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Folded-Paper Box

Turn out a cache of colorful paper boxes to decorate and fill with trinkets, letters and other treasures.

Materials

Heavyweight drawing paper, cut into one 10 5/8-inch square and one 11-inch square
Scissors
Crayons or markers

Instructions

To make the bottom, fold the smaller paper square in half diagonally, first one way and then the other, creasing the folds well before unfolding them.
Next, fold in all four corners so they meet in the center of the paper; crease them well and unfold them.
Now, fold one of the corners so that it meets the farthest crease line opposite that corner, crease and unfold it. Do the same with the three other corners. Finally, fold each corner to its closest crease line. Then unfold all the corners to reveal an overall pattern of creased squares.
Make two cuts in the paper at one corner, two squares deep and two squares apart. Make identical cuts on the opposite corner.
Place the paper in front, with the cuts facing north and south. Fold in the east and west corners along the crease lines two times, finally bringing the two sides up vertically. Bend the pointed ends of the east and west sides toward one another, crossing them.
Bring the tongue-shaped portion of the paper (the one facing south) up and over the crossed ends, folding it down over the ends and tucking it so that it stays put. Do the same with the north end of the paper. This completes the bottom of the box.
To make the lid, fold the larger sheet of paper the same way the bottom of the box was done, except that before cutting and assembling the lid, decorate the paper using crayons, markers, glitter glue, stickers or paints.

Tips:: The four creased squares in the center of the paper plus the four pairs of squares abutting these are all that will show when the paper is folded into its box shape. Make sure the paper is completely dry before assembling the lid.
Variations:: Although the sample craft measures about 4 inches across and 2 inches deep, you can vary the dimensions of your boxes by changing the size of the two paper squares you start with.

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