Pretty Presents: Creating Gift Boxes With Your Printer

Most of us love to give and receive presents at any time of the year and present-giving goes into overdrive during the festive season.

It is always feels good to give someone a present that is beautifully presented and that is why so many of us spend a fair amount on gift packaging in relation to the cost of the gift itself.

The question you need to ask yourself is why would you spend money on purchasing these gift boxes at retail prices when you can make some yourself?

Creating your own gift boxes

All you need in order to create some attractive gift boxes using your own printer, is to get some suitable paper and some creative inspiration to help bring your gift box idea to life.

You might also want to stock up on ink cartridges using an online supplier like Stinky Ink so that you are ready to go and don’t have your creative flow interrupted by running out of printer ink.

There are numerous templates available on the internet and it can look a bit daunting at first when you look at the instructions for some of them, but if you find one that is relatively quick and simple, you could soon be creating an attractive gift box in well under less than ten minutes from start to finish.

Getting started

If you want to make a paper folding gift box, you can choose your color or pattern for the paper you use and then follow the same pattern for great results every time.

The materials you will need are two sheets of paper or cardstock some scissors and some glue (not always needed).

Bear in mind that with the paper, if you choose to work with thin paper it will weaken the overall strength of the box and working with cardstock makes the folding a bit harder to do. A combination of paper for the top of the box and cardstock for the bottom would be a good idea, as it will give your gift box the right amount of stability and should be easier to put together.

Get your two sheets of paper, for the top and bottom and make sure that the sheets are square not rectangle in shape.

Print the patterns

You can use your printer to create a unique pattern or color scheme depending on what you want the box to look like.

Being able to print out your own choice of design gives you endless possibilities and means that your box will be unique and can be personalized for the person who is receiving it based on what they like or a theme relevant to the occasion.

Start folding

Once you have printed out or chosen the paper you need, you set about folding the sheets in order to put together your gift box.

Fold a square sheet of paper in half and then create a triangle shape by matching one corner with the opposite corner.

Next, open the sheet of paper and following the same method as before, fold the other two opposite corners together.

Once you open the paper again, you will then be able to see a cross-shaped crease across the paper. Fold just one corner of the paper so that it meets up with the center line of your cross pattern.

Then fold the remaining corners into that same center line, so you are viewing at what looks like four triangles.

Take on edge of the square and fold it over to meet the center line and then fold the opposite side of the paper in the same way, so that creates a folded rectangle.

When you then open the paper out, it should have a number of strategically-placed creases in it. The four squares in the center of the paper will become the top or bottom of your gift box.

By following a series of strategic folds that you soon be able to master, you will then see your box start to take shape. Repeat the process for the other half of the box and the end result will be an attractive gift box that you made at a fraction of the retail cost.

Creative assistance

If you are looking for some online inspiration and creative assistance, you might want to visit some sites that offer some free templates, which you can print out.

HP Creative Studio have a number of gift box designs available including the Disney Blue Snowflake Gift Box, which is understandably popular or Pinterest is a good source of free templates .

Whatever you decide to do, there are certainly plenty of options for using your printer to create some attractive gift boxes.

John Sollars launched his printer cartridge supply company back 2002. The company has grown to be one the biggest suppliers in the UK. He enjoys sharing his business ideas online.