This DIY Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day card box will have your child using the Force this February and make them the coolest kid in the galaxy…errr, I mean school!
The best part: it was made entirely out of basic craft supplies and upcycled items from around the house.
This is the way. ;)
DIY Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day Card Box
If you’ve spent any time on social media since The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ last fall, you’ve probably seen countless memes of this iconic scene pop up on your feed pretty much non-stop:
Too adorable, right?
Just look at that fuzzy green head, those giant shiny eyes, the tiny three-fingered hands peeking out of an oversized-but-still-teensy-weensy coat to enjoy a mug of deliciousness.
I mean, seriously.
Baby Yoda should win the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing the world together.
In years past, my first-grader, Rowan, has previously handed out race cars, sunglasses, and monster lollipops as his Valentine’s Day cards (all of which you can also snag the FREE printables/cut files for).
Last year, he gave out the FREE Printable Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian Valentine’s Day Cards that I shared
So, needless to say, my family has fully succumbed to Baby Yoda fever and we are all big fans of the show.
This is why for this year’s party at school, he decided that he wanted to have Baby Yoda as his Valentine’s Day card box.
Last year, I whipped up a Love Train Valentine’s Day card box for him, so I got to work on his request for this year…and here’s what I came up with!
Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day Card Box Supplies & Tools
One of the best things about this creation (besides the utter adorableness) is the fact that I didn’t buy a single new thing for it!
Nope.
Not one new item.
Zilch. Nothing. Nada.
Everything used was scrounged up from either a closet or my WorkBox 3.0 craft stash.
Three cheers for another upcycled craft project!
SUPPLIES:
- Empty shoebox (BODY)
- Styrofoam sphere (HEAD)
- Green and brown craft felt (SKIN & COAT)
- Shipping tubes (ARMS & CUP)
- Old cabinet pulls (EYES)
- Tiny piece of red cardstock (CUP HANDLE)
- Tinier piece of black pipe cleaner (MOUTH)
- Craft paints (black, red, and pink)
- Hearts washi tape
- Silver glittery alphabetic foam stickers
- Lots of hot glue
- Rock for counterweight (Baby Yoda ended up being a little top-heavy)
This is what the main components looked like prior to creation:
I also used a smaller shipping tube for Baby Yoda’s arms and a black pipe cleaner for the mouth but they’re not pictured here because, well, I don’t think that far ahead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TOOLS:
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Bread knife (don’t tell my husband)
- X-acto knife
- Small paint brush
How to Make a Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day Card Box
This project was similar to several others that I’ve made over the years, specifically Rowan’s gravity-defying Easter egg hat and his Love Train Valentine’s Day card box, in that I didn’t really know what I was going to do.
I mean, I had a general idea in my head of what I wanted the final project to look like, but the specifics on how to create it were still up in the air at the start.
This was still the case even at each step during the process, which is why this post is lacking in step-by-step photos like I normally try to provide.
Sorry, folks!
Hey, I’m no engineer and prefer to craft by the seat of my pants.
I’m also not a sculptor and have never made anything remotely like this before, so this was definitely a trial-and-error process.
But it all came together by the end!
SOME MUST-HAVES:
There were a few absolute must-haves for this DIY Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day card box:
- Baby Yoda must be 3D
- Valentines from Rowan’s friends must be inserted into the box through Baby Yoda’s cup (cuz that’s FUN!)
- The box must still function and be able to open so Rowan can get out all of the treats given to him by his friends
So, yeah, pretty straight-forward and super simple, right?
</sarcasm>
BABY YODA’S BODY
To make Baby Yoda’s body, I used a shoebox (one that didn’t have a removable lid) that was turned upright.
I then used my scissors and cut a hole in the front that the cup would sit over and treats from Rowan’s classmates could be inserted through.
I also cut a small hole at the top for the styrofoam sphere head to have a little place to sit.
***Imagine there’s a pretty picture here showing what this looks like because I totally forgot to take one.***
BABY YODA’S CUP
Since this box is modeled after that adorable drinking meme shown above, the cup was a must.
To make it, I cut off a small section of a large shipping tube using a bread knife.
(Don’t tell my husband about this. He has a thing about knives only being used for their specific purposes, and especially HATES when I use a steak knife for anything other than a steak, like chopping strawberries. Drives the man CRAZY!)
Then I painted it with some red craft paint. After it was dry, some strips of hearts washi tape were added to give it more of a Valentiney vibe, then I hot glued it to the box.
A camouflaged chute was added with a little brown craft felt so the treats could easily enter the box, and a small handle was created out of a piece of red cardstock.
After everything was assembled, Rowan’s name was added to the front with some puffy alphabetic stickers.
That way, his classmates would know who this Baby Yoda box belonged to when handing out their treats.
BABY YODA’S ARMS
The green one’s arms were also made out of a shipping tube, this one smaller than the one used for the cup.
They were assembled from different sized sections cut at either 90° or 45° angles (also cut with the aforementioned bread knife), then covered in some brown felt (which ended up being unnecessary since it was all completely covered after the coat was added, but hey. Whatcha gonna do?).
The hands were quickly and very haphazardly created out of some strips of green craft felt and hot glue.
Hey, this was my best attempt without stressing about it too much. Don’t judge. ;)
BABY YODA’S COAT
Once the arms were attached, it was time for the coat.
I used a bunch of brown craft felt that I’ve had sitting in my craft stash ever since I made Rowan’s adorable scarecrow costume years ago.
It sure feels good using up supplies that you already have on hand!
First, I made a faux vest on the front, then I just glued on large pieces on either side of Baby Yoda’s body, making sure the box’s lid could still open and close easily.
Once the body was covered and the front was draping nicely (and actually looking very warm and comfy), I added pieces to the top to make a nice cowl effect around the neck.
And yes, this headless body with floating green hands does look rather creepy at this point, but we’re almost finished, folks!
BABY YODA’S HEAD
Now that the body was ready, it was on to creating Baby Yoda’s adorable little head.
This was created by hot gluing some green craft felt over top of a styrofoam sphere.
I tried to keep the front of it relatively wrinkle-free, but the back looks…rough.
Hey, that’s why it’s the BACK.
Long pointy ears were then added to either side, and some pink craft paint was dabbed on the inside.
BABY YODA’S EYES & MOUTH
For the eyes, I painted a little black craft paint on a couple old chrome cabinet pulls.
These came from our recently completed kids bathroom makeover of our boys’ Jack-&-Jill bathroom, so make sure you check that out too!
Once the eyes were dry, I cut small slits through the green felt with an X-Acto knife and dug out tiny indentations into the styrofoam, then stuck the cabinet pulls in and secured them with a couple dabs of hot glue.
***Thankfully, I don’t have any process pics of this step or else everyone would be traumatized for life.***
These eyes ended up making Baby Yoda a little top-heavy, so after everything else was completed, I added a small rock counterweight (that looks like a potato) to the bottom inside of the box to prevent the babe from toppling over.
The last remaining feature was Baby Yoda’s mouth.
This was easily taken care of by gluing on a tiny piece of black pipe cleaner into a little smirk.
Baby Yoda’s head was then hot glued to the top of its body and VOILA!
Operation Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day Card Box was complete!
Final Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day Card Box
Here is Rowan’s final Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day card box!
Not too shabby, eh?
It’s not perfect by any means, and I think I’ll be yanking off glue strings for all eternity, but it turned out pretty darn cute.
Plus it FUNCTIONS as intended!
Most importantly though: Rowan totally digs it.
As mentioned, this little fella isn’t just a pretty face.
Nope, there is function behind all that fashion.
Treats can easily be added through the cup AND the box’s lid still opens and closes as it should.
Check out this AmaZiNg action shot showing how the treats can be inserted into the box through Baby Yoda’s cup:
Not to mention that rock/potato imposter keeps Baby Yoda standing upright like a champ.
Needless to say, Rowan is pretty pumped to take him to his class party.
This is the way…to a perfect Valentine’s Day! ;)
Love Train Valentine’s Day Card Box
Don’t miss the the Love Train Valentine’s Day card box that Rowan took to school last year for his class party!
If You Enjoyed This…
Make sure you check out my other crafty creations, tutorials, and freebies, especially these fun ideas for the school year!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Valentine’s Day!
