Valentine Papercraft: Free Printable Mailbox & Mini Valentine’s Day Cards

Send the sweetest love notes with this Valentine papercraft set featuring a free printable mailbox and mini Valentine’s Day cards. It’s an easy Valentine craft that can be used to hold sweets or just sweet sentiments!

Love Letters

One of my favorite movies is You’ve Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. I’ve watched it probably 1000 times, seriously! (I am a terrible insomniac and have a hard time getting any rest when my husband is gone.) Enter Kathleen and Joe, two business rivals who can’t stand each other in person but fall in love online. The sweet story, written and directed by Nora Ephron, never fails to lull me into a peaceful sleep.

While You’ve Got Mail has more to do with email in-boxes than mailboxes, it is based on the 1940s movie The Shop Around the Corner starring Jimmy Stewart and Margret Sullivan. In the movie, Alfred and Klara are rival employees of a gift shop who have been corresponding anonymously via a newspaper advertisement.

Long Distance Love

There’s something so sweet and timeless about these stories of love nurtured through correspondence. Or maybe I simply love both movies because they remind me of my own unique love story!

My husband and I met at the wedding of friends and dated long-distance until we got married. Most of our “dating” actually took place through letters and emails since we lived four states apart…  and he was floating around the Pacific Ocean on an aircraft carrier for six of the 11 months we dated!

Mini Mailboxes

Tuck a note into these miniature mailboxes with a Valentine treat or start a household postal service between your family members. (Our stuffed animals are currently enjoying mail delivery to the toy room.)

Each miniature mailbox set prints on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of card stock and measure 2 inches by 4 inches when assembled. Make a few mailboxes in coordinating colors to mix and match.

 How to Make Mini Mailbox & Valentine’s Day Cards

1. Chose your favorite colored card stock and print the free printable pattern.

2. Cut out the shapes along the solid lines.
3. Score dotted lines (you can use a stylus, bone folder, chopstick, or even the tip of a butter knife) to makes sure that the lines fold crisply. Tip: Place a ruler on the dotted lines to keep the scoring line straight.

4. Fold the box and envelopes on all the dotted line.

5. Wrap the top of the mailbox into shape. Use permanent double-stick tape or hot glue to attach the tab to the bottom of the mailbox. Repeat with the edge of the mailbox door.

6. Use a small piece of washi tape, masking tape, or scotch tape to secure the end of the mailbox to the door edge.

7. Use a small piece of washi tape, masking tape, or scotch tape to secure the opposite end of the mailbox. Tip: Attach tape piece to the inside of the box then carefully fold the end closed.

Use a papercraft tool or pencil to press the tape securely to the bottom of the mailbox.

8. Apply decorative tape to the outside seams of the mailbox. This helps to both decorate the mailbox and reinforce the edges. You can use small pieces of tape that are evenly spaced or one large wrapped piece.

To wrap the edge with a continual piece of tape follow these steps:

9. Glue the inner rim of the mailbox into place. This piece keeps the door in place when shut. Use complementary patterned cardstock for contrast.

10. Use a sharp metal tool or small scissors to punch a hole for the mailbox flag. You need to make a hole in the flag and the side of the mailbox.

11. Use a brad to secure the flag.  It will rotate like a real mailbox flag!

Open the brad to the inside of the mailbox.

12. Assemble the envelopes by scoring and folding on the dotted lines. Seal the bottom flaps closed with glue. Write messages or place stickers on the letters. Use stickers or tape to seal the envelopes.

13. Enjoy your new postal system!

I hope you try making a mini mailbox for your favorite Valentine! Download the free printable pattern here. 

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