Spring Pillow Box Tote TUTORIAL

Hi there!  This is Patti and today I have a Spring Pillow Box Tote Tutorial to share with you!

I'm sure many of you are familiar with making a pillow box container from pattern paper or cardstock.  They are great as treat containers and packaging for small gifts.  For my project I decided to create mine from Bo Bunny's very beautiful Gabrielle collection of papers and embellishments and give them a twist by adding the Gabrielle Wrap for a handle.  I thought with Easter and Mother's Day just around the corner, they would make an ideal gift wrap for sweets or perhaps a gift card for Mom.


















I decided to make two - one vertical with a small transparent window and the other positioned horizontally that was a bit simpler in its embellishment.

Start by creating your basic pillow box.  You may already have your own favorite template or you can easily do a quick search on-line for one.  Mine measures about 3" wide by 5" long.  You can either print your template directly on your trimmed down to 8.5" x 11" pattern paper or you can trace it onto the paper yourself.

For the two that I'm showing you today, I traced mine onto Cameo and Promenade pattern papers.  I used a circle punch to make cutting out the half circle easier.  I then inked all my folded edges and set the unfolded boxes aside.

I started working on the vertical tote first by stamping the filigree corners from the Gabrielle stamp set in the shape of a frame.  I liked the way the stamps were already packaged and thought they would make an interesting frame.  Once the frame was stamped, I cut a center square rounding the corners in the same way as the stamp.  This will be the window into the box.

Next, I used my handy Bo Bunny Craft Knife to cut out the flourish design of the frame.
















I used the cut out frame to position and trace the opening that I needed to make on the box.  I pre-folded my box just to be sure it was in the correct place.  At this time, I also stamped one of the butterfly images onto a piece of transparency (or clear acetate) with Staz-On Ink (Timber Brown). 















To adhere the transparency inside the box, I lined the opening inside the box with adhesive and positioned the stamped acetate to create the window.  I then adhered the stamped frame outside the box and embellished it with Cardstock Stickers and Jewels.















To attach the Wrap handle to the box, I used a 1/4" hole punch at the top corners of the box.  Fold the box flat first and then punch just 1/2 the circle since the lace is light and thin.


















I cut a 10" piece of lace Wrap, added adhesive to the ends and then pressed them inside the box, just below the holes that I punched.  To assemble the box, I tucked the Wrap into the punched openings, folded my box closed and applied adhesive to the side tab.  When folding the bottom of the box, add a bit of extra adhesive to the bottom end tabs for extra support.


















I filled a small plastic bag with candy (Cadbury Mini Eggs...who can rest those, right?), tucked it into the box and folded closed the top tabs - no need for extra adhesive here.  Then I applied a line of adhesive to the back of a piece of fringed Wrap and adhered it to the top edge of the tote.


















I added one final embellishment by creating a charm made from pieces of Chipboard in the Gabrielle Card Kit and from the 12" Chipboard set along with a Butterfly Button Charm.  I added a few beads and connected them all together with jump rings that I attached to the Lace Wrap handle.


















Here's another version of the same Pillow Box Tote idea that's a bit quicker to assemble.















With this tote, I skipped the window and stamped frame and opted instead to use a sticker as my center accent.  I also punched a scalloped border from pattern paper to line the top edge of the box and used a couple of the pretty Butterfly Paper punch outs from the Card Kit.  The center sticker is attached with a piece of adhesive foam to give it some dimension and I adhered stickers at the top corners of the tote as well.  I also cut the lace handle a bit longer to 12" long.

That's it!  Pretty easy and I love all the possibilities there are for a project like this. You can use any collection or theme and the tote can be dressed up even more or you can keep it as simple as you like.  It can be added to an Easter basket, used for party favors, made more masculine for Father's Day gifts (make the vertical box look like a shirt with a tie!) or whatever you like.  


Bo Bunny Supplies:
Gabrielle Pattern Paper - Promenade, Stripe, Flight, Elegance and Cameo
Gabrielle Wraps
Gabrielle Jewels
Gabrielle True Friend Cardstock Stickers
Gabrielle Grow Love Cardstock Stickers
Gabrielle 12" Chipboard
Gabrielle Card Kit
Gabrielle Buttons
Gabrielle Clear Stamps

Other: Transparency or Clear Acetate; Timber Brown Staz-On Ink; Beads; Jump Rings


Thanks for letting me share this project with you.  I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial and will be inspired to create your own.  :)