I want to thank you all for your kind comments about the folded boxes I showed you
here.
Thanks to a wonderful class at
Zinnia, taught by
Linda Illumanardi, I am now making my own little boxes. I love it. It can look like it's a daunting task, but once you've made a few, you'll start to 'get it', and your imagination will run wild with the ways you can enhance and embellish the project. And now that we're in gift-giving season, what's better than a decorative gift box, made entirely by hand?
For this tuturial, I am using scrapbooking paper. But the beauty of this project is that you can graduate to using plain white card stock in creating the box, and then paint it yourself, with colors and patterns not seen on any other paper, anywhere! I haven't done that yet, but it's my next plan.
So.
With no further ado...here we go!
1. Start with two pieces of standard, 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper.
One will be the top, so if you wish, you can choose one patterned piece and one that's unpatterned, but complementary.
2. The piece of paper you choose for the container portion of the box will be shortened by 1/2 inch per side, as indicated by the pencil lines, here. This is because, after folding, the container portion must be able to fit within the parameters of lid portion.
3. Fold the smaller sheet (which will become the container portion) in half diagonally, with two corners meeting, and then open the paper, turn it, and fold in half diagonally with the other two corners meeting.
4. Open the paper. There will now be an X fold in the paper.
5. Bring up each corner of the paper and fold so that the corner touches the center point created by the first X fold.
6. After the page is folded so that all corners meet in the center of the page, it will look like this.
7. Open the sheet. There will be four new folds creating a large square shape on the sheet. Now, fold each corner up to meet the center of each of those new folds. You will have to open the sheet up as you are doing this because all corners can't lay inside the sheet at the same time at this point.
8. After these four folds are created, open the sheet. It should look like this.
9. Now fold the sheet in half by meeting two edges. After this fold, open the sheet, turn it, and fold it so that the other two edges meet.
10. Open the sheet. There should be a 'grid' effect of equal-sized squares, except for at the corners. To finish creating the squares, the corners now have to be folded up to meet the center of the nearest fold, like this.
11. After all corners have been folded in, the sheet will look like this. Now you will have 'gridlines' by which to guide yourself in finishing the container portion of the box. As you can see, there is a center square, which is going to measure approximately 4 inches. That will be the final dimension of the box. Now, you have to create the walls.
12. To create the walls, you are going to bring up the sides, so that the outside, colored or designed, surface of the paper will show on the outside of the container. Make the first wall by lifting an edge up along the folds, and bringing the corner fold out to lie along the inside bottom of the container, like this.
13. Bring up the opposite side of the container in the same way. You now have two sides of the container standing, with the points of the corners meeting on the inside bottom of the container.
14. This part is the most challenging. Because you have to bring up the other two sides of the container, one at a time, while tucking, or 'pleating', some of the paper inside to create two of the container's bottom corners. Because of the way you've folded the sheet, you will be able to see where the fold line is for this pleat. However, it's tricky, trying to get the pleat to fold crisply, so that the point is clean and the paper is smooth enough to finish the wall.
15. After managing to create the two pleats, the third side of your container should come up completely, and the paper will wrap around to the inside of the container wall, with the point of the corner lying on the inside of the container bottom. Now there are three corners lying inside the box, which have created the 'floor' of the box.
16. Bring up the final wall of the container, pleating the corners in the same way as you did on the opposite side, and wrapping the paper to the inside of the container. You now will have four points meeting in the center of the container floor. You may want to smooth the rim of your container by smoothing each side with a bone folder. Now your container is complete.
17. The lid of the box is folded in the same way, although it has not yet been trimmed. Begin with the corner-to-corner folds, which will create the X in the center of the sheet.
Now you continue folding just as before, following steps 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, above.
18. After step 11, your lid sheet will look like this. At this point, you can make a decision whether you prefer a box lid which is as deep as the container is, or whether you want your box lid to be shallower than the container is. I prefer a shallow lid. This way, when the box is closed, both the container and the lid are visible. When they complement each other, it can make for a more interesting box. Also, the box can be easier to open when you have a shallower lid to grasp.
19. To make a lid that is only half as deep as the container, you must now cut off a portion of each edge of the sheet you're folding to make the lid. This cut has to happen after your sheet has been folded, and your 'grid' has been created.
To determine how much to remove from the edges of your sheet, you may use a ruler and 'line up' the outermost 'points' in the folded grid along each edge of the sheet. You can see that I have drawn my cutting lines, above, and that they meet points which have been created by your previous folding steps.
20. After cutting all four edges away, you will now be folding the corners into the center once again. This will help to create the guiding folds for your lid walls. (These two additional steps are only necessary when making a lid that is half as deep as the container. A lid that is the same depth as the container does not require steps 19 through 21.)
21. As before, you have folded each corner into the center. Now you can open the sheet back up and begin creating the walls of the lid.
22. As you did with the container portion of the box, bring up the sides of the lid one by one. As you bring up the sides so the printed surface shows on the outside of the lid, bring the corner point out to lie down on the 'ceiling' of the lid. Remember that, for a shallow lid, these walls will be shorter than the container walls were.
23. After folding opposite walls, perform the same pleating process you performed in step 14 when creating the container--keeping the tucked paper smooth and the lid corners as crisp as possible. (The pleating for the shallower lid can be even more challenging than the container pleating was.)
24. You can see that there is a bit less to hold on to in making the lid pleats.
25. Once the remaining lid walls have been made, and all the paper has wrapped to the inside, your sheet points will create the 'ceiling' of your lid.
26. The box is now completed. If you elected to use plain white cardstock to create the box, you can now paint it. Also, the lid and the container may be lined with a square of paper, to cover up the inside 'floor' and 'ceiling'.
27. Here is an example of a box container and lid which are the same depth.
28. When the larger lid covers the container, you will see only the lid when the box is sitting on a table. This may be preferable, if the container is not attractive, or if you make a big mistake on the container and want to hide it! I wouldn't know anything about that, of course.
29. And don't forget--the scrap from your lid trim can come in handy for those paper mosaic projects, for creating an impromptu label, for making a paper ribbon, or adding to your scrap box when you were hoping to add more pink or orange scraps.
And there it is!
In fewer than
30 steps!!
One will be the top, so if you wish, you can choose one patterned piece and one that's unpatterned, but complementary.
2. The piece of paper you choose for the container portion of the box will be shortened by 1/2 inch per side, as indicated by the pencil lines, here. This is because, after folding, the container portion must be able to fit within the parameters of lid portion.
3. Fold the smaller sheet (which will become the container portion) in half diagonally, with two corners meeting, and then open the paper, turn it, and fold in half diagonally with the other two corners meeting.
4. Open the paper. There will now be an X fold in the paper.
5. Bring up each corner of the paper and fold so that the corner touches the center point created by the first X fold.
6. After the page is folded so that all corners meet in the center of the page, it will look like this.
7. Open the sheet. There will be four new folds creating a large square shape on the sheet. Now, fold each corner up to meet the center of each of those new folds. You will have to open the sheet up as you are doing this because all corners can't lay inside the sheet at the same time at this point.
8. After these four folds are created, open the sheet. It should look like this.
9. Now fold the sheet in half by meeting two edges. After this fold, open the sheet, turn it, and fold it so that the other two edges meet.
10. Open the sheet. There should be a 'grid' effect of equal-sized squares, except for at the corners. To finish creating the squares, the corners now have to be folded up to meet the center of the nearest fold, like this.
11. After all corners have been folded in, the sheet will look like this. Now you will have 'gridlines' by which to guide yourself in finishing the container portion of the box. As you can see, there is a center square, which is going to measure approximately 4 inches. That will be the final dimension of the box. Now, you have to create the walls.
12. To create the walls, you are going to bring up the sides, so that the outside, colored or designed, surface of the paper will show on the outside of the container. Make the first wall by lifting an edge up along the folds, and bringing the corner fold out to lie along the inside bottom of the container, like this.
13. Bring up the opposite side of the container in the same way. You now have two sides of the container standing, with the points of the corners meeting on the inside bottom of the container.
14. This part is the most challenging. Because you have to bring up the other two sides of the container, one at a time, while tucking, or 'pleating', some of the paper inside to create two of the container's bottom corners. Because of the way you've folded the sheet, you will be able to see where the fold line is for this pleat. However, it's tricky, trying to get the pleat to fold crisply, so that the point is clean and the paper is smooth enough to finish the wall.
15. After managing to create the two pleats, the third side of your container should come up completely, and the paper will wrap around to the inside of the container wall, with the point of the corner lying on the inside of the container bottom. Now there are three corners lying inside the box, which have created the 'floor' of the box.
16. Bring up the final wall of the container, pleating the corners in the same way as you did on the opposite side, and wrapping the paper to the inside of the container. You now will have four points meeting in the center of the container floor. You may want to smooth the rim of your container by smoothing each side with a bone folder. Now your container is complete.
17. The lid of the box is folded in the same way, although it has not yet been trimmed. Begin with the corner-to-corner folds, which will create the X in the center of the sheet.
18. After step 11, your lid sheet will look like this. At this point, you can make a decision whether you prefer a box lid which is as deep as the container is, or whether you want your box lid to be shallower than the container is. I prefer a shallow lid. This way, when the box is closed, both the container and the lid are visible. When they complement each other, it can make for a more interesting box. Also, the box can be easier to open when you have a shallower lid to grasp.
19. To make a lid that is only half as deep as the container, you must now cut off a portion of each edge of the sheet you're folding to make the lid. This cut has to happen after your sheet has been folded, and your 'grid' has been created.
20. After cutting all four edges away, you will now be folding the corners into the center once again. This will help to create the guiding folds for your lid walls. (These two additional steps are only necessary when making a lid that is half as deep as the container. A lid that is the same depth as the container does not require steps 19 through 21.)
21. As before, you have folded each corner into the center. Now you can open the sheet back up and begin creating the walls of the lid.
22. As you did with the container portion of the box, bring up the sides of the lid one by one. As you bring up the sides so the printed surface shows on the outside of the lid, bring the corner point out to lie down on the 'ceiling' of the lid. Remember that, for a shallow lid, these walls will be shorter than the container walls were.
23. After folding opposite walls, perform the same pleating process you performed in step 14 when creating the container--keeping the tucked paper smooth and the lid corners as crisp as possible. (The pleating for the shallower lid can be even more challenging than the container pleating was.)
24. You can see that there is a bit less to hold on to in making the lid pleats.
25. Once the remaining lid walls have been made, and all the paper has wrapped to the inside, your sheet points will create the 'ceiling' of your lid.
26. The box is now completed. If you elected to use plain white cardstock to create the box, you can now paint it. Also, the lid and the container may be lined with a square of paper, to cover up the inside 'floor' and 'ceiling'.
27. Here is an example of a box container and lid which are the same depth.
28. When the larger lid covers the container, you will see only the lid when the box is sitting on a table. This may be preferable, if the container is not attractive, or if you make a big mistake on the container and want to hide it! I wouldn't know anything about that, of course.
29. And don't forget--the scrap from your lid trim can come in handy for those paper mosaic projects, for creating an impromptu label, for making a paper ribbon, or adding to your scrap box when you were hoping to add more pink or orange scraps.
These surfaces can hold photos, ephemera, journaling, parking tickets, etc.
The reverse-side surfaces can hold those things, too.
Then you can bring the two covers together back to back and make a star with the pages.
The star has multiple sides to it.
You can attach a hanger thingie to it and hang it up, with your photos and parking tickets showing.
