Silhouette Cameo: Free Gift Box Cut File

I try to incorporate recycled materials into my crafts whenever I can, so my friends and neighbors are never surprised when I call them up and ask if they have any empty food boxes (or toilet paper tubes, plastic bags, water bottles, etc...) I could use for a project.

I especially enjoy working with cereal boxes because of the awesome graphic design elements in the printing. It kind of brings out the kid in me! So if you're looking for a one of a kind way to package up a special gift, look no farther.

This lidded box is 3 inches square and an inch high and works well for gifting all sorts of small trinkets, jewelry and maybe even gift cards.

Materials

• empty chipboard boxes
• paper trimmer
• Elmer's glue
• paperclips (optional)
• Silhouette Cameo
• free gift box cut file

Directions

Of course, to get started, you'll need some boxes. The only requirement is they need to be at least 6 inches wide. (Darn it, the Panko box ended up being to small.)

Next, download my free simple-recycled-box cut file and open it with Silhouette Studio. It should look something like this.

	Before cutting with your Cameo, you'll need to prepare the chipboard pieces. Use a paper trimmer to cut two 6 inch squares.
	Position the squares on the left side of the mat. The top square will be the box lid and the bottom square will be the box bottom. Pro Tip: You need to make sure you are using a new-ish mat that is extra sticky or the chipboard will slip when the cutting begins.

Load the mat into your machine and select your cut settings. Luckily there is an automatic setting for chipboard. I was able to use the presets when I cut the Lipton tea box, but I adjusted the blade depth up to 7 for the cereal and cookie boxes.



Send to the Silhouette and let it do all the work.

	You should get two lovely pieces like this.
	Bend the dotted score lines. Apply a little bit of glue to each of the tabs.
	Press the glued tabs to the inside of the box sides. It's not very exciting to wait for the glue to dry, so you can use paperclips to hold your box in place until everything is dry.
	Repeat the process for the lid.

For my tea box, I positioned the graphic part of the cardboard on the outside of both the lid and the box, but it can also be fun to put the graphics on the inside for a little surprise or mix it up and put the lid graphics on the outside and box graphics on the inside.



Happy recycling and gift giving!