Hello, Maja Fans!

Welcome to the blog today, Maja here to share some sweet inspiration and a tutorial 🙂

In Poland, on 21st and 22nd of January we celebrate Grandmother’s and Grandfather’s Days. This is one of the most important family occassions to celebrate – who has greater love and patience towards kids than grandparents? And so for this occassions I created little chocolate boxes that are actually a 2-in1 thing, with the space to write in some wishes:

I used our latest release, the Nyhavn limited edition collection and some cut-outs from the Vintage Autumn Basics collection to decorate the boxes. Here’s the box for Grandma:

I used chipboard key and keyholder, die-cut doily, flowers, cheesecloth, pearl brad and washi tapes to make it look nicely vintage:

And here’s the inside: the space to the left is for the wishes, and to the right with a little pocket to put a chocolate bar into:

And here’s the one for Grandpa:

Whoa, I managed without a single flower! 😀 Instead, I used chipboard gears, die-cut vintage vehicle, cut-out balloons, washi tapes and a metal retro brad to make it look vintage and masculine:

And the inside:

Would you like to make similar ones? It’s very, very simple! 🙂 Begin with measuring the chocolate bar you wish to give and estimate the measurements for your base, adding a quarter of an inch to the width and length of the front and back side and a quarter for the “spine”. My measurements for the standard 100g chocolate bar are 8×8 inches and scored at 3 3/4″ and 4 1/4″:

When you fold the scores, you get something that looks like book covers:

Now cut some papers of your choice for the outer and inner decorations. With Maja papers you’d need about four layers of paper on each “wing” to make it sturdy enough to hold the chocolate bar. And so I cut two pieces for each outer cover and one for each inside cover – together with the base it makes four layers for the wing. I also cut two slim strips for the spine. The measurements are so that, when layered, a 1/8″ frame is visible. The smallest piece of paper is the space for the wishes:

Now you need to make the pocket for the chocolate bar – I made a white template for you to see better. Make sure the width of the front of the pocket is 1/8″ less than the width of the side, otherwise you won’t be able to close the box. Mine measurements are: 7 5/8″ wide and 4 1/2″ high, scored at 1 1/2″, 2″, 5 5/8″ and 6 1/8″ on the width and 3 1/8″, 3 5/8″ on the height. Then cut out the areas that are crossed out in the photo:

After that you should have such piece:

Fold the scores and glue them on the back, forming a dimensional pocket. Make sure the bottom piece goes outside so that it doesn’t hinder sliding in the chocolate bar:

Now you can start assembling your box: open the base flat and glue the piece of ribbon across the middle – this will stabilise the “construction:

Decorate the inside covers – you should make it flat so that the boxes may close easily. If you want to mae some dimensional embellishment, add the dimension to the width of the spine while preparing the base!

Decorate the outer covers – first layer and decorate the panels and then attach them to the base: I recommend double-sided tape for strong permanent fixture. For the outside, you can be as dimensional as you wish 🙂

Finally attach the chocolate pocket:

The order of decorating the sides enables you to press the layers firmly – if you e.g. attach the dimensional outers first, you won’t be able to press the insides firmly to make sure they stick 🙂

Easy peasy, isn’t it?

Supplies:

Maja Design papers: Nyhavn: Historical Atmosphere bs, Romantic Lunch, Romantic Lunch bs, Strolling along the canal, Strolling along the canal bs, Veteran ships bs, King’s square, Sitting at the dock, Sitting at the dock bs. Vintage Autumn Basics: No. XIV, No. XVI, Heritage. Other: dies: Memory Box, Marianne Design; chipboard: Scrapiniec, Wycinanka; stamps: Lemonade; washi tapes: Dekoracyjna Taśma; flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts; brads: Craftmania.

I hope you like my chocolate boxes and the tutorial 🙂 See you soon!