Crochet a Sweet Keepsake Box That Looks Like Cake - Creativebug - Craft Classes & Workshops

For a sweet and unforgettable Valentine’s Day gift, crochet a special keepsake box that looks just like a fancy little cake. Start with a store-bought wooden box as a form and use the patterns and techniques from my class Crochet Cakery: A Daily Practice to decorate it. Crochet Cakery is free to watch this month so that everyone can crochet and design their own delicious dessert. This cake looks so cute on my side table as colorful decor but might also turn into a present that I can tuck little surprises inside.

image of a crocheted box that looks like cake shown open and closed

By following the instructions in Crochet Cakery, you can cover any round or square/rectangular box with crochet. There are a few small differences in construction to account for covering a box with a lid as opposed to just a styrofoam cake form as we do in the class, and I’ll tell you about the adjustments that I made.

Crocheting Your Cake Base

image of two wooden boxes with the one in the foreground being round with its lid open

The exact box that I used to crochet may cake was this 4-inch round box from Michaels. Whether your box is round or rectangular, you’ll crochet two separate pieces – the top and the bottom. The top piece will cover only the lid. The bottom piece will cover the remainder of the box. When working on a styrofoam cake form, the bottom piece is simply a circle, whereas for this box project, your bottom piece will also have long sides. For a round box, use Days 1-3 of Crochet Cakery as a guide. For a rectangular box, use Days 4-5. Before breaking off your pieces, make sure you get nice coverage and that no wood is visible where the crochet pieces meet.

image of a round wooden box covered in pink crochet shown both open and closed

To adhere the crochet to the box, use Tacky Glue or hot glue. You can work faster with hot glue, however, Tacky Glue is more forgiving since it has a slower dry time and you can make more adjustments. I actually only used glue where the crochet pieces met the edges of the box. Be very careful not to use too much glue because you don’t want it to ooze through the stitches and be visible.

I put both crocheted pieces on the box and then peeled back a little part of the crochet to add glue in one section at time. If using hot glue, don’t burn your fingers, and also move around different parts of the box so that you don’t immediately disturb a freshly glued area.

image of a hand placing a pink crocheted cover on a round wooden box

Decorating Your Cake Box

image of lots of pink and red crocheted decorations that look like cake frosting, cherries, and bows next to a round crocheted box on a wooden floor

You can use any combination of frostings, berries, and flowers to design your cake box. The one big difference between working with a wooden box vs. working with a cake form is that you can’t pin pieces right into the wooden box. However, you can still pin crochet pieces to the crochet base, especially if you are sparing with your glue.

image of a pink and red crocheted cake in the process of being assembled with straight pins in it

Here are the decorations that I used for my cake from Crochet Cakery: Day 9 – Puff stitch frosting, Day 11 – Drop strings, Day 12 – Small bows, Day 14 – Ruffle piping, Day 19 – Cherries.

I sewed down most of these pieces, except I used hot glue for the bows and the cherries.

Then I found some treasures to put inside: some heart stickers and gems, chocolate, ephemera, and a tiny sprig of crocheted flowers.

image of a round open box revealing Valentine's-themed trinkets inside like heart stickers, pink flowers, gold foil paper, heart gems

If you don’t have the time or desire to completely cover a box in crochet, you can still glue crochet decorations to a pink or painted box for a treat that is just as sweet.