Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Ornaments: Free Papercraft!

Do you have room on your tree for one more ornament? Because lookie:

A little Bertie Bott's box!

This is roughly half the size of the real candy box, and - I'm proud to say - much easier to make. Yep, this is a completely different template, since the full-size boxes are a HUGE pain in the keister. That top peak never wants to sit right or stay flush, and even the ones in Universal's display windows are covered with unsightly Scotch tape to hold them down. (Which does make me feel better, but still.)

After I nearly lost my mind wrestling with the full size boxes, John and I set out to make an easier template; one that requires only one seam on top instead of four, so the peak is nice and sharp.

 We started with Little Falling Star's free box art, and after much tweaking and Frankensteining and practice runs, we finally got it! Then we added photos of jelly beans to all the windows, so you can skip the tedious cutting-out-windows-and-filling-with-candy step.

I won't keep you in suspense; here's our finished template:

Right-click and hit "save" to download, then print at 100% size on satin photo paper. 

This is still slightly tricky to put together, though, so let me walk you through it:

YOU WILL NEED:

- a craft blade

- a ruler

- an awl (or something similarly pointy to score the paper)

- rubber cement or contact cement 

- head pins 

- round nose pliers

- pretty beads (optional)

After you've cut out your template with the craft blade, flip it over, and score the following red lines on the BACK side:

Use a ruler and awl, and really scratch those lines in if you're using photo paper, since it's thick.

The bottom flaps can be hard to get right, so John's added tiny black marks on your printed template edges to help you find them. Poke a little hole in these marks, flip the paper over, and use the holes as a guide for scoring.

Now, before you fold anything, apply your cement to all the tabs on the front side, and then to the edges where they'll stick on the back side.

A Q-tip is great for spreading the cement, since it's such a small area.

Once the cement is dry (which only takes a few seconds), start at the top and assemble just the peak:

Now stop here, so you can insert the head pin for the ornament hanger.

To do that, use your awl (or other pokey thing) to poke a tiny hole in the very center of the peak:

Then stick your head pin through from the bottom

Updated to add: As suggested by some brilliant commenters, add a bead to the underside of the pin here, too, for better support. I'll be doing that next time!

Ta-da!

Now add some pretty beads, if you like:

 

... and use pliers to twist the remaining bit of pin into a loop.
(I actually use a 1-step Looper for this. It's a life-saver.)

From here you can fold and assemble the box sides, which are quite simple. 

The box bottom doesn't need glue; just fold in the two-tab flap first, then the sides, then the final tab slides under, like so:

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out, you guys; I had the flap order all wrong for the first 6 boxes! Ha! Um, spatial reasoning is not my strong point.

Now add an ornament hanger, and you're done! Since the ornament is only being held up by a head pin, I don't recommend putting anything inside the box, or you'll risk the pin popping out.

However, if you're not hanging the box, go nuts and fill 'er up! Just be sure to tell people they have to open it from the bottom, not the top.

One last tree shot:

Hope you guys like my last-minute Christmas craft! Anyone think you'll try one? If so, please share pics over on Facebook, so I can see!

(I'm already planning a HoneyDukes tree for next year. AW YEAH CAN'T STOP ME. Muah-ha-haaa!!)