Cute Back Pack Tutorial

Hi there!!! What a glorious Sunday this is...the sun is shining and the weather is perfect here in TEXAS! I must start off by saying...this is a LONG pictorial...but it's worth it......READY? I was visiting one of my favorite blogs, "Card of the Week" and of course I was blurfing the sites she suggested.....I came across THIS cute little back pack and I had to make one.

You could of course leave off the "straps" and make a cute gift bag with it.

You can decorate it any way you want to...I chose to make mine GIRLY!!!

Cut two (2) pieces of card stock at 8 1/2" X 7 1/2". Score the bottom edge at 2" (align the 7 1/2" side to the left of the board).

Turn your card stock and align the 8 1/2" side along the left side of the board. Score at the 3 1/2" and the 5 1/2" mark...see the picture above for how it should look after scoring.

Now you should have two (2) pieces of card stock that is scored exactly alike. Fold and crease on scores.

Next, cut from bottom to 2" score line in the center section....see picture above for guidance. Cut both pieces of your card stock the same.

In this picture you can see how they will fit together to make the box. Make sure before gluing, you get the longer edge on the outside to make the front and the back of the box.

Next I glued my two pieces together. Lay them both with the creases going the same way...the third section of the first piece, will glue to the first section of the second piece.

Now fold up the bottom sections to form the bottom of the box...see picture above for guidance. Glue flaps together.

Now fold your right side to the left, and the left side to the right to meet in the middle.

Only the bottom flap will be free at this time. Apply glue to bottom flap.

Now fold bottom flap up and hold to make sure it's stuck!

Stand your box up on it's bottom and "crimp" the top edges only, while using your pointer fingers and thumbs to pinch the sides together, use your middle finger to push in the centers.

Now for the flap, cut one (1) piece of card stock at 5 1/2" X 3 1/2". Place piece with the 3 1/2" side to the left edge of the board and score at 2".

To make the rounded edge of the flap we are going to use a very high tech way of doing that by taking a coffee can lid and tracing around the edge.....see picture above for guidance. Make sure you trim the rounded edge on the long side of your flap. By all means if you have a better way of making a rounded edge, such as the use of a Coluzzle...go right ahead! Here is what you flap should look like. Crease at the 2" score. Now you need two (2) pieces of designer paper cut at 3 1/4" X 6 1/4". Adhere one to the front of the box and one to the back of the box.

For the flap, cut one (1) piece of designer paper at 3 1/4" X 5 1/4".

Again, use your high tech cutting tool....the coffee can lid and draw a rounded edge and trim.

This should give you a piece that fits right on the card stock flap. DO NOT adhere yet...see next step.

Since we are allowing for the 1/4" border of the card stock to show from under the designer paper, align the DP on the 1/4" mark and score at the 2" mark so the creases line up and you still have your 1/4" border showing.

Now adhere the two pieces together and crease.

To make the little "pocket" on the front...cut one (1) piece of card stock at 2" X 3" and one (1) piece of designer paper at 1 3/4" X 2 3/4". To make the "flap" you will need a scrap piece of DP and use your coffee can lid again and fashion a rounded edge...adhere.

For the "straps" I punched three (3) holes with my long reach Cropadile, I set the ruler at 4" on the 3/16" hole punch and punched one (1) hole on each side of the back of the box.

Then I set it to the 1" mark and centered it at the top of the box.

After you've punched your top hole in the center...grab a pencil and your flap...line it up and mark the hole on the flap. Punch that hole. Adhere flap to box.

For the "straps" I used two (2) 7 1/2" pieces of small ribbon.

Tie a knot in one end of each piece of ribbon. Thread from the inside out one ribbon through each lower hole in the box.

Then take both pieces of ribbon together and thread them through the top hole and tie a knot on the inside of the box.

This is what it will look like after you are finished. If you don't have a long reach Cropadile...you can just glue your ribbons to the back of the box as well.

I applied a Velcro closure on the flap to keep the flap down and make sure your goodies don't escape! You could also use magnetic closures if you have them.Well, that's it for the Cute Back Pack pictorial....I hope you make one and enjoy it...it would surely brighten any one's day who received it. This one just so happened to be sent to my sweet friend Sherri for her birthday along with the matching card. THANKS for stopping by today!!!