How to make a cardboard box with lid

Here I show you how to make a fantastic cardboard box with a lid. In this guide, I have made a small box to store components for card games, dice games, as well as a cheeky set of tiles for the board game Hive. You can however modify the dimensions of the box in order to store anything you wish.

The cardboard box will have a base and a lid. Both will be made in exactly the same way, however the lid should be made a bit larger, otherwise it will not fit onto the base.

Require equipment and materials

You will need:

Cardboard (obviously)
Craft knife (or scissors)
Ruler
Pen or pencil
Glue (I have used PVA glue)

Cardboard box template

Draw the cardboard box template

Draw the template onto a sheet of cardboard. Use a ruler to get the correct dimensions. In the below image, I have used solid line to indicate where I will cut, and dashed lines to indicate where I will fold.

Drawing the template for the cardboard box base with a pen

Cut out the template

Cut out the template with a craft knife. Make sure you only cut along the indicated lines (the sold lines in the image below). You may also want to score the dashed line to make folding easier later.

Be very careful if using a knife and make sure you cut on something so you do not damage whatever is below your cardboard.You can instead use scissors, although a craft knife will make a cleaner cut.

Cutting out the cardboard box template with a craft knife

Fold template into place

Fold along the indicated lines (dashed lines) to make the shape of the cardboard box base/lid.

Folding the sides and flaps of the cardboard box into place

Apply glue to flaps

Apply glue to all four of the flaps of the cardboard box. Look at the image below to see which side of the flaps to put the glue on.

Applying glue to the flaps of the cardboard box

Press flaps into place

Press flaps onto the inside of the base/lid. Make sure you press the flaps to the sides until the glue has fully dried.

Pressing the flaps into place to form the cardboard box half

Make the lid

Once the base of the cardboard box is finished, repeat all the previous steps to make the lid. The dimensions of the lid should be slightly larger than the base so that it is able to fit snugly. I made the length and width of the box both around 1 cm larger than the base.

Finished cardboard box

Congratulations, the box is complete. Great work!