With the ribbon. Each wall carries on up into a long flap with a round tip and a hole in it. Fill the box, thread one ribbon through all four holes, pull the flaps together over the middle and tie a bow. There is no lid and no tuck: the ribbon holds the flaps together, and untying it opens the box again.

Why does it sometimes make my flaps longer?

So the holes can meet. Bent over, each flap has to reach at least half the box width from the fold before its hole is over the middle. If the flap length you type is shorter than that, the tool lengthens it and says what it used, rather than drawing a box whose ribbon cannot pull shut.

Will it print on one sheet?

At the size it opens with, yes: a 45 mm box comes to 191 × 191 mm, which fits A4 and US Letter with room for the margin a home printer cannot reach. It is one piece shaped like a cross, so a bigger box needs a bigger sheet, or use Make it smaller to fit.

What ribbon and card should I use?

Card of 200 to 250 gsm, so the flaps stand up rather than flop. Any ribbon that passes through the holes works; set the hole diameter to suit it, around 5 mm for a narrow satin ribbon. Punch or cut the holes before you fold anything.

Bow Top Box Template — Free Ribbon Tie Favor Box, Any Size

The bow-top box template, flat and folded

Bow-top box template — free printable dieline with cut and fold lines, any size — The printable dieline at its standard size. Type your own size above for yours.

Bow-top box folded up from the template — the finished box — The box it folds into.

What this template is for

A square box whose walls carry on into four tall flaps. One ribbon through the holes pulls them together and ties in a bow — the ribbon is the lid. Favours, sweets, small gifts.

Also called ribbon tie box · bow box · gathered top favour box · drawstring gift box — all the same shape, and this is it.

Wedding and party favours
Sweets, mithai and chocolates
Christmas and Diwali gifts
Craft fair and small-shop packaging

How to use this template

All four downloads are the same bow-top box at the same size — only the format changes.

PDF printing at home: Print at 100 per cent, or hand it to a print shop as "actual size, no scaling".
PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate: Upload, lock it in place and design your bow-top box on top. Free plan and phone included. Full Canva walkthrough →
SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity: Vector, with cuts, folds and labels on separate layers. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters: Two layers, CUT and FOLD — and the one free Silhouette Studio Basic will open.

Getting it printed properly →

Printing it

Type your size above, then download the PDF.
Print at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
Too big for the paper? Pick your paper size and leave Fit the pieces to the page ticked: each piece gets its own place on a sheet and the PDF comes out with every page in it, nothing cut in half and nothing to tape.

How to put it together

These pictures are the bow-top box itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.

Cut the solid lines
Every solid line is a cut. Do the inside shapes first, while the sheet is still whole and easy to hold.
Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds. Score each one first — an empty ballpoint against a ruler — or the card cracks along the outside of the bend.
Fold, glue and hold
Fold the walls up and glue each corner tab inside the wall beside it. Fill the box, then thread a ribbon through the four holes, pull the flaps together over the middle and tie a bow.

Glue: a glue stick for paper, white PVA on card — hold each seam thirty seconds, and let the box dry standing up.

Questions about the bow-top box

How does it close?: With the ribbon. Each wall carries on up into a long flap with a round tip and a hole in it. Fill the box, thread one ribbon through all four holes, pull the flaps together over the middle and tie a bow. There is no lid and no tuck: the ribbon holds the flaps together, and untying it opens the box again.
Why does it sometimes make my flaps longer?: So the holes can meet. Bent over, each flap has to reach at least half the box width from the fold before its hole is over the middle. If the flap length you type is shorter than that, the tool lengthens it and says what it used, rather than drawing a box whose ribbon cannot pull shut.
Will it print on one sheet?: At the size it opens with, yes: a 45 mm box comes to 191 × 191 mm, which fits A4 and US Letter with room for the margin a home printer cannot reach. It is one piece shaped like a cross, so a bigger box needs a bigger sheet, or use Make it smaller to fit.
What ribbon and card should I use?: Card of 200 to 250 gsm, so the flaps stand up rather than flop. Any ribbon that passes through the holes works; set the hole diameter to suit it, around 5 mm for a narrow satin ribbon. Punch or cut the holes before you fold anything.

Print your own design on it

Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the bow-top box. It is trimmed to the cut outline, embedded properly in the PDF, and never leaves your computer — most free template sites hand you the outline and stop there. How printing your own design works.

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Collections: Wedding and party favour box templates · Christmas box templates · Food box templates