advent calendar: lego-inspired stackable treat boxes

Did I ever say how much I lovvvvve designing and making boxes?  I hope that it shows in the harvest candy corn and itsy bitsy spider treat boxes that I’ve done previously.  For my advent calendar, I summoned my inner child (as I do for most things) and was subjected to the most amusing time I’ve ever had making treat boxes (thus far, anyway). I can’t wait to start counting down to Christmas!

I admit, I sat on this idea for two weeks before lifting a finger in attempts at creating it.   All I had was a very vague, incalculable vision: Lego + treat boxes = nifty advent calendar.   But how?  I knew if I were to make Lego-like boxes, they’d have to be pretty darn functional — it would be an affront to Lego if these imitative boxes couldn’t work as carefully as their real Lego counterparts.  And it would also be a dirty waste to make them without any aim or purpose.  It became imperative to plan them in such a way that, by Christmas day, there would be a built project to appreciate (not that anyone wouldn’t appreciate a treat box daily for the duration of nearly one month, but I know it would be more rewarding if the boxes were constructed to create something joyful and in the spirit of Christmas.

So, for the first time, I was overwhelmed with the thought of boxes.  Many boxes.  To be exact, twenty-five boxes.  Boxes that have little nibs that fit through little nib-size holes with unforgiving mathematic precision.  I sketched it out, scratched it over, and sketched it out again.  It turns out twenty-five of these cute little things can make for a pretty festive Christmas tree wall, with the last and only yellow piece appropriately placed as the star on Christmas day.  So my adventure proceeded.

To recreate this harder-than-it-looks project (don’t say I didn’t warn you!), you will need: card stock in red, green, white, and yellow, foam sheets in red, green, white, and yellow, 1/4″ hole punch, white glue, double-sided tape, and of course templates for the boxes which I am happy to provide here.  Print the boxes in the following quantities: three 3″ red, three 2″ red, three 1″ red, four 3″ green, two 2″ green, three 1″ green, two 3″ white, two 2″ white, two 1″ white, and one 1″ yellow.

1. Using a 1/4″ hole punch, punch the foam sheets to make pieces in the following quantities: 216 red, 228 green, 144 white, and 12 yellow.  That sums up to an even 600 punches.  Yipee!

2. Glue together 3 punched foam circles of the same color to form a stack.  These will be the nibs.  In the end you will have stacks in the following quantities: 72 red, 76 green, 48 white, and 4 yellow.  Set aside.

3. Using a 1/4″ hole punch, accurately punch the holes on the bottom of the boxes.

4. Slowly insert a pencil through each hole to expand it.  This will allow the nibs to fit through with ease.  There’s a total of 200 holes in this project, believe it or not!

5. Adhere double-sided tape on the tab of each box.

6. Fold each box.  There are only 25, so it doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?

7. Dip the nibs in glue one by one and accurately place in the faintly outlined circles on the top of each box, in corresponding color.  200 nibs to go and you’re done!

You have some long eleven days to complete this project by December 1st!  Happy box-making!