Valentine Truck Treat Box

Valentine Truck Side View

Valentine Truck Side View #2

Valentine Truck Back View

Valentine Truck Front Viiew

Last year I made a Valentine wagon, so I decided to make a Valentine truck this year. Finished size is approximately 4-1/2 x 1-3/4 inches and is big enough to hold a few chocolate candy hearts, etc.  I made the truck using the Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge, some circle punches, and a simple box construction.

Directions:

• Cut 2 trucks found on p. 71 of Everyday Paper Dolls at 2-1/2 inches to get a 5 inch long truck. (The 2-1/2 inches represents the height of the truck.) I cut the truck front away from the truck bed by hand just behind where the door ends at the window frame and shortened the bed by about 1/4 inch on each truck. The truck in the cartridge is a safari truck and I wanted more of a pickup. Attach the two pieces back together, overlapping the pieces by approximately 1/4 inch to get a 4-1/2 inch truck. (Make sure you do both truck pieces the same.) This also gives it a more realistic look because it looks like the door could open, though it doesn't.  
• To make the box to attach the truck pieces to, start with a piece of matching cardstock cut at 3-1/2 x 6 inches. Score at 1 inch on all 4 sides. Cut up to the score line on the 2 long sides, fold in the tabs to create the box. Secure with heavy duty adhesive, score tape, etc. Attach truck pieces to each long side of box, keeping them even so the truck will be freestanding. 
• For the tires, I punched out four 1 inch circles in black. For the insides of the wheels, I punched out four 1/4 inch circles in gray.  
• For the fenders, I punched out 2 more 1 inch circles in red, cut them in half, and attached them onto the truck above the wheels to resemble fenders. I added them with dimensional dots. 
• For the "metal" trim pieces on the truck, I used a silver striped washi tape, but you could also use strips of silver paper or gray cardstock. 
• I added two 1/4 inch punched out red circles for the taillights and two 1/4 inch gray circles for the headlights. 
• I used a gray marker to color the edges of the truck where it looks like the headlights are and added a small mark on each truck door to resemble handles. 
• In order for the candy to only go inside the bed of the truck, I added a piece of cardstock inside the truck. I cut a piece of red cardstock 1-1/2 x 4 inches, scored it on the short ends at 1 inch, folded it, and placed it loosely inside the truck. You could attach it if you want to, but it actually fits inside and stays in place without doing so. That way you could hide another little goodie under this piece of cardstock. I added some punched out hearts on top of this piece. 
• I added a few punched out hearts onto the side of the truck on both sides, along with a Valentine greeting on one side. I made the greeting on my computer and printed it out.
• Add some paper shred and candy to the truck bed. 

There are a lot of steps involved, but it isn't really that hard to make. I think any little boy would love it, maybe even a husband! Instead of red, you could make it the color of his truck!