How To Make A Charming Entry Christmas Package Display - Part 2

This charming entry Christmas Package Display doesn’t have to be as time-consuming as I have made it! Lol! You can buy boxes or use boxes you have and just make the holes in the lids and the bottoms as needed for the pole, Mod Podge the gift paper onto the boxes, and decorate with ribbons and bows.

We had plenty of cardboard on hand. I’ve been hoarding it, much to Dave’s chagrin. These I’m making are heavy-duty and will last for many years.

On with the directions and the fun part. Choose your wrapping paper. I found this paper at Sam’s Club. One side is a green plaid and the other is red with gold Merry Christmas type. Your paper doesn’t have to be two-sided like this but it makes coordinating easy!

This is not at all what I originally envisioned but as I was looking at the available gift wrap, I remembered the Magical Snowman Wreath on the front door! I remembered the red and green ribbons and thought this green plaid and red Merry Christmas wrapping paper would coordinate perfectly and so it does.

Wrapping the Smallest Box Lids

Lay the wrapping paper out on a flat surface and cut a piece long and wide enough to cover the top, the sides, and wrap over the sides an inch or two. The inside won’t show once the package has been assembled.

Brush Mod Podge on the top of the lid, completely covering the surface. (I used Outdoor Mod Podge for this project.)

(We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales through this link at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting this website!)

Turn the lid upside down and center on the gift wrap. Then, flip the lid right side up and smooth out the gift wrap with your hand and fingers.

On one corner of the box lid, make a cut from the edge of the paper in line with the inner edge of the box. See the picture►. Cut all the way to the edge of the box lid.

On the adjoining edge of the gift wrap, cut the paper to the edge of the previous cut, leaving a half-inch or so to wrap around the corner. Repeat this on the opposite edge. The two cuts to the edge of the box need to be on the same side of the box lid! The ones that wrap the end will be on opposite sides.

Brush more Mod Podge on one end of the gift wrap that will wrap around two of the corners. Pull the gift wrap up and over the edge and smooth out the gift wrap. I snipped the corners at the top to make it easier to fold down on the inside. Repeat on the opposite side.

Glue the remaining edges with the Mod Podge, straight up and over the sides.

Cover the outer sides and the top with the Mod Podge. When you paint this on, even with a foam brush, there will be a tell-tale brush stroke showing the direction it was applied. I used this to my advantage.

You need to apply three coats to the outside of the boxes and lids per the directions on the package. In order to remember how many times I painted each surface, I painted the first coat in one direction. The second coat was applied in the opposite direction and the third, at a diagonal. If you do this, you will easily know how many coats you have applied. It leaves a nice understated textural quality, too.

Wrapping the ‘Box’

I left the bottom of the ‘box’ opened for a reason. The plan is to string Christmas lights up through the hole in the bottom box lid and around the middle box. Then, run it through the hole in the lid of the middle box and around the base of the top box.

To wrap these, cut a piece of wrapping paper a couple of inches longer than the width of all four sides and a few inches longer than the length of the sides. See the picture above.

Mod Podge the overhang of two-inches onto one edge of the box. Smooth the gift wrap with your hand and allow this to dry for a few minutes. The opposite end needs to run straight along the edge of the box and overlapping the two-inches. Cut the edge nice and straight to look finished.

Clip the wrapping paper so it will fit inside the ‘box’. Make sure you don’t make these clips on the side where both ends of the paper meet! It is much easier to fold up and glue in this way. (Trust me, briefly distracted, I found out the hard way…) With the Mod Podge, glue down the flap you just made.

Turn the box on the unfinished edge and fold the edges in as you would wrap the ends of a present. Then, glue the ends you folded on each edge and glue the loose edge on top of that. Finish applying the glue to the entire flap, fold up, and smooth with your hand.

Your package should look like this. Begin to cover all the gift wrap with 3-layers of Mod Podge in the same way we applied it to the lid.

Be aware! Don't lay the flat sides on any surface for any length of time after the Mod Podge had been applied!  Be sure to only set on the opened ends. If you place the Mod Podged ends on your counter or on something, even if you think it is relatively dry, it may stick to the surface and remove some of the paper.  The glue may be difficult to remove from the counter,too.  I used wooden chopsticks to set the box on, lifting it up off the surface.

How To Finish The Middle-Sized and Large Box Lids

The next step is to make the lid for the middle box. This will all be done just like the first box. When the box lid is made and just before adding the gift wrap, make a circular hole right in the middle.

First, taking a ruler, place it on two opposite corners of the box and draw a line through the center. Move the ruler to the other corners and draw a line through the center, making an X. Where the two lines meet is the center.

*Using a compass, fitted with a blade, cut a circle slightly bigger than the pipe or stake that you are planning to use to hold the stack of packages together. Dave cut two 2″ PVC pipes for me just slightly shorter than the stack of three presents plus the depth I wanted it to sink into the dirt in the pot. I made the holes slightly larger to accommodate the string of lights to be woven through it, too.

*If you don't have a compass with a blade, there are other tools for this► Fiskars Circle Cutter, Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter,  and many others.  If you don't have these you could also use a compass or circle template to make the circle.  Then, just use an X-Acto knife to cut the circle.  Don't expect to cut through the cardboard in one swing of the tool.  Have patience and make several passes cutting around the circle in layers.  I usually use an X-Acto knife to cut through the bottom layer. (We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales through these links at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting this website!)

Next, glue the wrap to the lid in the same way you did for the small lid, completely covering the hole you made.

Then, using an X-Acto knife, cut from the edge of the hole to the center of the hole. Cut the exposed paper in half and one half, in half again.

Cut each of those sections into four more sections, as in the picture. Pull each little section up and glue over the edge to the inside of the box lid. Repeat this process until the entire circle is glued to the inside of the box lid. Next, paint Mod Podge over the top of each of the little flaps.

Then, just like the first box lid, apply three coats of Mod Podge to all the gift wrap and allow to dry for 72 hours.

Thank you for bearing with me on this long-winded instruction. I try to make sure each step is clear to you and it is taking longer than I expected. The next post is how to finish the large box, the ribbons, bows, and assembling. ►How To Make A Charming Entry Christmas Package Display Part 3 – The Final Touches.