Yard Plotted to scale, promise

make it yourself

Stacked Plywood Gift Boxes

Three hollow boxes that stack into a leaning tower of presents, wrapped in light strands instead of paper. They store flat, they cost about thirty dollars, and they look like they cost two hundred.

  • $32 ish
  • 5 hrs start to finish
  • confident beginner
  • 2' 9" tall when done

grab this stuff

What you need

  • 1/2 in. exterior plywood, 4x4 ft half sheet $22
  • 2× Exterior paint, sample pots in two colors $10
  • 24× 1-1/4 in. exterior screws you have these
  • Warm white light strand you already own you have these
  • Outdoor ribbon or vinyl tape you have these
  • All in $32

Tools, and that is it

  • Circular saw
  • Drill
  • Speed square
  • Sanding block

before the saw

How it comes off the sheet

Everything fits on 1/2 in. exterior plywood, 4 x 4 ft half sheet. Draw the whole layout before you cut the first piece.

Big 114" x 14"Big 214" x 14"Big 314" x 14"Big 414" x 14"Big top14" x 14"Mid 111" x 11"Sm 18" x 8"Mid 211" x 11"Mid 311" x 11"Mid 411" x 11"Mid top11" x 11"Sm 28" x 8"Sm 38" x 8"Sm 48" x 8"Sm top8" x 8"48" wide48" tall
nesting

Fifteen panels off one half sheet: four sides and a top for each box, no bottoms. Rip the sheet into the three band widths first, then crosscut. The panel sizes are the outside dimensions, so the finished boxes come out a plywood thickness bigger on two sides. Nobody will measure them.

shapes

Stencils

Or buy a reusable one

Mylar stencils survive paint and last for years, which is worth it if you are making more than a couple. These are searches rather than specific listings, because the good sellers rotate.

here we go

How to make it

  1. Cut three sets of panels

    Boxes at 14 in., 11 in. and 8 in. square. Each one needs four sides and a top. Skip the bottoms, nobody sees them and you save a third of the plywood.

    oops-proofing

    Cut all four sides of a box at one saw setting. Adjusting between cuts is how you end up with a box that will not close.

  2. Screw the boxes together

    Butt joints, two screws per corner, then drop the top on and screw it down from above. Pre-drill everything.

    oops-proofing

    Plywood splits if you drive a screw within an inch of an edge without drilling first. Every single time.

  3. Paint them

    Two different colors, all faces and every edge. Two coats.

    oops-proofing

    Do not skip the edges again. Water gets into plywood through the edge, never through the face.

  4. Wrap the lights

    Run a strand corner to corner across each box so it crosses like ribbon. Staple it down at the corners only, and leave enough slack at the bottom box to reach your extension cord.

  5. Stack and anchor

    Biggest on the bottom, smallest on top, each one turned about 15 degrees off the one below. Screw down through the top of each box into the one under it, then run a stake through the bottom box into the ground.

    oops-proofing

    An unanchored stack is a tower of empty boxes with a big flat side. The first real gust takes the whole thing across your lawn.

one more thing

The lean is the entire look. A perfectly square stack looks like storage, and a stack that tilts looks like somebody just put it there.

where it goes

Layouts this one lives in

Same build, any yard shape. Here is where it lands.

  • → Under The Tree on a Wide Shallow, No Porch Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Narrow Shallow with Porch Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a L-Shaped with Projecting Garage Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Deep Narrow Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Corner Lot Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Split-Level or Raised Ranch Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Sloped or Terraced Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Small Urban Postage Stamp Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Circular Driveway Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.
  • → Under The Tree on a Long Driveway, Rural Frontage Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.