I am so excited to bring you the first in a series of new-to-hybrid tutorials written by my very talented pal Sara! Download the files, follow Sara’s super simple instructions and you’ll have you own pretty little pillow box – just perfect for packaging up those very special Valentine gifts!

“Hello! I’m Sara, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kate over the past couple of years making printable goodies for her store, with lots & lots of her gorgeous doodles

Recently, Kate asked if I would like to put together a series of hybrid tutorials to share with you via her blog – and of course I said yes! I thought I’d start with something sweet and simple: a pillow box. I think most of you will be familiar with pillow boxes, so I figured this would be the ideal starting point to tempt you all to try your hand at making something hybrid!

Hybrid isn’t something to worry about – really, really! It literally means taking the digital goodies from your hard drive, printing them out & making something with them, whether a card, calendar or box.

I promise that you’ll only need the very basic of tools too:

• your printer
• card
• adhesive (I use double sided craft tape in this tutorial)
• something to cut out with (scissors or a craft blade – I tend to use both)
• something to score/ crease & fold with (a score board would be lovely, but even a butter knife & ruler will do the trick)
• maybe some ribbon or other pretty embellishment if you wish

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to a download, which includes this how-to-make, the 12x12in paper I made with Kate’s designs plus a ready-to-print pillow box, which will look something like this when assembled:

So let’s get started:

1. Print the pillow box onto card or heavy photo paper & cut out.

I tend use a combination of a craft knife (with a metal ruler as my guide) & scissors to cut out, as I find I cut straighter lines with a knife and ruler.  Scissors & a steady hand would do the job just as well though!

2. Score/ crease all the faint, dashed guidelines on the box. The curves are the trickiest parts to score, but just take your time & you’ll be fine!

To score straight lines, I use a scoreboard & bone folder as you can see in the photo, but you can use a bone folder & ruler or even such as a butter knife & ruler to do this – just remember to protect your fingers & work surface!  Scoreboards & bone folders are readily available from craft shops and are a very useful tool to have if you enjoy making hybrid goodies such as this!

3. Gently bend & pinch the curved sides into shape.

4. Apply adhesive (I tend to use double sided craft tape) where indicated on the design, and stick to the plain inside of the opposite side, forming the pillow box shape.

5. Fold one end of the pillow box in.  Add your gift to the box & then close up the other end.

6. Optional: Add your tag and/or any other form of embellishment you like, such as ribbon, glitter or blooms.

Finally, here is the download I promised!

I hope you have enjoyed this first ‘How to Make’ hybrid tutorial  – and if any one has any requests for future hybrid tutorials, then please just ask!”

Sara