Magic and wands are the latest craze here at my house, and every wand needs a custom wand box, be it for a gift or to store the wand when it is not in use. I have broken this tutorial into two sections, one where we design a custom wand box and one where we assemble the custom wand box. So, let’s get started with the design of a custom wand box.
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Supplies needed to make a custom wand box
This craft does not require many supplies but does need a few things.
- Cardstock – I like to use Recollections Paper, but I also find that 12”x12” card stock from the local dollar store works well.
- Glue – I use Barely Art Precision Craft Glue. It dries quickly and does not leave creases on the paper when dried.
- Clear plastic for the display window – I used a large zip-lock freezer bag, but you could use clear acetate sheets if you have that instead.
- A wand – this is not required for creating the box, per se, but you will need one to put into the box and to measure when making the box. I printed a wand with my 3D printer. I got the free file from here. If you don’t have a 3d printer, that is ok, too. You can always use a stick from a tree.
Important details needed before you start Designing your Wand Box
Before you start designing your box, there are a few things you need to have ready, or at least have thought about:
- How long is your wand going to be? The box needs to be long enough to hold the wand. Also, you need to make sure that you have paper available in the correct size to accommodate the wand. In my case, the wand is 11 inches long, so I will be using 12″ x 12″ card stock, but if it were longer, you could use 12″ x 24″ cardstock if you have some, or you can have the design overlap to allow for 2-pieces of 12″ x 12″ card stock.
- Do you want the wand to be visible inside the box? Or have the top of the box solid with no window? In my case, we are including a peek-a-boo window to display the wand, but this is not required.
- Do you want the box to have a small or full-body lid? A full-body lid will allow the wand box to be sealed securely, but a small tab lid will allow for quick access to the wand. For this tutorial, I am making the box lid the full body/ length of the box, but that can simply be modified to a smaller size if you want a smaller lid lip.
How to Design a Custom Wand Box
The steps below outline how to design the custom wand box in Cricut Design Space. Similar steps can be used to create the design by hand or with other design software.
Designing a box is straightforward. All you really need is the square, triangle, semi-circle-tab, a circle and score line.
Design A Wand Box – Outer Box
The Outer Box, or the part of the box that closes on top of the wand, will need to be slightly larger than the inner box. So, for the sake of keeping things simple, the outer box will be 11.5″ long by 2.5″ wide. As I am limited to 11.5″ of cut space with Cricut, the base of the box will not have tabs that will be added onto the side walls of the box.
I want the walls of the box to look nice on both the inside and outside. For this, I am creating another rectangle that is 11.5″ long and 4″ wide. Placing a score line in the middle, at the 2″ spot, and attaching it to the rectangle. This allows for an easy fold after cutting. This will be our 2″-high box length wall.
Next, make an 11.5″ x 0.5″ rectangle to the side, for the fold. Using a simple triangle, I aligned it to the top and bottom to slice that bit of the rectangle off. This will provide clearance on the tabs for the fold and glue.
Welding the tab to the 11.5″x 4″ rectangle and adding another score line at the location of the weld and attaching, you now have one side ready.
Simply copy this whole side, and flip it vertically so that you now have 2 sides.
Following the same steps as above for the width sides, making a 2.5″ x 4″ rectangle and a 2.5″x 0.5″ tab rectangle, you will have the two remaining width sides. You will need to add 2 more tabs on the sides of the width panels so that the walls can all be attached.
Outer Box – Peek-A-Boo Window
Finally, I added a peek-a-boo window on the front of the box to make the inside of the box visible. Simply create another rectangle – 10″x1.5″ wide, center it on the box and slice through the base of the outer box. And delete the 2 sliced pieces.
Now the outer box is designed.
Design A Wand Box – Inner Box
Now that we have the outer box completed making the inner box is very simple. All that needs to be done is to select all 5 of the outer box pieces and duplicate them.
You will need to make sure that you remove the lock on the length and width so that Design Space will allow you to increase the dimensions the way you want.
We want the outer box to be 1/8th inch shorter and 1/8th inch narrower than the outer box so that the box can close. Starting with the center panel of the box, decrease the size by 1/8th inch (so the box will be 11.375″ long and 2.375″ wide). Next, decrease the size of the outer walls to match – simply grab a corner of the sides and pull to match the width.
It is also important to remember that you do not want to decrease the height of the walls, so they should say 4″ (2 inches folded).
Now the inner box is designed
Inner Box – Wand Stand
As we want the wand to be secure in the box, we will make a simple wand stand to hold it in place.
Using the dimensions of the base of the inner box (11.375″ x 2.375″), create a rectangle, but make it just a tad smaller so that it will fit into the box.
Using the half-circle-tab piece to make the wand holder. You will need another circle in the center to hold the wand. Each side of the wand stand will be slightly different to account for the wand changing diameter as it goes from one end to the other. In my case, the tip of the wand needs a 0.25″ diameter hole and a 0.75″ diameter hold for the handle. Also, take care to remember that the box is only 2″ high. The half-circle-tab piece can only be about 1.75″ in height total. Adding a score line at the base of the tab, about 0.25″ off the bottom will allow for a fold line later.
Now the Wand Stand is designed
The Custom Wand Box Design is Complete!
Now that the design is complete, it is time to hit Make It. As always, I like to organize my cuts to maximize paper usage. This is also a good time to figure out what colors/designs you will use for the inner and outer box pieces.
Don’t feel like reading how to design a custom wand box? Watch the video instead!
Frequently Asked Questions about How to Design a Custom Wand Box
What if my wand is larger than the available 12″x12″ cardstock?
Some wands I have found are 13″ or longer and will not fit into a box that is cut from 12″ x 12″ cardstock. You can use 12″ x 24″ cardstock, but I have not found many nice designs on that size of paper. So you would be restricted to making simple solid colors.
You can use poster board and cut the sheets into 12″x24″, but again, there are fewer design options.
If you want to use fancy colorful cardstock, you could always increase the design size I have listed above, cut the design in half and add some tabs to join the box base and walls after they have been cut.
Does my custom wand box need to have a peek-a-boo window?
No, it does not need to have a peek-a-boo window. I thought having a see-through window was a nice addition so that you can see the wand inside.
What material is best for a peak-a-boo window?
I found using a Ziploc bag worked well as they come in large sizes, and I don’t do much crafting with transparent material. However, you could buy larger quantities of clear acetate sheets.
Did you find this tutorial helpful?
Did you find this tutorial on designing a custom wand box helpful? Let me know in the comments below. If you made this craft, share your thoughts and pics below!
If you liked this tutorial, don’t forget to check out my other paper crafts here.
