PAPER BOXES

June 21, 2017

My Great Grandma taught me how to make so many things! Salt Play Dough, Plastic Canvas Ornaments, Refrigerator Pickles, and these Paper Boxes (just to name a few). I can remember making these out of paper grocery bags, because Great Grandma always used what she had! I am not as frugal and purchased my cardstock at Michael’s… when it was on sale.

First, you will need a square piece of paper. I usually use 8.5″x11″ cardstock, cutting in down to 8.5″x8.5″. Next you will need to make a X in the center of your paper. You can do this by using a ruler, from corner to corner and drawing a short line in the middle. Twist the paper and repeat the process on the opposite corners, resulting in a perfect X!

Next you will need to take each corner, point in to the center of the X, and flatten. Continue with each corner, resulting in a perfect square. Now you will take each side of your square and fold it to the exact center. Unfold each side before folding the next. This will leave you with perfect creases.

Take your creased paper and make the cuts shown above. Just to make sure everything stays in place I use tabs of double sided tape on the tips of each corner. Now it’s time to get folding! Start by standing one side up, folding the arm piece over to the next side. Then stand the next time up and as you fold the pointed corner back into the center of the X, covering the previous arm. Repeat until you have a box!

To make a cover repeat all instructions about with one modification. When you fold the sides of the square to the middle (making the creases), only go within a centimeter of the center. This will make your cover just a bit bigger than your bottom,  making the two boxes fit together smoothly.