Box Card SVG

A card that stands up

A box card is a little paper room: a square tube that stands on the table, with windows to peek through and a scene inside. This template makes one from two strips. The outer strip is red and has four panels, with tall arched windows cut into two of them and star windows in the other two, plus a glue tab at the end. The inner strip is blue, slightly narrower in each panel so it slips inside the outer ring, and has its own tab.

The scene goes on the inner panels: two little cakes, one red and one green, each with a yellow top tier and a flame, a yellow star and a red heart. A yellow label with HAPPY BIRTHDAY in navy capitals finishes it.

About the folds

The corners of both strips and the tabs fold along rows of short dashed cuts. No scoring tool is needed, although a dashed fold is a bit weaker than a scored one. We have not folded and tested this box card, so run a test cut on scrap card to check how the two rings fit together before cutting the final version.

Pieces and weeding

The solid file has 24 pieces and 50 cut-outs. The two strips are the main pieces; the cakes, star, heart and label make up most of the rest. The windows and the many fold dashes account for a large share of the cut-outs. It passes our cut checks from about 5 inches wide.

Color layers

• Red in cherry red: the outer strip, one cake’s bottom tier and the heart
• Blue in cobalt blue: the inner strip
• Yellow in golden yellow: the top tiers, the flames, the star and the label panel
• Green in grass green: the other cake’s bottom tier
• Lettering in deep navy blue: HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Putting it together

1. Cut both strips from 80 to 110 lb card.
2. Glue the cakes, star and heart to the inner panels while the strip is flat.
3. Fold both strips along their dashed lines and glue each tab to make two square rings.
4. Set the blue ring inside the red one, so the scene shows through the windows.
5. Glue the HAPPY BIRTHDAY label across the front or onto a base card.

Size guide

At smaller widths the stars and fold dashes get tight. Under 5 inches, the lettering is no longer reliable.

Make it personal

Write a message on the inside panels before you assemble. Change the scene to the guest’s favorite colors with our guide to changing SVG colors, or print the cakes and label and cut them with Print Then Cut to save time.

Pairs well with

The Pop-Up Cake Card is a flat-folding alternative, and the Gift Card Holder can hold a present to go with it.