Tutorial: Top Note Die Box

I love blogging. I’ve kept an online diary in various forms for at least ten years now. Blogging is a part of my everyday life that I doubt I will ever give up. Unfortunately, when life gets busy, blogging is also the first activity to fall by the wayside. It takes a chunk of time to craft a project, photograph it, edit pictures, and then write up a post–anywhere from one to three hours. I love sharing info. I just wish I had more hours in the day to blog more consistently.

That long paragraph is my excuse for blogging less regularly than I usually do.I hope you’ll forgive me!

Today’s post is a belated one for Justine, who requested a tutorial for the Top Note die box that I made a few weeks ago. Sorry for the delay! I hope you (and everyone else) find this useful.

Start out with a 9″x6″ sheet of paper. Score one inch in on each side. Then, along the 9″ side, score at 4″ and 5″. Cut the folds 1″ to the score line along the middle score line and on one side.

Next, cut away the two scored sides of the opposite box end. This portion will be the box lid.

Fold the box into shape, tuck the little tabs that you sniped along the inside, and adhere with sticky strip. For my box, I also rounded the edges of the box lid to finish it off.

You can use whatever you like to keep the box closed. Here, I used a magnet that I purchased online. You can use a bit of Velcro too, which is easy to find in craft stores.

Now, cut four Top Note die shapes using the Sizzix. Two of the shapes should be with normal card stock because it’s thicker and two should be cut with patterned paper, if you want to decorate the outside of your box. The two layers will give the cover a little more strength. Then, adhere these covers to the top and bottom of the box that you made.

You can stop here if you like, but if you want to create dividers for the box, those can be easily made. To divide the box in half, cut a 3″x6″ sheet of paper. Score and fold at 2″, 3″ ,and 4″. Insert into your box.

Here’s the box divided into two sections. You can adhere sticky strip to the divider to keep the center from puckering up.

Now, for the other dividers. Cut two sheets of 2″x5″ paper and score at 1.5″, 2.5″, and 3.5″. Fold and insert into your box.

Voila! Finished box.