Make A Spring House Explosion Treat Box

This fun Spring house explosion treat box opens to reveal a little basket that can hold treats or a small toy and four uniquely decorated sides with adorable Spring characters. One side even has a playful tic-tac-toe game with the opposite side holding a pastel flower that twists open to access the game pieces. It’s a wonderful handmade gift for kids, family, and friends and makes a fun addition to any Easter celebration. I created this whimsical 3D paper explosion box using an assortment of my favorite cardstock colors and my Cricut machine.

Also, check out this similar explosion box craft: my Explosion Stacking Gift Box that you can customize with personal notes or small gifts put into the little pockets.

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Supplies for Making The Spring House Explosion Treat Box

Here’s everything you’ll need to create this cute Spring house treat box.

• Cricut cutting machine
• 65-pound medium-weight cardstock. I recommend 12×12 Cardstock Shop for high-quality cardstock options. (For this project, I used pastel Spring colors.)
• Lightweight card stock or scrapbooking paper (recommended for smaller, delicate layers)
• Cutting mat
• Brayer tool
• Scoring stylus or scoring wheel
• Craft glue. I use Bearly Art glue (my favorite), which dries clear and works well with any papercraft projects.
• Small candy, treats, or mini toys to place inside the box
• Gel pen for adding the miniature flower centers (optional)
• Spring House Easter Explosion Treat Box templates

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Download The Spring House Treat Box Templates

• If you’re an existing A-Star Crafter, log in to access and download the Spring House Treat Box templates here.

• If you haven’t yet joined A-Star Crafters, click JOIN A-STAR CRAFTERS below, create your account, log in, and go directly to the collection here. Join A-Stars to get access to the templates for this fun Cricut paper project and so much more!

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How to Make The Spring House Explosion Box: Video Tutorial

Once you’ve gathered your supplies and downloaded the Spring House templates, watch the video below for hands-on visual instruction and/or follow the step-by-step tutorial below the video.

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Steps for Making the Spring House Explosion Box

Follow the step-by-step tutorial below to create this fancy Spring treat box.

1. Upload the Template and Check the Sizes.

Upload the template into Design Space. The template comes into Design Space grouped, so if you want to ungroup it to check the size of the base of the box, do right-click then Ungroup.

• Next, select the base of the explosion box. You want to ensure that the base of the explosion box – which is the largest piece in the design – stays under 11.5 inches wide so it fits on a 12 × 12 cutting mat. You should also avoid scaling the design too small, since some pieces are detailed and may become difficult to cut.
• If you do resize the project, always resize the entire design as a group to keep all pieces proportional.

2. Change the Fold Lines to Score Lines.

You’ll notice black lines in the design that indicate the fold lines. For any pieces of this design where you see fold lines, you’ll need to change them to score lines. To do this:

• Select the black line layers in the Layers panel.
• Change the Operation to Score.
• Select both the score lines and their matching shape.
• Click Attach at the bottom right of the screen. This ensures that the score lines stay where you want them when you cut the design.

Pro Tip: Once everything is set, it’s a crafter’s best practice to always save your project so you don’t need to repeat the setup later.

3. Use Color Sync To Simplify Cutting.

Many pieces use similar colors, so it’s helpful to combine them in Design Space to reduce the number of cutting mats and save cardstock and effort during cutting. To combine colors, open the Color Sync panel and simply drag similar colors together.

4. Cut Out The Design.

Now you’re ready to cut the design on your cutting machine. You’ll cut several colors depending on your design choices (white, peach, brown, yellow, blue, etc.).

• Load your cardstock onto the cutting mat, using your brayer tool to press it firmly onto the mat.
• Select the Medium Cardstock setting as the machine cuts and scores all the pieces.

Repeat this process for each color of cardstock until all pieces are cut. Once finished, remove the pieces carefully from the mat.

Pro Tip: For the face pieces that will fold inward, I recommend using lightweight scrapbook paper instead of thick cardstock. This will help the box fold more smoothly when closing.

5. Fold and Glue The Box Base And Lid.

• Begin assembling your design by folding the two largest pieces: the explosion box base and the house roof lid. Follow the score lines to fold and create sharp, clean creases.
• Next, glue the lid tabs together to form the top of the box. Press and hold the tabs until the glue sets.

Pro Tip: Take your time in folding along score lines— crisp folds are key to making sure everything opens and closes smoothly. Good creases make a big difference with these kinds of interactive projects.

6. Assemble the Chimney And Roof Pieces.

• Fold the chimney along its score lines and glue the tabs to form a small box shape. The longer tabs will be used to attach the chimney to the roof. Once glued, set the chimney aside for now.
• Next, glue the decorative scalloped roof layer onto the roof base.

7. Add the Small Decorative Pieces.

As you add the decorative pieces to the box, you can follow the layout shown in your cutting software, but feel free to get creative with placement. These elements allow you to personalize your explosion box and give it your own unique style:

• Bunnies
• Birds
• Flowers
• Greenery
• Eggs
• Fence pieces

8. Assemble The Treat Basket.

Now, let’s assemble the small basket that will sit in the center of the box and hold the treats. To do this:

• Fold along the score lines.
• Apply glue to the side tabs.
• Press together to form the basket shape.

Once you’ve made the basket, you can now glue it to the center of the explosion box base or add it after attaching the smaller elements.

9. Decorate the Inside of the Box.

Next, we’ll decorate the inside panels of the box. At this point, you can see your explosion box beginning to take on the cuteness factor!

• Add the square background layers to each side panel. These layers create a framed look and add extra color to the design.

• You can also add bunny and chick face layers, Easter eggs, or other small decorative elements provided in the template. (As mentioned previously, for any smaller pieces that will fold inward, it works better to use lightweight scrapbook paper instead of thick cardstock so the box folds more smoothly when closing.)

• Glue the bunny character behind the center basket so that it pops up when the box opens.

10. Add the Tic-Tac-Toe Game Pieces.

Including this fun tic-tac-toe game on one side of this adorable craft is such a neat feature.

As you assemble the little carrot pieces and X-shaped game markers, you’ll store them inside the small flower-shaped container. To assemble the container:

• Fold along all score lines, pushing the folds inward to form a star-like shape.
• Place the game pieces inside.
• Fold the petals over in a fan-like pattern to hold them in place.
• Glue this container onto one side of the box.

11. Decorate And Add A Message to the Message Panel.

You’re almost done! Decorate this last panel with a few small elements as shown below and attach a “Happy Easter” or other special message.

Glue the message panel to the inside of the foldout window.

12. Fill The Box And Attach the Lid.

Add treats or small toys to the center basket. As you close the box, you’ll want to go easy as you bring the box and lid together. First, fold the four sides upward, and as you hold three of the sides together, use the lid to gently capture the fourth side as you place it on top.

Explosion boxes can be a little full, so take your time positioning the lid until everything settles into place.

13. Attach The Roof To The Lid And Decorate The Outside of The House.

As our final step, we’ll assemble the roof panels and decorate the outside of the house.

• Glue the chimney to the roof. Insert the chimney through the rectangular opening in the roof piece and glue it in place.

• Next, as you assemble the roof panels, align each panel to be slightly inset from the edges as shown below. Hold for each panel until the glue sets.

• Once the roof is dry, glue it to the lid. Add generous amounts of glue to the front and back of the lid then put the roof on top, aligning the bottom edge of the lid to the edge of the roof.
• Decorate the outside of the house with windows, grass and flowers, birds and butterflies, and garden fence pieces, styling it to your preference.

Pro Tip: If the tiny flower centerpieces are too tricky to glue, simply use a colored gel pen to add dots in the centers instead.

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Final Thoughts

This Spring House Explosion Treat Box is such a fun and colorful paper craft for Easter and springtime celebrations. Opening the box reveals a variety of sweet surprises, a hidden treat basket, and even a mini game of tic-tac-toe to enjoy. I love that you can customize the colors and decorations to match your style so that each box is uniquely your own creation!

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Looking for More Easter And Springtime Craft Tutorials?

Be sure to check out these other Easter and Springtime crafts, especially the A-Star Crafter favorites featured below. And don’t miss the best Spring craft projects to make this year, including a variety of Springtime paper flowers, paper butterflies, and shadow boxes.