Creating A Wedding Cake Card Holder: Easy Diy Guide

A wedding cake card holder is a great way to safely store all your wedding cards and is a fun DIY project. You can make a three-tiered wedding cake card box with papier-mâché nesting boxes, glue, paint, wallpaper, and decorations such as trim, beads, and silk flowers. Alternatively, you can make a pop-up wedding cake card using card stock, ribbon, and decorations like cake toppers and candles.

Supplies you'll need

To make a wedding cake card box, you will need a set of papier-mâché nesting boxes. These boxes are of graduated sizes, with one fitting inside the other. Ensure that the smallest box is large enough to cut a slot in its top to accommodate the average greeting card.

You will also need a glue gun and glue sticks, coordinating paint, wallpaper, heavy-duty gift wrap, or scrapbook paper to cover the boxes, and a box cutter or X-acto knife for cutting the slot in the boxes. For decorations, you can use assorted trim, beads, sequins, pearls, silk flowers, etc., to decorate the boxes to resemble a wedding cake. Additionally, you will need a paintbrush or foam brush.

If you plan to add a topper to your wedding cake card box, you will need to cut the slot in the smallest box off-center and towards the back of the box top. You can then decorate the box with items such as ribbon, silk flowers, wired pearls, and scalloped wedding-look lace to give it an elegant finish.

Cut a card slot

The card slot is the most important part of your wedding cake card holder, so it's important to get it right. You can choose to cut the slot before or after covering the boxes—cutting the slot first will likely result in neater edges, but it means you'll have to tediously wrap and glue the edges under to cover them. If you decide to cut the slot after covering the boxes, make sure you have a very sharp box cutter or X-acto knife to ensure clean edges.

The smallest box will be the one with the card slot, so make sure it's large enough to fit the average greeting card. Mark the slot with a ruler and pencil, making it the length of a standard greeting card and no more than half an inch wide. If you plan on adding a topper to your wedding cake card holder, you'll need to place the slot off-centre and towards the back of the box top. Carefully cut the slot and use an X-acto knife to clean up any messy edges.

If you cut the slot before covering the box, you'll need to go in with your X-acto knife, make a cut in the centre of the slot, fold the cut edges under, and glue them down on the inside of the box.

Make holes for cards to drop through

This is the most complicated part of the whole process, so make sure you pay attention! First, set the box lid aside and draw a circle on the bottom of the box that goes with the lid. Leave a two-inch border of the box bottom when drawing the circle. Cut it out.

Next, measure the width of the bottom of that box and subtract an inch. This will give you the size of the hole you need to cut in the lid of the next box. Be careful not to cut the entire bottom out, or make the hole the same size as the box on top, as you will need some space to glue the boxes together. Draw and cut out the circle on the lid of the next box.

Repeat the process for the remaining boxes, ensuring that you do not cut out the bottom of the largest box, or you will end up with a card avalanche! The holes do not need to be perfect as they will not be visible when the boxes are stacked.

Once you have finished cutting the holes, stack the boxes with the smallest box on top. You should now be able to drop a card into the slot and have it fall all the way through to the bottom box. If it doesn't work, you may need to adjust the size of the holes or the position of the boxes.

Cover the box

For this step, you can use a combination of paint and wallpaper, or heavy-duty gift wrap and scrapbook paper. You will also need a paintbrush or foam brush to apply the paint.

If you cut the slot and holes before covering the boxes, you will need to make a cut in the centre of the slot and holes, fold the cut edges under, and glue them down on the inside of the box.

If you choose to cover the boxes first, as I did, you will need to make a cut in the centre of the slot and holes after covering. Then, use your X-Acto knife to clean up any messy edges and touch them up with paint.

For the lids, simply lay them down on your paper, trace around them, cut them out, and glue them down. For the sides, measuring is required. Measure the height of each side and the circumference of the box to get the correct paper measurement before cutting. Always add about 1/2" of overlap to be safe.

Glue the paper to the sides and trim any overhanging edges. If your edges are not perfect, don't worry—you can always cover them up with trim. However, be sure to glue down any loose edges.

Decorate the box

Now comes the fun part! Decorating the box is where you can really let your creativity shine and personalize your wedding cake card holder. The style of your decorations should align with the overall theme and tone of the wedding. If the wedding has a fun and bright colour scheme, you could cut out polka dots from scrapbooking paper or add colourful ribbons.

If you're going for a more elegant look, consider using 2"-wide iridescent ribbon cut into 4" lengths, glued to the top box, and adorned with silk roses and wired pearls. You can also use wired pearls and ribbon around the bottom of each layer to conceal any uneven edges. Another elegant touch is to glue a strip of scalloped wedding-look lace around the edge of each box lid to resemble decorative frosting.

For a fondant cake look, add ribbons around the bottom of each layer and finish with a loopy bow on top. If you're feeling extra creative, you could even make a fun topper from a children's toy, ensuring it suits the wedding theme.

Once you're happy with your decorations, glue all the boxes together and place them on a pedestal cake plate for added height and stability. Finally, create a tent card from scrapbook paper, clearly labelled "Cards", so guests know this unique creation is for their well-wishes and not for dessert!

Frequently asked questions