Graduation Explosion Box

This post may contain Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure for more info

Make a fun Graduation explosion box for your graduate. This is a great way to give your graduate cash and/or gift cards with a fun twist! They’re going to love this graduation gift.

An explosion box is a box that automatically opens up when you open the lid. This graduation explosion box has many different elements that you can add to it, so you can customize it just the way you like. Add pictures, mini photo books, sweet messages, gift cards, cash and more all inside this box.

One of the best things about an explosion box is that it’s made with just paper and glue. And if you don’t have a cutting machine, you can use the explosion box SVG designs as guides to cut out your own boxes and lids.

View all of my Cricut Graduation ideas for more graduation gift ideas and decor!

How to Make an Explosion Box:

To make this Graduation explosion box, you will need:

• Medium to Heavy Weight Cardstock – I am using a combination of patterned cardstock (found at Hobby Lobby) and cardstock in school colors. You can find the double-sided gold glitter cardstock I am using here.
• Cricut Maker or Explore Cutting Machine and your standard cutting mat. Or simply cut the box shapes out if you don’t have a cutting machine.
• Scoring Stylus (which is what I will be using in this tutorial) or Scoring Wheel (Maker only). If your cutting machine doesn’t have the scoring feature, this scoring board and stylus is great to use.
• Glue – This Bearly Art craft glue is my favorite glue for paper crafts, and I will also be using hot glue for the box lids.
• Scotch Tape
• Yarn or some type of string
• Brass Fastener to attach the tassel
• Graduation Explosion Box SVG – (Download at the bottom of the post)

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Watch the full step-by-step video tutorial to learn how to make this Graduation explosion box here:

Upload the graduation explosion box SVG file to Cricut Design Space. Then ungroup your layers by clicking on “ungroup”.

If there are any elements that you don’t want to use, then go ahead and delete those. You can see what each design element is for below:

You will then need to modify all the lines so that they are score lines. To do this, click on a layer with lines and change the operation from “basic cut” to “score”. Then, attach the score lines to the layer it is grouped with.

Repeat this for all the layers that have lines. So, you will need to adjust this on both box layers and lids. As well as the 2 gift card holder designs and the photo album.

Then change all the text to pen in the operation menu. And attach the pen layer to the layer it writes on. You will do this for the gift card holders and the money pull tab.

Before cutting, don’t forget to personalize your year! Add the year to Class of! You can either cut and paste the year, use Cricut pens or slice the year out of the design.

Assembling the Exploding Box

Once everything is cut out, you are ready to assemble your graduation explosion box. Start with the largest box and fold on all the score lines. Then glue on the decorative pieces if you are using these. Before gluing them down, make sure they are turned the right way so that everything lines up correctly.

To assemble the gift card holders, fold on all of the score lines on the gift card holders and glue these to 2 different sides of the inside of your box. If using the picture frame, make sure to glue your picture under the frame (which I am not doing here).

Assemble the top lid by gluing all the tab pieces to the inside of the lid.

Note: When gluing the decorative pieces to the front of the box, make sure to glue them down far enough so the lid doesn’t cover them.

Glue the bottom of the middle box to the middle of your bottom box. And then assemble the lid for the middle box.

To assemble the tassel, place glue on the top of the tassel and then roll it until the entire tassel is rolled. Use string and a brass fastener to attach the tassel to the top of the outside box.

Tape your dollar bills together in a straight line and tape the pull tab to the end. Roll this up and place it in your middle box. It may help to tape the inside of the middle box first. Then pull the pull tab through the slot on the lid.

Close the box by folding the star pieces inward. You will need to fold on the stars where they naturally fold in. Add your gift cards and your lid and it’s ready to go!

Before downloading, please share this design on Pinterest – it’s quick to do and makes a HUGE impact to keep SVG Nation’s designs free to you.

To get this Graduation Explosion Box SVG File, enter your name and email into the form below and then click the “Get It Now!” button!

Please remember these are for personal use only.  If you’re looking to sell products using these designs, please purchase a Commercial Use License here