Good things come in small packages.

Completely awesome, stellar, delicious, and superb things come in boxes that you handmade with fancy paper.

I have made these boxes for years after a good friend showed me how. They’ve been known to be filled with chocolate truffles, sweet amaretti, precious bobbles, and various what-nots. Whenever a thoughtful presentation is desired, you’re now going to have a cheap and crafty way to bear gifts…

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Supplies:

• 2 sheets of 12”x 12” paper*
• paper cutter (or scissors with a steady hand)
• ruler
• small spoon
• patience

 

1) Find two sheets of paper that “work” together. You’re the artist. Matchy-matchy? Coordinating? Stripes and Polka Dots? Mismatched anarchy? Your call.

 

2) Decide which is your box COVER and which is your BOTTOM. Cut ¼” off each side of the BOTTOM paper to create a square that is ½” smaller than your COVER. (If the paper design is not cut off at an odd place, you can just cut ½” off two perpendicular sides.)

 

3) Find the center (left to right and top to bottom) of the COVER and the BOTTOM and mark on the backside of the paper. (i.e. 6” on the 12”x12” COVER and 5 3/4” on the 11 1/2”x 11 1/2” BOTTOM)

 

4) Fold a corner of the COVER to the center

and repeat until all corners meet at the middle.

To get a sharp fold and a crisp edge to the box, use the back side of a spoon and press it along the crease…

 

5) Fold the lower half up to the center,

spin 180° and repeat with the top half,

Spin 90° and fold the left half to the center

spin 180° and fold the right half to center.

 

6) Unfold it gently

stretch the top and bottom out

and fold the sides in. Crease these side folds with your spoon and then bend them perpendicular to the table (they are the sides of your box COVER).

7) As you slowly raise the top, press your finger tip in the triangle shaped creases. These will naturally create the top edge of your box COVER.

fold the top edge back down, wrapping itself over the triangle shaped creases.

repeat with the bottom edge.

8) Fine tuning:

If the corners in the center of your box are popping up, you can glue them down or put a little sticker on the four corners.

If you’re using a thick paper, take the handle of your spoon and press it into the valley of the crease.

 

9) Repeat steps 4-9 with your BOTTOM paper

10) Fill it!

Tie it up in a bow, label, embellish, bedazzle, whatever…

…It’s yours to make. It’s yours to give.

 

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Important: if you are currently sitting in a heap of crumpled paper, cursing the origin of origami, and ready to go buy a gift bag at the dollar store, let me know in the comments. I’ll work on a video…

 

*If a smaller box is desired, you can decrease this measurement to whatever you need. Just be sure to shave a ½” off the bottom square, as instructed above. Start by practicing with regular computer paper cut to a square – they’re addicting. Work days will never be the same…

*I suggest cardstock for a sturdier box, but frequently use a thinner paper as the cover.

*The smaller the box, the harder cardstock is to fold. If a small, strong box is desired, do your finger push ups and make sure the kids can’t hear you swear.