Heart Box Tutorial With A Secret Cheat

If you were with us last year, you know that I do a Valentine’s Day Countdown with my children. I have Valentine’s Surprises every day for my children, starting on February 1st. This year I am trying to have everything ready to go by the end of January (wish me luck on that one!). These Heart shaped boxes are just one of the surprises I have planned.
I tried a bunch of variations of 3D hearts, to use for decoration. When I figured these out, I realized they would also be great as a container for some of the treats that I have.

Ok so now you see the secret cheat that I used. Toilet Paper tubes! Some people are grossed out by this…I’m not. They are perfect for helping the paper to hold it’s heart shape and make the boxes more durable! I figured out the easiest way to turn that regular roll of toilet paper into a heart shape. I thought I was brilliant and told my Mom about it. She had that figured out before I told her. See, this is why we are the way we are (my Sisters and I). We get it from this brilliant woman!
So the easy way to transform your toilet paper roll is to take the regular roll (1) and flatten it (2). Make sure to crease the folds well. Then, take the top fold and bend it the opposite direction to make the crease in the top of your heart (3). That’s it! Easy peasy, right?!
Then, I played around with the scrapbook paper I wanted to cover the boxes with. I made myself this handy dandy template. I needed it to go around the heart, but already have creases in the paper, because the paper I used was pretty stiff and would not easily conform to the heart shaped toilet paper roll. Notice that one crease will fold in along with the crease of the heart, and the other fold will go out(meaning fold it the opposite direction from the first fold) to go around the bottom tip of your heart. The side flaps/notches are what will make the top and bottom of your heart and keep in your goodies! I found you needed a lot of notches because of the heart shape. This is what worked best for me.

I then painted a nice layer of modge podge onto the backside of my paper (but only the center section that will be glued directly to the toilet paper roll) and wrapped the paper around the heart shaped toilet paper. The paper will not stay put on its own and it is quite helpful to use those large clothespins, to hold everything in place while the modge podge is drying.
Seal up one side of your heart shaped box. Fill your container with goodies that you scored in the after-Christmas clearance sales! Oh yeah! These ended up costing me 10 cents each for the bags of red and silver foil covered chocolates. Yes, the outside packaging was Christmas, but the inside packaging was perfect for Valentine's candy. Then, seal your last side of your box. I tried using modge podge and then I tried double sided tape to seal the ends up. Both seemed to work well.

I can not wait to have these waiting for my children in their Valentine Mailbox! Though, this year I am changing the mailbox idea up a bit. You'll have to keep coming back to see how that will change. Do you see that awesome skull and heart paper? That will be put into use for my Son! He’s starting to think some things are a little too girly, so I hope this fits the bill for him!
These would also be great to make with your kids, for their friends for Valentine's Day. I think I will be making them with my kids! I could also see making them during other times of the year, maybe as party favors. Who wouldn't love a heart shaped box?
I can’t wait to show you more of my Valentine’s Countdown surprises, so keep checking back!
Rebecca


I linked up to Today's Creative Blog, and My Frugal Family, and DIY Day.