Wooden Valentine Puzzle Cubes in a Box

One of the monthly lotteries I am in has the theme (chosen by me) of LOVE. What can I say?? I simply ADORE Valentine's Day!! So, since I picked the theme I figured I should make something cool. I have always wanted to make a Puzzle Cube set. I had these little wooden cubes so off I went on my adventure.

For this project you will need:

wooden cubes (I used nine 1" cubes)
1 box to fit your cubes (I used a repurposed coaster box)
printed paper for your puzzles images (I chose to do 4 of the 6 sides)

Basic supplies:

Paint/Brush
Gel Medium
Black Sharpie Marker
Double sided adhesive
Exacto knife
Paper cutter
Ribbon/Lace to tie up your package
Stamps
Versamark ink pad
Rubberband


I painted my cubes metallic black. Cut your puzzle images to size (to fit one entire side of the puzzle). Hold the blocks together with a rubber band. Glue down one puzzle image with gel medium. When dry, cut the image apart on the blocks' lines. Cover with a top coat of gel medium - let dry.

Turn the blocks to another blank side, secure with the rubber band and repeat the steps for each of the 3 remaining sides. When completely dry and trimmed, hit the edges with a black sharpie marker.

I covered the bottom of the box with black paper. I stamped the edges and the bottom with a Versamark Ink Pad and a handful of Valentine Stamps.

I left the lid uncovered as I liked the color and border. I added a framed piece of the puzzle's images to the top. I tied it up with some ribbon and a piece of lace!!

Pizza Style Gift Box

I needed to make a special size gift box, well 2 actually for Mother's Day. I wanted it to be styled after a Pizza Box. Here is what I ended up with. Remember to click the pics to see them larger.

I made a simple PDF to share as well.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15040283/Pizza-Box-Template

Basically you can make your box any size you wish if you follow my simple tutorial!! The box can be square or rectangular. The height of the box is determined by you.

For my box, I began with a sheet of ART paper, 12 x 18 inches. I wanted my box to be 1 1/2 inches high. Once you have your height measurement you simply score fold lines that measurement along each side and on each side of the center. These lines are in RED in the diagram. Follow the attached diagrams for you cutting lines, shown in BLUE. Fold all scored lines and glue the bottom four corners together to form the box. I used terrifically tacky tape.

For strength I added a chipboard insert and then covered that with an additional insert that matched the box paper. I chose to round the corners of the lid to ease the folding process. It was so great to have the perfect sized box for my gifts.

To decorate the tops I used 2 sizzix dies in my cuttlebug and cut some leaves and flowers. I ran them through my xyron and arranged them on top. I am very pleased with my "I didn't have to go buy any wrappings" gifts.

:) Enjoy