Birthday Cake Gift Box Tutorial

Here is a fun little box for gift giving.   I decided to do a step by step tutorial for you.  Although I am contemplating getting back to doing a few video tutorials in the near future.

  

Picture taken before adding final embellishments.

Note: I designed this and did the tutorial as I went ... so it's not perfect.  I had to make some edits along the way and I will list them below.  The candle is somewhat different than what I had in my head.  I will explain later. :)  Also, depending what size your tea light is you may need to modify the size of cardstock used to decorate it.

The idea for decorating the tea light came from HERE.

Let's get started ... You will need two different, but coordinating sheets of cardstock and a sheet of chipboard (optional).  Depending on what you plan to put in your gift box, the chipboard will make it a little more sturdy.

For my scallop circles I used the Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge.

From cardstock pattern #1 (pink polka dot for me) you will need to cut:
2 - scallop circles at 5 1/4" - the top & base of the cake
1 - scallop circle at 2 1/4 " - the base of the candle


From cardstock pattern #2 (white with butterflies for me) you will need:

2- scallop circles at 2 1/4" (for you observant viewers ...yes ... in the picture the scallops are different sizes, but the larger one didn't look right ... so this is edit #1) - for the candle & tea light.
1 - 3 1/2" x 12" piece - for body of cake
1 - 1/2" x 4 3/4" strip - to wrap around tea light (check size of your tea light).
1 - 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece - for the candle


Chipboard: 1 or 2 - 5 1/4" scallop circles (to reinforce base and or lid of cake).  If cardstock is not sturdy or contents will be heavy you will want to reinforce both the top and bottom.  For mine today I only did the lid.
1 - 3" x 11 1/4" piece - as an insert to reinforce cake (optional)

Other items needed:  battery operated tea light, thin magnets, tissue paper tube, ribbon and any other embellishments you might want to add.

Score down the length of your 3 1/2" x 12" piece of CS at 1/2".

Add adhesive to the short end of your CS and roll into a circle.  Slightly overlap ends and adhere together.  I find the red double sided tape (I think it's called Terrifically Tacky Tape) works well to securely keep ends together, but use adhesive of your choice.  My red tape is 1/4" so that's how much my ends overlap.

Next on the side you scored ... make a cut up to the score line.  Do this all the way around your cake every 1/2" or so.  Then fold the little tabs down.  You are now ready to attach it to one of your large scallop circles.   If you are using chipboard to sturdy your  base scallop ... adhere it to your base scallop now.  Now you are ready to attach your cake to your scalloped base.  I used hot glue for this.  If you are adding the chipboard insert to the inside of your cake box you can add it now.  Just roll it into a circle and slide it down into your box.  Now set it all aside. 

Cut your tissue tube down to 1 1/2" tall.

Adhere your 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" CS to your tissue tube.

Now adhere your 1/2" x 4 3/4" to your tea light.  I used my ATG for this.

Now take your 2 1/4" scallop circle in matching CS pattern and make a hole in the center to slip over the candle flame.  I used a regular size hole punch and eyeballed it.  Then I slid punch over just a bit and punched a partial hole ... so it's the size of one and a half hole punches.  Make sense? ;)  You can also view the original tutorial for the tea light by clicking the link at the top.

Now adhere the tissue tube candle to the small scallop circle in coordinating pattern.  I used hot glue around the inside edges to do this.

Here's a big edit for the candle.  You see, my tea light fit in my tissue tube perfectly and it looked like one big, perfect candle.  However, there was one small  problem.  It was too hard to lift out to turn on and off.  You could do it, but it wasn't the easiest.  So I decided to add a small scallop to the top of my tube and use magnets to adhere my tea light to the top. 

Of course you could omit the tissue tube completely and place the tea light directly to the top of the lid with magnets.  But ... that defeats the whole idea of a big ...over sized candle. :)

So I added a thin rim of hot glue around the top edge and set my scallop on top.  Make sure you quickly press it down and get is as evenly as possible OR your candle will be lopsided.  :)  How do  I know this ...because I was busy trying to write things down, work around the tripod that held my camera and take the pictures  as I was doing it.  And I wasn't quite fast enough and had to work with it a bit, lol.  

Now you can adhere your thin magnets.  Hot glue one to the top of the candle and the one on the bottom of the tea light will not need glue.  I think the battery in the tea light attracts it enough to hold in place.  Now I wonder if you actually need the top and bottom of the magnets or if one will do?  Hmmm, I will have to look into that later.
My magnets are by Basic Grey and I found them online at JoAnn's.com.

Balancing the tea light on the magnet along with the on/off switch may cause it to not sit perfectly flat.  If you have this issue you can add a pop dot to the bottom of your light.  Just leave the protective covering on the bottom of your dot so it doesn't stick to the cake.

Now adhere your candle to your large scallop lid.  I did this with hot glue and the messiness was all hidden under the small scallop on the candle.  See there is a method to my madness. ;)

Then I tied a pretty ribbon around the base of my candle.  By doing the tea light this way it looks like a two tiered candle, where as if the tea light was sitting down in the tissue tube ... it would look like one large candle.  I may have to work on this a little more and see if I can find a better way, but for now this is it.


Now for a BIG EDIT:  Originally I was going to simply set my scallop lid on top of the cake.  Then I decided it just wasn't secure enough for my liking.

 To remedy this I cut a strip of chipboard  that was 1" x 10" and scored the length of it at a 1/2".  Then I made cuts up to the score line on one side, folded down the tabs and adhered to the underside of the lid. Before attaching to lid I shaped it to the inside of my cake and held the ends together until I got it attached to the lid.  Now when the lid is in place, the added strip of chipboard sits down in the cake.  Are you with me? 

Notice my circle is a little short so next time I will cut the chipboard strip at 11" long ... I think that would be about right.

But at last ... even with my trials and errors ... it does ... kind of ... resemble a cake ...right?! ;)  Now you can embellish with flowers, buttons or whatever you like.  

Whew ... that was a lot.  I hope you have been inspired.  TFL!