the edge of the pointed part so the shape will be seen more clearly. Then use a Valentine's sticker to close the "envelope."

With the dog's head and the envelope face down on a table, tape the envelope in place so it will look like the dog is carrying it in its mouth.

Take another piece of construction paper that will match your chosen dog and fold it in half so it's tall and skinny. Now cut out both halves at the same time in the shape of dog's ears. Keeping the two cut pieces together, fold over the tops of the ears about 1½" down.

Tape the folded part of the ear on the side of the box up at the top. Taping it like this should let the ears stand out from the box a bit.

Glue the dog's face onto the front of the box on the lid you've created. You'll want to make sure the dog's face goes a bit higher than the top of the box while still hanging down a bit lower than where you've made the cut for the box lid. If you use white glue for this step, I'd recommend spreading out the glue on the box with your finger to flatten it down. Even card stock will ripple if you don't follow this step. Don't ask me how I know. Yeah.

This box really was pretty easy to make, and my daughter had a really fun time making it with me. If you and your kiddo make one, I'd love to see pictures of it! Enjoy!