and here we are -

mary jane dodd

i can only speak for myself here, but i am guessing that many of you make gifts for your loved ones, for teachers, for friends or loved ones to give as gifts themselves, etc... 

and your gifts for giving? well, they get left until late in the game -

so here we are... 

i just wanted to talk a bit about how i package - it has taken me awhile to find what sings for me, but i did... 

i used to package in old jeans - the ones i couldn't donate... i still use the denim, but not for this... 

i love yogi tea - and once i noticed the inside of the box (immediately) i knew it was what i wanted to use...

open the flaps on each side and cut along the top of the back

now open it up and turn it over

gorgeous, right? how can this not be reused?

trim the box - make little tabs at the top of the long side 

(there is actually already one there, you just have 

to peel off the extra) and trim the flaps

save your cuttings! i use them for earring cards

you know the filler that comes in gift baskets? save it!

a little goes a long way and it makes a great cushion

fold in your tabs, then the sides one over the other and

viola!

get yourself some beautiful silk straw or sari ribbon

(this is the only new thing i use for these and mine comes

from lisa jurist

my thanks to the shop assistant who tirelessly watches 

day after day and keeps me on task

these are beautiful highlighted with some colored pencil - but there usually isn't time - i like to think that maybe the person receiving it will feel like they got a grown up coloring page!

and there are wonderful tags on the bags with beautiful sayings - i often tape one to the outside of a shipping envelope... 

enjoy this weekend - 

in the midst of rushing about (which i hope you don't have to do a lot of) take some breaths, treat yourself to a nice coffee or tea... 
(my favorite blend is one bag of yogi rejuvenation, one bag anti-oxidant, a bit of sugar in the raw and silk french vanilla creamer in one of these tea bowls - it is a nightly ritual i treasure.)

and if you can, shop local or fair trade - 

be well - 

It's all About Presentation : How to Make a Paper Box

Today I'm going to show you how to make a simple handmade box. It's the box that inspired last month's Art Spark challenge. I first encountered this box pattern when I received a beautiful piece of jewelry from the lovely and talented Lorelei Eurto which was packaged lovingly in a box just like this.

For my boxes I purchased a couple of packages of scrapbooking card stock.

It is perfect because it is both beautiful and square.
Square is where we start with this project. You need two pieces of paper the same size, and perfectly square. The size of the paper determines the size of the box. I am illustrating with 12 x12 inch paper but if you quarter it, you end up with four boxes of petite size. (my favorite)


This is all you need. Scissors and paper. Make sure the paper is stiff like card stock. It makes your box strong and your folds crisp.



Choose two pieces of complementing paper. One will be the top and one will be the bottom of the box. Begin by removing any extra tabs that have been attached to the paper by the manufacturer.

**Please note -I have chosen two pieces of paper that are identical as one side of them is decorated and the other printed red.

Choose the paper/color that you'd like to be the bottom.
If you are using 12 x12" size paper, trim 1/2" from two perpendicular sides.

The bottom of the box needs to be a bit smaller to fit inside the top when folded. I usually eyeball this but if you are making smaller boxes, trim a smaller amount proportionally.

Next, with your chosen color for the bottom facing the table, fold the square into a triangle meeting opposite corners. Open the paper flat and fold the two other corners together. Make soft creases when you do this. You are making a guideline for the next step. Open your paper flat once more.

Above you will see the next step illustrated. Bring your four corners together into the middle using the nice 'X' you made in the center of the square.

Once every one is in, turn each one out to look like this:

Beautiful. You're doing great!


Now the edges of the square get folded to the center 'X' point. Fold them in and flatten them back out again.

My finger is pointing to the crease you will make.

Showing two sides up. All four sides will come in to meet the center point, get creased and then fold out again.

Once you have folded all sides in and then back out you will see a small crease-square in each corner of the arrangement.

What you will do now is carefully cut two places on parallel sides of the work. You know when to stop cutting when you reach the crease-square's point. The point of the scissors above are in just the right place to stop.

Now after four beautifully precise cuts, you have made this (above)

Open out the "short" sides like the unfolding wings of a bird ( I know, but it's late and it's a good visual)

With the open wings flat on the table, lift the two "long" sides up and have their corners meet and overlap. (How do-you-do corner? Just fine, corner.)

Uh oh!

The outside corner is too long and too pointy.

So we trim it. Just a bit, to make it even.


You can see both parts of the next steps above.

#1. while holding the newly acquainted corners together, let that bird wing that we opened up earlier reach up and wrap around and over them to hold them together.

( hey, this metaphor's not too bad).

When you lay the corner in the box bottom, it will hold with friction. If you wanted a more permanent bond try a bit of glue or double sticky tape.

#2. Do the same with the other side.

TA DA!

You have just completed the bottom of the box.

Nice one.

Now for the top.

The pattern I would like on the top is now facing the table as I start folding. Repeat all steps the same as with the bottom.

Your top half will be a tiny bit bigger and should be able to slide down easily but with some resistance. If you think it's too loose or too tight, don't fret.

That ill-fitted box bottom is a great drawer organizer and you can make a new one by adjusting the width of the 1/2" strips that we trimmed from two sides of the bottom paper in the beginning.

The top taking shape. Here we go again with the bird wings...


They enfold the two sides and..... BAM! A boxtop.

Pefecto.