bobunny-etc-card-caddy-tutorial (800 x 444)

Tutorial of the Week: BoBunny Etc Card Caddy

May 12, 2016 | LouAnn | 2 Comments | Organization, Tutorials

Good morning, everyone! Yesterday I promised to do a tutorial for a fun project…and (in my humble opinion) I’ve delivered 🙂 Check out this adorable little file box for organizing all those important dates along with cards to give:

This box measures 5-1/2″ wide x 8″ tall (at the highest point) x 2-3/4″ deep. I make a lot of 5″ x 7″ cards, so wanted them to fit inside the box. I made 12 dividers – one for each month – and each one has a little pocket on the front where I keep a list of those important dates. Once I’ve made a card for that special someone, I can then file the card in the appropriate month 🙂 Here’s a quick look at a couple of the dividers:

So…what prompted this project anyway? …well, I was getting sick and tired of always asking for birthdays, writing them down somewhere, only to promptly lose my list and start the whole cycle over again…and the worst part was that I became a chronic BELATED birthday card giver…no bueno!

I know, I know…whatever happened to putting the information in my cell phone, right? Well, I’m a little old school…plus I’d rather make a card caddy 😉

Anywho…to solve this very real problem, I went to one of the best places on the internet for ideas…Pinterest 😛 Well, like with anything you search on that site, there were a lot of ideas on organizing birth dates, but I thought this was the most useful…so I changed up the dimensions to suit my needs, and now you have another fun project to complete 🙂 Before I babble on for much longer, though, I do want to give Vicki Wizniuk a shout out for linking back to her blog…you can find her version of this little beauty right HERE.

So…without any further adieu, let’s get to it!

Materials

2 – 12″ x 12″ pieces of solid color cardstock
8 – 12″ x 12″ pieces of patterned cardstock
6 – 8-1/2″ x 11″ pieces of white or cream cardstock
lots of metal embellies 🙂
Scor-tape
white glue
E-6000 (or Glossy Accents)
paper trimmer
score board
bone folder
scissors and/or an exacto knife and metal ruler
1-1/2″ round paper punch
1-3/4″ round paper punch

Step 1

Cut one 8″ x 12″ piece of solid cardstock, and score at 1/2″, 3-1/4″, 8-3/4″ and 11-1/2″. This will form the back and sides of your file box.

Step 2

Cut the top 2 corners off at 45º, as shown below:

Discard the corner pieces and set this piece aside.

Step 3

Cut one piece of 6-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ solid cardstock and score at 1/2″ and 3-1/4″. This will form the bottom and front of the file box. (I know the paper in the picture is 9″ long, but trust me…make it 8-1/2″ long 😉 )

Step 4

Rotate the front piece 90º and score at 1/2″ and 6″.

Step 5

Trim away the 1/2″ flaps as shown below:

Step 6

Cut 3 pieces of patterned paper to fit onto the back and sides of the file box:

1 piece of 5-1/4″ x 7-3/4″
2 pieces of 2-1/2″ x 7-5/8″ (and trim one corner off at 45º to suit the box sides)

Distress the edges of the patterned paper as desired and adhere onto the back piece from Step 2.

I usually use Scor-tape for adhering my “wallpaper” to the background, and because there is only 1/8″ border around it, if you stick it down crooked, it is really obvious. I have a little trick that I use that helps immensely to ensure my “wallpaper” is straight.

First I add Scor-tape around all of the edges of my patterned paper, and a few strips in the center. I then remove the backing of only the center strips of tape, and align the paper to my base. The backing on the outer pieces of tape help keep the center strips raised off the base cardstock enough to be able to make minor adjustments on the placement of the “wallpaper”. Once I am happy with the alignment, I press down on the center of my patterned paper.

I then just turn back the edges of the patterned paper and remove the backing from the remaining Scor-tape around the edges 🙂

Step 7

Add Scor-tape to the 1/2″ flaps of the back piece, and fold along all the score lines. You can set this piece aside again.

Step 8

Now it’s time to cut the notch in the front of the file box. First, mark a vertical center line on the backside of your front piece from Step 5. Using a 1-1/2″ circle punch, cut a half-circle from the top edge of the front piece.

The side marks on your paper punch should line up with the top edge of the front piece, and the center mark should line up with the center line you drew on your cardstock:

Step 9

Cut one 5-1/4″ x 5″ piece of patterned cardstock, and punch a notch out of the top edge to suit the notch you made in the front piece in Step 8.

To do this, draw a vertical center line on the back of your patterned piece of cardstock. Then place the front piece over the patterned cardstock, ensuring that the center lines match up. Also ensure that the top edge of the front piece is 1/8″ higher than the edge of your patterned cardstock. Trace the notch onto the patterned cardstock:

Using a 1-3/4″ circle punch, punch a notch out of the patterned cardstock. Use your trace mark as a guide as to where to punch your notch:

Step 10

Cut one piece of 2-1/2″ x 5-1/4″ patterned paper to fit the bottom of the file box. Distress the edges of this piece and the patterned cardstock from Step 9. Adhere the two pieces of patterned cardstock to the front piece of the file box.

Step 11

Add Scor-tape to all three 1/2″ flaps and fold along all score lines.

Step 12

Adhere the bottom flap of the front piece to the inside of the back piece as shown below:

Step 13

Adhere the two side flaps on the front piece to the inside of the file box sides:

Step 14

Adhere the flaps on the box sides to the inside of the file box front. Voila…you now have a file box 🙂

Step 15

Cut twelve 5-1/4″ x 10″ pieces of patterned cardstock. Score and fold each piece at 7″. The 3″ flap will form a pocket on the front of each divider.

Step 16

Run a small bead of white glue along the side edges of the pocket and glue to the back of the divider. Repeat for all 12 dividers.

NOTE: It is important to use glue for this step. If you use Scor-tape, the inserts will stick to the edges of the pocket and be difficult to pull in and out of the pockets.

Step 17

Now all you need to do is add tabs to the top of your dividers and embellish as desired 🙂 You should end up with your own version of this adorable card caddy:

As mentioned above, I add two pieces of white cardstock in the front pocket of each divider. One is used for recording birthdays and the other for anniversaries. To make your life as easy as possible, I’ve created downloadable files that you can use to print your inserts. There will be 4 months per 8-1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper, so you just have to cut your paper in half twice…once at 4-1/4″ and once at 5-1/2″ 🙂

You can download all the files you need here:

I have to say, I sure have missed crafting so had a ton of fun with this project. I even used a different metal filigree on every single divider. If you’d like to see how they all turned out, you can watch the short YouTube video that I recorded for your viewing pleasure:

I hope you enjoyed this week’s tutorial. Thanks for coming by to visit, and I hope you have a ton of fun creating your own card caddy 🙂 You can find a complete list of all the ButterBeeScraps products that I used on my file box down below…Cheers and have a great weekend!

ButterBeeScraps Supplies:

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Comments

Karen says
May 12, 2016 at 5:32 pm
I can’t wait to make this! Thank you for sharing a perfect project.
Kathleen Brown says
May 12, 2016 at 9:58 am
Great tutorial 🙂 Thank you for sharing your tips and wonderful ideas with us. Always look forward to starting my Thursday’s with your “happy” mail.

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