A project for all the craftsy people! I’ve always wanted to try making one of these, and it turned out a lot better than I expected. It only takes a few hours, and costs < $100! If you don’t get all fancy with the decorations, it would cost even less (e.g. not painting it, drawing on the numbers, etc).
Materials Needed:
- Mailing boxes
- Green spray paint
- Numbers (I had originally planned on using glitter number stickers, but found these adorable ones instead. They came as part of an advent calendar banner kit!)
- Glue (for the numbers)
- Heavy-duty tape (I used Gorilla Clear Repair Tape)
- Assorted beer
- Tree topper star (optional)
The mailing boxes cost about $23 for a set of 25 off of Amazon, and my Michaels haul for the green spray paint, star, paper numbers, glue, and tape came to a total of $26 (with a 50% off coupon on the most expensive item, which I think was the tape at $8). The beers cost $40: one “World Beers” 9-pack and a “12 Days of Beers” pack. I was originally going to buy three different 9-packs which would’ve cost $50, but when I got there they happened to have the 12-pack—which ended up working out perfectly (I only used 21 boxes because we’re leaving for Christmas, so the rest of them will be other presents!)
Instruction-wise, it’s easy as pie. The paint only takes a few hours to dry before you can glue on the numbers. After that, you tape the boxes together in each layer (so tape the bottom row of 6 together, then the next layer of 5 together, and so on), then attach each row to the next to build the pyramid. Last but not least, you fill all the boxes with the bottles (and another fun idea is putting in little slips of paper with date night ideas or other surprises like event tickets) and close them up!
The finished product decked out with lights and all, and the beer/date idea-filled boxes prior to closing!
The hard part was really just getting it all done in time and keeping it hidden. I got the boxes on Tuesday, painted them Thursday morning before work, decorated them during lunch, hid them overnight, then put it all together Friday morning at home since it would’ve been hard to move if I taped it all together and filled it with the bottles ahead of time. I also had to hide it with makeshift materials so I could unveil it when I got home, since I usually get home later!
The SO was definitely surprised (I fooled him when the boxes came by saying I was going to use them for wrapping other people’s presents) and it’s been a fun way to count down the days until we head home for the holidays. There are a few surprises in there I can’t wait to open up as well—tomorrow is one of them!
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the project or process, and happy crafting! ?
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