These guys are, dare I say it, a hoot! Yep, I went there. With Halloween coming up soon, I think that they would make super fun packaging for Halloween party favors and treats for small groups of trick or treaters, and you can change up the colors to make owls that are dark and menacing or chocolate-y brown and somewhat less menacing.

The template includes everything that you’ll need to create the owl boxes, and I have a couple of tips that you can use to speed up the process if you need to make the boxes and are pressed for time.

Quick Tips

• The three pieces for the eyes are uniform sizes (2″, 1.5″, and 1″), and if you happen to have them on hand you can use circle or scallop circle paper punches in these sizes to quickly create the eyes.
• If you don’t have time to cut the ruffled feather accents for the front of the boxes, then you can cut  3″ wide x 1.25″ tall strips of paper and use paper edging scissors (I have Fiskars Clouds and Scallop, both of which work great in this project) to cut ruffles along the bottom of the strips of paper.

Supplies Needed

printable owl favor/treat box template (335Kb PDF)

cardstock in multiple colors

a printer

glue dots and double-sided tape

a stylus for scoring the paper (optional)

a ruler (optional)

a small cutting mat (optional)

a bone folder (optional)

Instructions

1. Print the template onto cardstock and cut out all of the pieces. Note: the template is split into three pages, and the third page contains the pieces that will typically be printed on a contrasting colored paper, so you can print the first two pages on one color and the third page onto another color.

2. For easy folding, score the box along the dotted lines using a stylus, a ruler, and a small cutting mat. Use a bone folder to create crisp folds along the scored lines.

3. Assemble the main box according to the instructions found in the template. Assemble the owl’s eyes with glue dots or double-sided tape, using the diagram in the template file as your guide.

4. Attach the eyes to the horn template using glue dots or double-sided tape. If you’re making a snow owl (see the orly? guy above), then you won’t need the outer eye template or the horn template, and you can attach the eyes directly under the front flap of the box. If you’re making an owl with horns, attach to the front flap after the eyes have been attached to the horn piece.

5. Attach the feather ruffle pieces using glue dots or double-sided tape. Start at the bottom of the box (attach the first ruffle flush with the bottom of the box) and space them evenly as you go up. Owls with horns will only need three ruffles, while the snow owl will need four.

6. Fill with treats or a small gift and seal the box shut using glue dots, double-sided tape, or even a small piece of velcro.

photos by Kristen Magee