Small beginnings

I was about six-years old when I was first introduced to the fabulously addictive world of box-making. At school, my teacher handed me a piece of paper - nothing fancy, just a piece of lined paper - and as I began to follow her simple instructions, I witnessed a thing of beauty emerging right before me.

There is something truly fascinating about papercrafting, and even now, I still get that same sense of satisfaction every time I make a box. And so, all these years later, I feel it's only right that the first box I show here is that first one I made (well, not the actual one, but following the same template).

Yes! Just as I remember it!

OK, so here's how you can make one yourself. It doesn't really matter what size paper you use, but the larger the size the thicker your paper will need to be. Just experiment with it, and have fun!

Here I used a 5 x 7 inch piece of paper. Start by folding it in half like this:

Next, fold the top and bottom edges to the middle crease.

At each corner, fold in to leave a space of approx 1/4 inch.

Crease the sides...

...then fold the top flap up and the bottom flap down.

Finally, square the corners by pushing each one out.

And there it is!

I made another one out of pink paper and attached a simple handle, turning my box into a basket. I disguised the joins on either side with paper punched flowers, and filled it with delicious treats!