One of the very first chipboard upgrades I ever created, almost two years ago now, was this set of resource boxes for Le Havre. Since then, I’ve developed an entire set of tutorials centered around a specific style of custom card box I designed, but never really went back to revisit my original bit boxes.
Until now.
Just about every game could use a set of nice bit boxes. In addition to just being nicer than bagging your components, well-constructed bit boxes can actually be used on the table to contain cubes, coins, meeples, or other components, and even be built (like my Le Havre boxes) to fit with the game board itself.
This tutorial is designed to be as versatile as possible. These two-piece bit boxes can be made at virtually any size. This same process can even be used to make full-sized game boxes, as you’ll see toward the end of the tutorial. In this case, I’ll focus on building bit boxes just like the Le Havre boxes detailed in the link above. I’ll show you how to create a colored paper wrap to make generic boxes that can be used in any game. For the pictures in this tutorial I also re-built my Le Havre box set, so I’ll show you those as well as include links to the graphic wrap artwork so you can recreate the set yourself, if you choose.
MATERIALS NEEDED
* Metal Ruler/Straight-Edge
* Sharp X-Acto or Utility Knife
* Medium Weight Chipboard
* Alene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue
* Colored, textured paper of your choice
* Spray Adhesive
* Optional: Acrylic Spray Finish
NOTE: If you choose to do a simple color wrap on your boxes, you can use nearly any paper you want. It helps for the paper to have some sort of texture to help the boxes stay closed, but it’s not an absolute necessity. Avoid cardstocks and heavyweight papers like photo paper. Thinner paper is generally better, as it will be easier to manipulate when cutting and folding. Thick papers are hard to work with, and will wreak havoc with your measurements.
If you intend to create a full graphic wrap, you’ll need a good, high-resolution color printer as well as some inkjet-rated linen paper. Finding that paper isn’t as easy as it seems, as most linen stock you can find in normal office supply stores is generally rated only for laser printers, and will cause inkjet inks to bleed. You can find plenty of inkjet-rated papers from Neenah Paper. The paper I use is their CLASSIC Linen Digital in Avalanche White.
Your choice of paper is up to you. I’ve found the above linen paper makes for a nice surface with just a little bit of texture that emulates many of the board and card game boxes made by professional publishers, especially after being coated in acrylic sealant. Other papers will work just fine as well, and you can experiment with which ones produce the best combination of print quality and feel for your tastes. Be sure the paper you choose can properly accept acrylic sealant (some papers just soak it up rather than allow it to create a surface seal).
I’ll include plenty of instruction on how to create a solid color wrap for your bit boxes, but for an in-depth look at how to create graphics wraps, take a look at my Graphics Wrap Tutorial.
Let’s start!
INITIAL MEASUREMENTS
NOTE: All of my measurements are in millimeters, because Metric is just flat easier to deal with, especially where math is involved.
I’m going to include a ton of information about measuring and cutting chipboard, along with some rules of thumb for ensuring your pieces fit properly and your boxes close well without being too tight or loose. It’s going to be a bit dry, I apologize. Measure twice, cut once, right?
It’s best to get all of your measurements out of the way first. Figure them out, write them down, then use them as a cutting guide. The size of your bit boxes is up to you, and will be based on what you intend to use the boxes for. Maybe you want a box to be a certain size on the board. For example, I created bit boxes for Kingsburg designed to exactly emulate the appropriate spaces on the game board:
Or, maybe you just want bit boxes that fit a certain way into the game box. These are the exact measurements I can’t provide to you. I’ll give you the general outline of how to create a box and what steps you need to go through to ensure they fit together, but determining final sizing is entirely up to you.
The first rule of thumb, though: If you want your box to sit on a game board, start with the box bottom, but if you want them to fit in a box a certain way start with the box top. Hopefully the reasoning here is obvious, but I’ll expound: If the boxes are intended to sit on a specific board space, the tops are just functional and will be tossed back into the game box during gameplay. However, if you’re more concerned with storage, the box tops – being larger than the bottoms and fitting over them – will determine how your closed boxes fit into tight spaces.
In any case, I’ll be including the measurements for my Le Havre boxes here. These boxes, out of sheer serendipity, happen to fit both of the criteria above: they fit perfectly onto their respective board spaces AND they fit really well into the box, as you’ll see in the pictures at the end of this post.
The first measurements you want to find are the base-plates for both your bottom and lid – the largest individual pieces of your boxes. I’ll start with the box bottom, since my boxes are intended to sit on a gameboard. The measurements of my box bottom base plate are 80mm x 68mm.
Next is probably the most important rule for building your box:
Your box lid will be exactly 4mm larger than your box bottom in both directions. It took me a lot of trial-and-error to figure this one out. 3mm is too tight, 5mm is too loose, and half-millimeter measurements are too difficult to maintain accurately.
This rule makes determining your lid size easy, though: simply add 4mm to each dimension of your box bottom. So, the lid’s base plate will measure 84mm x 72mm. Together, the two pieces look like this:
Okay, now that you have the base plates for both your bottom and lid, it’s time to build the walls. Regardless of your intention for the boxes, always start with the box bottom, since that’s the part that’s actually going to contain the components.
Determining the height of your box is entirely up to you, and I unfortunately do not have any good rule of thumb for figuring it out. Once you’ve determined the surface area, you’ll need to figure out roughly how much volume the box will need to accommodate whatever bits you intend to store in it. The only advice I have is this: whatever height you think you need, make it bigger. If you make it snug, or “just right”, invariably you’ll dump everything in and the lid won’t close all the way. Extra space never hurts.
In the case of the Le Havre boxes, I made the walls for the box bottom 24mm tall. Start by cutting a 24mm strip off of your chipboard, which we’ll then chop into pieces to create the walls. This way, we can ensure the walls are all a uniform height.
First, take the measurement from the short side of the base plate (68mm in this instance), and cut two segments at that length (so you end up with two 68mm x 24mm pieces).
For the opposing walls, you can’t just take the measurement off the base plate, because the pieces will be too long. In order to glue everything together properly, you need to account for the thickness of the two end walls. Medium-weight chipboard like this is roughly 1.5mm thick, so the combined thickness of the two end walls will be about 3mm. So, take the measurement for the long side of your base plate (80mm) and subtract 3mm to arrive at 77mm. Cut two 77mm lengths.
For your box bottom, you should have five pieces:
80mm x 68mm (x1)
68mm x 24mm (x2)
77mm x 24mm (x2)
Now, we need to determine how tall the lid will be. Do not make the lid the same height as the box bottom – you’ll never get the box apart again once it’s closed. The side walls on the lid should be between 5mm and 10mm shorter than the walls on the bottom. This way, the bottom of the closed box will protrude slightly from the lid so you can pull the two pieces apart. For the Le Havre boxes, I chose a wall height of 20mm for the lid.
Once you’ve determined the wall height, follow the exact same process for the lid as you did for the bottom.
You should have these five pieces:
84mm x 72mm (x1)
72mm x 20mm (x2)
81mm x 20mm (x2)
And we’re done cutting! Now we get to break out the glue! EXCITE!
ASSEMBLY
The actual assembly of the boxes goes really fast. We’ll start (again) with the box bottom.
First, apply a generous bead of glue around the entire perimeter of your base plate, like so:
Then, grab one of the short end walls, apply a bead of glue to either end…
…then glue it into place along the end of your base plate.
Try to be as precise as possible in your placement. The wall should be flush with the edge of the base plate.
Don’t worry about extra glue squeezing out. Alene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue dries flat and relatively invisible, so a little extra’s not really a concern.
Since we applied glue to both the base plate and the end wall, we won’t need to add any glue to the long side walls. Just grab the first one and glue it in place…
…then do the same for the second.
Last, apply a bead of glue to the ends of the second short end wall.
Line up the bottom at the edge of your box…
…then tip it into place to finish your box bottom.
That’s it! You’ve completed the entire box bottom. Repeat the exact same process for the box top. You should now have these two parts:
LET THE GLUE DRY before proceeding. The rest of the steps involve manipulating the finished box parts, and we don’t want to mess them up or glue them together. Once the glue’s dry, drop the lid in place just to make sure it fits properly:
It should be slightly loose at this stage. That will change when we apply the paper wrap.
Speaking of…
CREATING A COLORED WRAP
MARKING
For information on creating and applying a graphics wrap, like the ones I use for Le Havre, check out my Creating A Graphics Wrap tutorial. This tutorial will focus on creating a simple colored paper wrap for general-purpose bit-boxes.
Let me be clear: this section is going to be real boring. It consists almost entirely of just measuring, marking, and drawing lines to give you the tools to create a paper wrap for the box. I will go through the measurements for the specific box we’re working out in the tutorial, but hopefully it’ll give you an inkling of how to find the measurements and make markings for any box you want to cover.
But damn, it’s gonna be dry, I’m not gonna lie. So, let’s just get it over with, shall we?
Why do a wrap, you ask? There are multiple reasons:
- Aesthetics – Chipboard by itself looks pretty awful. It’s meant to be covered.
- Friction – The textured paper wraps into the inside of the lid. The texture of the paper will add some friction to that surface, gripping the box bottom so the box stays closed.
- Durability – The box might be okay on its own, but adding a paper wrap reinforces all the joins and brings the whole unit together, making it more durable in the long run.
If you’re not making a graphics wrap, you can use damned near any paper you want for this part of the process. I, personally, still like using linen paper because it’s got a great texture. I suggest checking out craft and scrapbooking stores for a great array of different papers to use as a cover. Just make sure the paper you use is relatively lightweight. Thick paper (like photo paper) or card stock (like a lot of scrapbookers use) are extremely hard to fold around the exterior of the box. You want something nice looking, but easy to manipulate.
So, we’ll start with a piece of linen paper:
If there is a “back” side to your paper, flip that side face up. Put your paper in “portrait” orientation. Make your first mark 15mm from the edge.
Make a second mark further down the paper, also 15mm from the edge, then draw a line parallel to the edge of the paper.
NOTE: I’m not going to repeat the description of that process. Hopefully it’s clear how to mark and draw a line, so I’m just going to talk about where to draw the lines going forward.
That 15mm line marks the part of the paper that will wrap over the edge of the box at the end of this process. The outer 15mm of the final wrap are only for that purpose. It will become clear as this tutorial evolves.
Our next line is going to correspond to the overall height of your box bottom. Measure your box from bottom to rim. Always measure, even if you think you know the height. In the case of this box, it comes in a little under 26mm tall (24mm side walls + the thickness of the base plate), so draw a line 26mm from the first one.
The next line needs to correspond to the width (short side) of your base. In this case, the box bottom is 68mm wide, so make your next line 68mm from your last one.
Then, the process reverses. The next line should be 26mm further, corresponding to the opposite side of the box…
…and the last one should be another 15mm along.
I’ll recap those measurements:
15mm (from the edge)
41mm (26mm from the previous line)
109mm (68mm from the previous line)
135mm (26mm from the previous line)
150mm (15mm from the previous line)
Now, turn your paper 90 degrees (into “landscape”)…
…and make another line 15mm from the paper’s edge:
Then, another line 26mm from the last one. Again, these two lines represent the side of your box and 15mm of extra paper to wrap over the rim. This will all become clear later, so just follow along for now.
Next line: 80mm from your last one, equal to the length (long side) of your base plate.
Then another line 26mm from that one…
…and finally measure another 15mm and make your final outside line. To recap those measurements:
15mm (from the edge)
41mm (26mm from the previous line)
121mm (80mm from the previous line)
147mm (26mm from the previous line)
162mm (15mm from the previous line)
Now, you have almost all the lines you need to mark cuts and folds for your paper wrap. See that big rectangle in the middle of that pattern? That should correspond exactly to the size of your box bottom’s base plate.
There are two more lines yet to make, though.
I’ll try to explain this here, but I’ll be much easier to see once we start applying the wrap: When we cut out the wrap, it’s going to look like a cross. There will be a large central section that will cover the base plate of the box, with four flaps we’ll fold up to cover the sides of the box. Those flaps, right now, are the exact width of the box sides, so we can’t guarantee the box corners will be adequately covered.
So, we need to create two “wings” along opposing sides of the box wrap that will be used to fold around the box corners. Turn your paper back to portrait orientation. Find the line that marks the edge of your base plate, then draw another line 10mm outward (toward the edge) from here:
Do the same for the opposing side.
Those were the last two lines. You should now have a relatively confusing batch of lines drawn on the paper that will make absolutely no sense to you whatsoever until you’ve built a box or two. So let’s get to cutting.
Cutting
The very first thing you’re going to do is cut along the very outside lines of your pattern to remove the excess paper, like so:
Next, turn your wrap back to “landscape” orientation, and make the following cut:
This cut will follow the line that marks the edge of your baseplate, starting at the edge of the paper and terminating at the very corner of the large rectangle in the center.
Do this 4 times for all four corners.
Next, turn your paper to portrait orientation again, and find those last lines we drew – the ones to mark the “wings” I told you about. Use those lines to make the following cut:
This separates the corner of the paper away from the wrap. Notice there is still a 10mm cut into the wrap. This is intentional. Cut away all four corners of your wrap so it looks like this:
Now that the wrap is actually cut, we can do a couple of visualizations. First, place your box bottom into the rectangle in the center, and you’ll see it’s a perfect fit.
Next, you can tip the box up on end and see that the “flap” on the side is marked to perfectly fit the box side, with extra paper to wrap over the top edge.
Follow this exact same process to create the wrap for your box lid. Since your lid has different dimensions, I’ll lay out the line placement here. Place your paper in “portrait” orientation, and draw the following vertical lines:
15mm (from the edge)
37mm (22mm from the previous line)
109mm (72mm from the previous line)
131mm (22mm from the previous line)
146mm (15mm from the previous line)
If you’re comfortable with the concept of the “wings”, you can make those markings now, drawing two lines 10mm outside the largest section. Those lines will fall at 25mm and 119mm from the edge, respectively.
Then, turn your sheet to “landscape” orientation and draw the following vertical lines:
15mm (from the edge)
37mm (22mm from the previous line)
121mm (84mm from the previous line)
143mm (22mm from the previous line)
158mm (15mm from the previous line)
Then, once all your lines are drawn, cut out your wrap just like you did with the box bottom. You should have two wraps now, for each half of your box:
So let’s get to final assembly!
APPLYING THE WRAP
Start by applying spray adhesive to the back-side of the wrap.
Then, position the box in the center using the lines on the back.
(Here, you can see how the sides without “wings” are the same width as the box, while the “winged” sides are wider.)
Once the box is in place, fold up the sides, starting with the sides with the “wings”.
Fold the wings around the sides of the box…
…then fold up the sides to overlap them.
Remember to do all of this as tightly as possible. Fold and adhere these flaps from the bottom up, so you never end up with any “bubbles” under the graphics wrap.
Then, use your xActo knife to cut the corners…
Then fold the excess paper at the top over the rim of the box, like this.
Finish all four sides, then take a moment to use something stiff (your thumbnail, the edge of your ruler, or a bone folder like in the picture) to cram the paper into the corners of the box:
This will help ensure both that the paper stays in place and, in the case of the lid, that the paper in the corners doesn’t interfere with the lid’s fit. Your finished box bottom should look like this:
You’re done applying the wrap to the box bottom. Repeat the exact same process for the box top, and you’ll have these two finished parts:
Drop the lid in place on top of your box, and you’re all finished! Here’s what your final product should look like:
GRAPHICS WRAPS MAKE EVERYTHING COOLER
Like I said before, if you want the nitty gritty details on creating graphics wraps for your bit boxes, you can get that from my Creating A Graphics Wrap tutorial. But, to give you an inkling of what is possible, here are some pictures of my Le Havre bit boxes. The bit box you created with this tutorial is the exact size for these Le Havre boxes, and you can get wrap artwork over at my Tutorials GeekList.
Have some pretty pictures:
Hopefully this has been informational!
Of course, if you have any questions at all, feel free to drop them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them as best I can. I’ll head off the typical first question by saying that I don’t have the time to create custom boxes for others. Sorry. That’s why I’m putting this tutorial out there.
Thanks for reading, and happy crafting!
BONUS CONTENT
As I mentioned before, this same process can be used to build full-size game boxes, with only one slight alteration: the lid on a full-size game box should be 5mm larger than the bottom rather than 4mm. Aside from that, the process is basically identical, just bigger.
Recently, I found that the box for my 15+ year old copy of Cathedral was falling apart, because it’s one of the crappy cardstock mass-market boxes. So, I rebuilt it:
