Taco Valentine Card Box

Taco 'bout awesome! Collect your Valentines in this adorable Taco Valentine Card Box!

When it comes to Valentine's Day, it has become a fun family tradition to come up with creative ideas for my daughter's Valentine card box. The past few years we have made a Puppy Dog Valentine Card Box, a Panda Valentine Card Box, and and the infamous Unicorn Valentine Card Box. This year my daughter and I laughed and laughed when we decided on making the this awesome Taco Valentine Card Box to hold all those sweet notes from classmates from her Valentine's Day party!



What you'll need:
Cardboard box
Poster board
Box cutter or large craft blade
Duct tape - yellow
Glue gun & glue sticks
Scissors
Colored paper/cardstock - black, white, green, yellow, orange
Tissue paper - red, green, white
2" circle punch (optional)

Step 1: Decide how large you want the taco box to be. Trace a half circle on the cardboard box. Our box measured 18"x10", so we used the box size as our guide and used the bottom edge of the box as the bottom and drew a half circle shape up to the top edge of the box. If you want to make your taco box smaller, you could freehand the shape, or trace a plate to get the size you want.

Step 2: Use a box cutter or craft blade and carefully cut out the half circle. Turn the box over, and use the piece you just cut as a template. Trace it and cut out the other side of the box.

Step 3: Decide on the depth of the box. We decided on about 6 inches. Cut a strip to go along the bottom of the taco box. For example, we cut a piece that is 18" x 6". You'll also need to cut out a long strip of poster board that is also 6 inches wide. Keep a few other 6" wide scrap strips and set those and the poster board aside.

Step 4: Lay the half circle/taco pieces face down with the bottom strip in between. Use the duct tape to attach the three pieces together. Stand the sides up, and use duct tape along the seam on the outside to hold the pieces in place.

Step 5: Fold three 6" wide scrap pieces in half and stand them up inside the box. Secure them down with duct tape to the bottom of the box. This will help to keep the taco box sturdy and keep its shape. The image above is looking down into the partially Valentine-filled box so you can see what I mean.

Step 6: Cut the poster board strip into two pieces. Duct tape the ends of the poster board to the ends of the bottom cardboard strip. Carefully bring the poster board up toward the top of the box and tape the edges together as you go. Repeat for the other side. At the top, cut away the excess poster board and leave an opening large enough for an arm to get in.

Step 7: Cut strips of duct tape and cover the entire box so that it's now all yellow. The duct tape will also make the box sturdier. If you don't want to use duct tape you could use paint, or decoupage some yellow paper on it instead.

Step 8: Give this little taco a face! For the eyes, I cut out two 2" circles of black paper and two 1/2" circles of white paper and glued them together. For the mouth, I cut a 3" semi-circle and then trimmed it down to make a line for a smile. Attach both eyes and the mouth to the front of the taco with hot glue.

Step 9: For the "meat" of the taco, I ripped some kraft paper into pieces of all different sizes. Roll them into balls by crumpling the paper and rolling it between your hands. Start gluing the balls down at the bottom edge of the box and work about 1/3 of the way up.

Step 10: For the lettuce, I folded up a sheet of green paper accordion-style and cut strips from 1/4-3/4" wide. I also cut some 1/4-1/2" strips of lighter green tissue paper. Unfold the paper just a little bit and glue the pieces down in different directions. Add the tissue paper in randomly.

Step 11: Toward the top of the lettuce section, I crumpled up some red tissue paper and added in a few pieces to represent tomatoes. You can add as many or as little as you want.

Step 12: For the cheese, I cut 1/4" strips of yellow and orange paper. Then I cut those strips into smaller pieces. Fold them in half and glue them in randomly and in different directions.

Step 13: Top that taco with a few dollops of sour cream! Cut one piece of white tissue paper into 6 pieces. Lightly crumple the pieces into balls and glue three on each side of the box opening. Fluff up if necessary.

Now that taco box is complete and ready to be filled with love notes!! If you'd rather use this as a piñata, you can fill the taco box with candy and attach something to the top/opening to hang it up.

My daughter loved showing off her Taco Valentine Box at her class Valentine party and it was definitely a hit! Sorry we are posting a little too late for this year - but feel free to save this tutorial for next year!!

I'd love to see pictures of your kid's Valentine box ideas, too! Feel free to share your pictures on my Facebook page or tag us on Instagram!

What are your must-have taco toppings?