Hi friends, Amanda here! I’m back today with a big one... a beautiful Vending Machine! Although I designed this for my favorite holiday EVER, (Christmas...duh) this template is super versatile and you can pick whatever theme you want. Not only can it be used for small toy giveaways, slime, stickers, etc., it can also be a very cool “reward” system for young children completing simple tasks/chores, or my favorite use ever… drawing Secret Santa! I love that this actually turns and lets a ball roll out!
This is a more advanced 3D paper project, so if you’ve never made 3d paper creations before, I recommend starting with one of our smaller 3d paper tutorials to make sure you are comfortable with the techniques before tackling something this large. If you're a seasoned crafter and up for a good time, let's dive in!
Materials:
- Cardstock Warehouse cardstock papers:
- Electronic Die Cutting Machine
- Template from Carolina's Creations (This template was part of a set, so you'll get some fun bonus files as well!)
- Gumball Capsules (1.1”-1.5” work well, 1.77” is too big!)
- Electronic Cutting Machine
- Adhesives:
We’ll be assembling in sections today, and saving the most intimidating part for the end… but really, it’s not bad at all! Just take your time, and use the video that comes with the template as a reference if needed.
Top Half
To start, upload the file into your software of choice. The original file from Carolina’s Creations has a designated print-then-cut rectangle for you to add your own decorations. I put in a Christmas background with some characters, then also cut each character out individually to layer on top of the printed background for more depth.
Once you have the inside decorations the way you want them, choose your colors, and cut all your pieces. Using the layout of the original file as a guide, separate your pieces into piles to make them easier to work with. Now grab your glue, take a deep breath, and let’s get started.
You’ll notice a square lid with dashed lines; we’re going to fold along and then glue the tabs so they are hidden when the lid is placed on top of the machine. You’ll also see a dashed circle; this serves as a guide for where you’ll glue your claw in the center, so this should be assembled on the inside. There are two claws because we’ll be gluing them “front-to-back” so the shiny silver part is visible on both sides. When gluing them together, make sure you don’t glue the circle tabs together, as those are what will be glued inside the lid.
You can set this aside now, as we’ll be putting together the top panels for our box. The two panels without side tabs are the side panels of the box, and the panel that has two tabs to glue with the clear window area is the front of the box. The back panel looks the same except it does not have a cutout because we’ll be gluing a background inside of it.
The borders for the window can get glued directly to the acetate after you’ve removed any film (if applicable), and then that can get glued directly onto each panel. We’ll also be folding along all of the dashed scored tabs and then applying a bit of glue to assemble the shape of the box.
For the back panel, you can glue the background in first and any layered images using foam tape if you prefer. Once the shape of the box is made, we’ll push out the tabs on the bottom to apply glue “inside” and then using the square with the negative space, we’ll glue that on the inside bottom of the box to reinforce the tabs. Once that’s done, I set that portion of the machine to the side.
Bottom Half
Next, we’re going to assemble the bottom half of our box using very similar methods. The main difference here is no acetate. You’ll see four large panels that will form the shape of the bottom box. The front and back both have a circle cutout that needs to be glued in the same direction, and the side panels on this section, just like the section above, don’t have side tabs. (They do have tabs for the top and bottom of the box, though!) I also chose this time to add the small square outline along the square cutout of the front panel of the bottom of the box, just so it was one less piece to deal with later.
I then grabbed the piece of cardstock with guides on it (two rectangles and a circle), and I folded it in half while folding the tabs opposite each other, and then glued the middle part together. That piece will now have to slide through the cutout of the front panel and have each tab glued- one up, one down.
As you complete the shape of the box, you’ll want to flip it upside down (circle area on the bottom, rectangle cut out on top) and find the panel that has the dashed markings on it - this panel should be lined up to seal the box where the rectangle cut out is on the box.
Bottom Half - Lid
Now we’re going to prep the top area of the box. You’ll want to flip the box again so the circle areas are facing the top. Grab the strip of cardstock with the small trapezoids and using a pencil or thin round object, run the paper across so that it can create a curve. Next, fold the tabs and glue the two ends together. This circle will go into the panel with the circle cutout. We’ll then take the open “ring” and carefully glue it over the tabs to hide them. This part remains visible on the box, so be very careful gluing it in place.
Tube
We’re more than halfway done now, but these next two parts require laser focus. Seriously, I had to turn my music off so I wouldn’t mess up, lol. But I promise it will be worth it!
There’s another panel with a circle cutout, but it also has those small trapezoids on the top and bottom. Similar to how we rolled the paper earlier using a round object, you’ll want to get a nice curve on this piece without it losing its shape. The trapezoids closer to the circle part should be folded downward while the ones at the bottom should be folded up/outward. You’ll also notice a marking on the side - this is so we know exactly where to glue to get the perfect-sized tube for our machine.
Next, you’ll have two full small circles. The smallest one will be used to insert through the hole in our tube to “close” the tube. We’ll need to fold and then glue the tabs onto it. We’ll then take the slightly larger circle to hide those tabs and glue it to the outside of our tube. Now this is the perfect time to make sure your tube fits through the hole on the panel.
Next, we’re going to take the remains circle with the cutout space and take it through the tube to have it act as reinforcement for those smaller tabs we have.
We’ll be working with just two small pieces here before we get into the trickiest part. There are two small pieces in our file that are identical to each other. These will serve as “stoppers” on our tube - making sure that the item we will place inside comes out from the tube and doesn’t get sent “backwards”. Fold the tabs opposite of each other and glue the larger pieces together. Then insert the longer piece into the cutout on the tube and lay the tabs down to glue them on the actual tube to keep them in place.
Movement Assembly
How are we feeling?! Hopefully pleased with what we’ve created so far, and relieved that we’re almost done! In this section, we’ll be using all of our remaining pieces. There are two sets of identical-sized cuts. In the first set, one of the cuts has a circle. We want to start with those two pieces (one with a circle cutout, one solid). Fold the shorter lengths together while they are facing opposite each other. When it’s done, it’ll look like you have formed a “Y”. Then theres another set of cuts that look identical, but they too, face opposite each other. With the pieces you just glued, make sure the circle cutout is on the right side, and take the panel that has a long tab on the right side of it - and on the inside of the tab add glue. You’ll want to glue the edge of the other panel directly onto it - and then repeat for the left side.
That wasn’t so bad, was it? Now we’re going to grab the panel with the circle cut out and place it over/on top of the panel we glued til it touches the corner, and glue it down. Repeat again for the opposite side.
Now with the circle panel still on the right, we’re going to carefully add glue to all of the tabs except those that will be on the “top” (everything north of the circle). Once thats placed inside carefully, we’ll go ahead and add glue to the top panels. The cutout circle with reinforcement should be closest to you (front of box).
Decorating
Phew, ok that part is over! Now we’re going to flip over our FIRST box we created, apply glue to the bottom tabs, and carefully place it on top of the SECOND box we assembled. They should line up perfectly!
Lastly, it’s time to glue our borders (and hide the seams between the boxes!) and add any other decor pieces you want. I wanted a bit more color on the front, so I sliced a copy of the “buttons” panel and glued it on, changing it to pink. I also added some small Christmas elements to the front. For my final piece of decoration, I layered up a sign for the top using foam tape and attached it to the lid.
And there you have it! If you made it this far, congratulations, and I hope you LOVE your paper vending machine. These are so fun to customize for any occasion, and I can’t wait to make another one. Maybe a Halloween one for trick-or-treaters? So many possibilities and opportunities to add some handmade joy to the simple moments in life.
Thanks so much for joining me for this huge project, and I'll be back next month with something new. ❤️ If you're already itching for another project, you can find all of our tutorials HERE!
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Happy Crafting!
Amanda (@lacedesignsstudio_)