Wooden Ribbon Box
Okay, who is the present wrapper of your family? In my family, it’s me. I wrap most of the gifts. I enjoy it because I can zone out. I’ll admit that I get kinda picky too when it comes to paper, ribbons, themes, etc. Why not combine my wrapping and woodworking into one mega awesome project: a box wrapped with a wooden ribbon.
This was a bucket list project for me. I always wanted to make it, but never had the time until recently. The smartest thing to do is to make a box and then figure out the ribbon that best fits. I did it the opposite and made the ribbon first…because it’s the coolest part and I was too excited to wait. I made my ribbon out of maple and walnut strips glued together. The middle maple section is thicker than the outside pieces. I made a template for the bow pieces in Inkscape, printed it out, and spray glued it to my ribbon board. Then it was a lot of bandsaw work and sanding using a spindle sander.
Once the bow pieces were made, I built the box itself. I wanted the top to be flush with the body of the box so that the ribbon can wrap straight down the sides. To do this and still account for seasonal wood movement, I made my own walnut plywood. I cut a piece of figured walnut into thinner pieces and glued them onto a piece of MDF. The MDF ensures that my lid is flat and won’t move, but it also makes the lid heavy. When making boxes, a heavy lid gives the project a feeling of quality. It’s like closing a car door. When you feel that hefty thud sound, it seems like it’s well made. It’s a big reason why humidor lids are often veneered MDF.
The box body is walnut with a maple liner. It was pretty simple construction. I cut miters for the sides of the box. Once the box was glued together, I added the maple interior liner so that the lid fits snuggly into place.
After the box was built and sanded, I wrapped it with my wooden ribbon. I used the rest of my ribbon to cut thin pieces at the table saw and glued those to the box. I added the ends of the bow in the four corners where the ribbon meets at the top of the box. To make it look more realistic, the ribbon ends were shaped so that they are elevated off the lid. Lastly, I added the bow circle pieces.
This was a cool piece and I’m excited that I finally got to make it. I have no idea what I’ll end up doing with it. Perhaps, it will hold my ribbon when I wrap presents next Christmas.
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