Christmas Hostess Gifts - Day One - Tea Light Candle Holder Box

Tea Light Candle Holder Box

Everyone loves tea lights right?  Well all of my friends and family do, so in my world that's "everyone". You can buy a whack of them at the local dollar store or on-line, but what do you put them in when you want to give them as an individual hostess gift. 

Metal Cup Tealights can be bought in bulk.  They're perfect for use in decorative lanterns, hanging lanterns, and more. Bulk wholesale packages generally contain 100 tealights. 

Today I'm going to show you how to assemble a cute little box that's quick and easy to make, versatile and will work for any season or occasion.   This gift box will hold four wax tea light candles, and makes a perfect hostess gift.

I've seen variations of these tea light boxes on various blog sites over the years, but have never made them myself.  After searching the internet for instructions I CASed the tea light box made by Sara Lincoln.  I'm also providing a link to the version that inspired Sara on Sam Donald's blog called Pootles Paper Craft. 

Here's My Version:  

Assembly:

1.  Cut Pistachio Pudding card stock to 7 3/4" x 5 1/4". Tip: Cut card stock at 5 1/4" on 11" side of paper and you will get two boxes from each sheet. 

2.  Score on 7 3/4" side at 3/4" then turn card stock 90 degrees and score again at 3/4".

.

3.  Score on 5 1/4" side of card stock at 3/4, 2 1/4, 3 and 4 1/2"

4.  Crease all the  score lines with your bone folder.

5.  Using paper snips cut on the score lines on wide side to the 3/4" score line. 

6.  Trim the little tabs on an angle so that when these tabs are folded, they will fold flush against the sides and lid of the box.

7.  Cut a strip of DSP measuring 6 1/2 by 1 3/8" and attach with snail to the box lid.

8.  Using Oval framelits cut an oval using the smallest framelit from the center of the box lid.*

9.  Use your 3/4" oval punch or a 3/4 circle punch to make a slot in the side of the box lid to make it easier to open.  Center this opening below larger oval.

10.  Add sticky strip or Tom Bow glue, whichever you prefer to the small tabs to secure them to the sides and lid of the box.  I do not recommend using snail adhesive as it isn't strong enough to hold if the box is handled very much. 

11.  Cut a small piece of clear window sheet and adhere with glue dots to the inside of the lid over the oval opening.  The glue dots won't show when the box lid is open. Note:  If you prefer to keep the contents of the box a mystery omit the above step. 

  

12.  Once the acetate has been added you can remove sticky strip from sides and top and assemble the box.  Tip:  It doesn't show on this picture but I did clip a small triangle from the bottom tab on the lid so it closes smoothly.

13.  Stamp a tag for the top of the box.  For this example I used the Chalk Talk stamp set in Pistachio Pudding ink and stamped on Very Vanilla Card Stock.  I layered up the sentiment and tag with dimensionals.  

Chalk Talk Stamp Set coordinates with Chalk Talk Framelits

14.  To make sure the box stays shut I made a belly band.  Cut a 5 1/2" x 1 piece of pistachio card stock and score at: 7/8, 1 6/8, 3 1/4 and 4 1/8". Secure ends on back with sticky strip.  Put the band around the box and then mount the tag with dimensionals.  

Extra Samples.......

Here are my two Christmas samples.  The Coastal Cabana box sports DSP from the Winter Flurry DSP Stack, a Festive Flurry Snowflake and a sentiment tag stamped with "Merry Christmas" from the Petite Pairs stamp set.  I've also added a Frosted Finishes Embellishment to the center for some added sparkle.  Love those embellishments!  

Petite Pairs Stamp Set - a great set of sentiments to add to your collection. Covers every occasion. 

This picture shows the snowflake on the belly band before it's wrapped around the box.  The snowflake cut out with the Festive Flurry die cuts in Silver Glimmer Paper is mounted to the Island Indigo Snowflake with dimensionals and glue dots.

Note:  Dimensionals will not stick on their own to glimmer paper, but glue dots will.

The Frosted Finished Embellishments have a very flat back and easily mount with dimensionals to give a little extra height to the layered snowflake.  There's only a few more weeks to get these little sparklers so I think I'll be ordering a couple of extra packages to hoard.  

You may notice that the sentiment flag is not in this picture.  When I looked at this snowflake after it was on the box I decided I needed to add a tag or a sentiment.   It was easy to add the "Merry Christmas" banner tag with a glue dot to the underside of the snowflake.  

 

The second sample box which I'll give with a matching Santa's List Christmas card, does not have an acetate window, just a sentiment tag and ribbon. 

The perfect duo a tea light package and a matching card.  What hostess wouldn't be happy to receive these gifts.

Because this tea box design is pretty plain, I added two medium sized Basic Rhinestones to the check mark boxes on the Naughty or Nice tag to give it some sparkle.  The ribbon tag was made using the wonderful 7/8 White Taffeta ribbon. I love the way it folds and ties so easily.

SUPPLIES: 

STAMPS:
Chalk Talk #130631
Petite Pairs #122497
Very Merry Tags #130402

INKS:

CARD STOCK:
Coastal Cabana - 131297
Very Vanilla #101650
Whisper White #100730
Cherry Cobbler #119685
Winter Flurry DSP Stack #132183
Shimmer White (non Stampin Up)
Season of Style DSP Stack - 132181

Ink:
Pistachio Pudding #131177
Island Indigo#126986
Whisper White Craft or Staz On White

ACCESSORIES:
Simply Scored Score Board #122334
Paper Trimmer #126889
Bone Folder 
Oval Framelit Dies #129381*
Glue Dots #103683
Red Sticky Strip #104294
Snail Adhesive #104332
Dimensionals #104430
Window Sheet #114323
Scissors #103579
Basic Rhinestones #119246
Clear Embossing Powder 
Heat Gun

Note you can substitute any of the paper punches for the Oval Framelit Dies that will fit in the center of the lid such as: 
Large Oval Punch # 119855
Scalloped Oval Punch #119856
Decorative Label Punch #120907
Modern Label Punch #119849
Ticket Duo Builder #126883