Anatomy of a First Birthday: The Favor Box

I'm coming back to proofread this, I kind of just threw it out there. I'll look over it again next week to make sure it actually makes sense, when his birthday is over and I have time. :)

The Story:
Since I'm not spending a ton on decorations or activities, I wanted to put an effort into the favors that the guests will take home. After much Googling for ideas and deliberation, I decided to gowith pirate stickers, some chocolate coins (for the parents, in about 50% of the cases), a little stuffed parrot, and a kid-sized eyepatch.

Alright. Sweet. Now...what do I use for a favor bag? I considered your standard clear plastic favor bags, but since the invitations and the favors are really the only things that will end up being pirate-themed, I wanted to go a little more...thematic. I considered making little treasure chests for each guest out of brown craft foam, but the foam is too thin for me to imagine successfully gluing it together. (Thinking back just now, I suppose I could have done interlocking pieces, with tabs and holes...but trying to figure it out gives me a headache right now lol.) I considered buying small wooden treasure chests from Hobby Lobby, but even a much-too-small chest was too pricey. Since I was going to buy so many lunch sacks for the invitations, I decided to just use a bag per child and write their names on it with Sharpie, using the Blackadder font as my model. But I needed a good presentation still...instead of a bunch of little chests, why not out all the favor bags in one BIG chest? One big chest made out of the (free) box Grandma used to ship Ezra's birthday present!

The How-To:

Materials Needed:

Box (try to get one of thin cardboard that is easily bent)

Brown paper box tape (not plastic)

Brown craft paint (and brush--preferably a broad one)

Scissors (and maybe a box cutter)

Yardstick

Pencil

For extra bling:

Black or yellow Duck Tape

Brown Sharpie

Jute/hemp

Hole puncher

Directions:

1. Measure and cut: Decide how big you want your chest to be. I wanted mine to be 18x20", keeping the height at the 8.5" the box already was. Open all the flaps on the box, pull off any tape (if you mar the cardboard, that's ok, it'll add to character later), and cut the box at one corner so that it lays flat. Since my box required modification to 2 sides, I went ahead and cut all the sides apart, measured 2 sides and marked them at 18" and the other 2 at 20". In the picture below, my two 18" shorter sides are on the left, the longer 20" sides are on the right.

2. Assemble and tape: Decide which flaps you want to use for the bottom and which for the top. You'll need to cut the two bottom flaps of the long sides of the chest so that when they're folded together, they're each half of the shorter sides. For example, I cut my two short sides to 18", and the box was originally 20x20". So I had to cut 1" off of each of the bottom flaps of the long sides (the 20" sides) so that the flaps would each measure 9", so that they would fold neatly and measure 18", the length of the short side. (I'll work on getting a diagram to illustrate.)

Tape the edges of all sides so you end up with a box with both ends open. To make it easier, you can lay the sides flat, side by side, so that you can tape all the edges and then stand it up when you tape the last edge. Tape the bottom flaps closed. Now you have a modified box with an open top. DO NOT CUT THE TOP FLAPS. (Note: I made my lid before taping the box together, as you can see in the pictures. I think it would have been easier to do it the way I'm describing, hence, why I'm describing it this way :) )

3. Craft the rounded top: Round both of the top flaps of the longer sides by rolling the cardboard. I had to hold the cardboard down and put pressure on it with one hand while pulling up with the other hand to break it down a bit.

Cut one flap off the box completely and tape it to the attached flap.

Now you have a box with a great rounded treasure chest top!

4. Trace and cut the side flaps: Use two or three pieces of tape to tape the front of the lid to the front side of the chest to hold it in place while you mark the sides of the lid. Turn your chest on its side and use your pencil to trace where the lid is on the side flaps.

Cut on your drawn line and tape the new curved side to the top of the lid. Then cut the flap where it is attached to the box. Do the same on the other side. (I taped my lid on the inside with lots of small pieces, because the curve makes one big piece hard to do.)

5. Paint: Use your brown craft paint to paint your box. Use a dry brush kind of technique for more texture. And then your basic chest is done!

These are to give your chest a little more character:

6. Metal work: Cut pieces of black Duck Tape and line all the edges of your chest. I just used one piece for each edge, folding it so that one half was on each side. I also used it on all the raw edges of my chest, except for the sides of the lid, because the sides of my lid were too short and the tape would have covered all the "wood." Put two pieces (mine are about 3") on the back fold for hinges. I also cut a keyhole out of tape and put it in the center of the front of the chest. You can also cut handle shapes for the sides.

7. Woodgrain: Google pictures of woodgrain and draw your woodgrain with your brown Sharpie. To avoid the stark "contour map" look, you can do a thin layer of paint over the Sharpie, or you can shade it with pencils, crayons, paint, whatever your creative instinct demands.

8. Lid support: As I worked with my chest, it started to open more than I wanted. So I punched holes in both sides of the lid and directly below those holes in the sides of the chest, about 3-4" from the back of the chest. I opened the chest as far as I wanted it to open, cut 2 lengths of jute, fed them through the holes, and tied a single knot in each end (on the outside of the chest). Now it won't open more than I want it to, and it will keep it's chest-like look even when it's open.

I think you need to look close to see the jute, but here's how the display has turned out, with the bags and parrots. Posts on how to make the parrots and what's inside the bags coming.

I'm very pleased with how it all turned out! I put enough work into it that I'm going to keep it as a toy chest for as long as it holds up...which I'm anticipating will be a good long while, considering all the Duck Tape I used, lol.

The Bottom Line:

$3.79 for Duck Tape--but I only used about $.75 of it, max.

Box--free

Jute--I used maybe 0.005 of a cent from my supplies