Tower Box Tutorial

Posted by Claire Brennan on July 21, 2010.

Here are a few notes to help you if you fancy having a go at a tower box like this one.

1 I made a bottom for my tower out of a piece of card 3.5 inches square - I scored a half inch in all the way round and cut off the corners to allow it to fold nicely.

2 I scored a piece of PTI chocolate card at 2.5 inch intervals - I scored down the length of the card because I wanted a tall tower. This left me with 4 tower sides and a handy half inch gluing flap up one side.

3 I cut four pieces of patterned paper a quarter inch shorter and a quarter inch narrower than a tower side, these are the patterned papers that you're going to use to decorate the outside of the tower with.

4 In one of the pieces of patterned paper I cut an opening for the window. I did NOT cut the window shape out - instead I made a paper template of the window shape I wanted and used this to mark the position of the window on the reverse of my patterned paper. I cut a slit from top to bottom through the centre of my window and cut across the top and bottom, but NOT down the sides. This leave two flaps, or shutters. I folded the 'shutters' back - with a bit of careful lining up I was able to use the scorpal to make the folds crisp.

5 I adhered the patterned paper to one of the tower sides and used the window opening as a guide to cut the window in the tower. I cut the window in the tower slightly smaller than the window in the patterned paper so that it would give the impression of a window frame.

6 I adhered the remaining 3 pieces of patterned paper to the outside of my tower.

7 I adhered a piece of clear acetate to the 'inside' of the window and then the base was attached to the tower on one side only - see the pic below.

I finished the tower by adhering the sides of the tower together and then folded the base flaps up and added a little adhesive before pushing them up inside the tower.

Then it was time to make the roof.

1 I took a piece of card 11 inches by 4.5 inches and scored a line just under 1 inch in parallel to the longest side. Then I scored a line parallel to this 1 inch away closer to the centre of the card.

2 I turned the card so that the short edges of the card were at either side with a long edge facing me and the scored lines nearest me. I scored a line 2 and 5/8 inches from the left hand edge - I scored a further 3 lines at 2 and 5/8 inches intervals. This leaves a small flap just under a half inch wide at one side. I cut away the top and bottom rectangles as you can see in the pic above.

3 I went back to the 2 and 5/8 inch segments and located the mid point of these on the long side away from the previously scored lines.

4 I scored from the mid points towards the places where the previous horizontal and vertical scores crossed each other - have a look at the pic to see what I mean. It makes triangular shapes.

5 I folded along the score lines - have a peep at the pic below of a brown roof I made for help with how to fold. You are looking at the inside of the roof.

6 Can you see where I have cut slits up as far as the first score along the bottom of the card? - These wee flaps will get tucked up inside the roof and cutting slits here makes the roof easier to fold as these become corners. If you want to run the roof through a cuttle bug embossing folder for texture, now's the time.

7 Fold the roof together tucking the bottom flaps up inside as you go - it makes a nice tidy pocket for the glue flap to get tucked into. You will also need to put some adhesive in the actual roof to stop the top from opening out. Slip it into the folds so it's not visible.