Window box maker
Window box template
A tuck end box with a window in the front wall, so what is inside shows. Choose a rectangle, rounded corners or an oval, and how wide a frame to leave.
How to fold it
Print at 100% on cardstock.
Cut the outline, then the window: a craft knife against a ruler for straight sides, slowly and in short strokes round the curves.
For a clear window, tape a piece of acetate or other clear film inside the front, 10 mm bigger than the window each way, before folding.
Crease every dashed line, fold the walls into a tube and glue the grey tab inside the side wall.
Close the bottom: the two dust flaps, then the lid, its tuck flap sliding down behind the back wall.
Put the gift in facing the window and close the top the same way.
How the template is drawn
The frame
The window is set in 11.5 mm (0.45 in) from every edge of the front at 3 × 2 × 4 in: 15% of the front's narrower side, never less than 6 mm. Under Settings it goes from 4 to 40 mm, and never past 35% of that side, so the window keeps at least 30% of it.
Window size
2.11 in (53.5 mm) wide and 3.11 in (78.9 mm) tall at the starting size; cut clear film 20 mm bigger each way, 2.89 in (73.5 mm) by 3.89 in (98.9 mm).
Three outlines
A plain rectangle, a rectangle with corners rounded to 15% of its narrower side (10 mm at most), or an oval touching the frame's inner edge on all four sides. The SVG cuts the same outline.
Nothing behind the window
Both lids hinge on the front wall and tuck in behind the back wall, and the glue tab lands on a side wall, so no flap or tab shows through the opening.
Window and tuck flaps
Each tuck flap is 30 mm (1.18 in) deep here and 0.8 mm (0.03 in) narrower than its lid on each side; it stays on the back wall, well away from the window.
Bakery boxes, favors and shop displays
A window lets a cookie, a candle, a bar of soap or a small toy show on the shelf without opening the box. An oval window suits a soft, round gift; rounded corners suit a label printed round it; a wide margin leaves room for a name.
Without a window, the same box is the tuck end box. For a gift that is opened from the top, try the box with lid; for treats carried by hand, the gable box; and for a long bar, the triangular prism box.
Cover the window from inside with clear acetate or a sandwich bag cut to size, so the film sits flat behind the opening before you fold the walls. Trim it to overlap the frame by a few millimeters all round, and a dab of glue along the frame's inner edge keeps it in place.
