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Little Boxes

0ctavias0fferings by 0ctavias0fferings

Make your own treasure chest

Boxes are always useful but, if you are a collector, boxes are essential. I have suggested in my lenses about various small collectables that shoeboxes are an excellent solution to any storage problems but shoeboxes aren't very exciting so here I'm offering a few suggestions on how you can make them visually appealing.

You might like to adopt some of these ideas for gift boxes, whether for a special occasion or just for fun, it's easy to do and you can amaze your friends and family with the little works of art you can produce.

You'll need scissors or craft knife, ruler, glue (PVA), boxes, spare cardboard, string, elastic bands, embellishments of any kind, bits of fabric, wrapping paper, any odd bits and pieces you can find which might decorate your finished items.

Not made out of ticky tacky, every one unique and a lot of fun to make. This is a craft suitable for children from 3 to 103 (just keep an eye on Granny with those scissors).

First choose a box.

first choose a boxAs it happens, I'm fresh out of shoeboxes so I've found an assortment of used cardboard boxes to experiment with and this first one will be as simple as can be.

First, tape the box shut at the opening, making sure that you have the flaps closed over tightly together and try to keep the tape as smooth as possible.



Measure a couple of centimetres (an inch or so) down from the top of the box, draw a line all the way round and then cut along that line (small children should have this done for them) to seperate the 'lid' from the base.



From some spare cardboard, cut strips approximately twice the width of those short edges left on the lid. In other words, if you measured down 2 cms, make the strips 4 cms wide. Now glue those to the outside of the lid, around the edges so that the lid will overlap the top of the base and fit comfortably onto it..



NOTE - if you intend to use a thick covering on the bottom part of the box, you may need to include a spacer or two before adding the wider strips to the lid (shown further down the page). You will also need to cut pieces of cardboard to fit into the top and bottom of the box to cover the original flaps.

Covering your box

a basic coveringInitially, I glued a basic covering of some old (used) wrapping paper onto this box. It covers all the sellotape and provides a surface onto which I can glue anything else I might want.

Take a little care when glueing over the edges onto the inside of the lid, as you don't want to smooth the edge of the small step which prevents the lid going all the way down onto the base.

Test fabrics before using

checking glue on fabricI could have left the box like this, with just the paper covering, but I wanted more (of course) and so I set to work. I decided to have a thin cotton covering on the base of this box. It's always best to test a small sample of any fabric with the glue you are using. I took a scrap of the material and glued it to a small piece of card.

A handy tip - a small piece of spare cardboard, about the size of the one shown on the test piece, makes an excellent spreader for glue, allowing you to achieve an even covering over the area you are applying materials to.



I'm quite happy with the way this has turned out. There is a small change in the colour but it's insignificant. Velvet or similar fabrics can be a problem if the glue leeches through to the pile and you may have to find a workaround if you want to use fabrics with pile or sheer fabrics.

I covered the base with the fabric, glueing the edges over onto the very bottom of the box. I then glued a piece of felt over the bottom , covering up the raw edges of the fabric.



The same fabric extends to the inside surface of the base of this box, being glued down onto the bottom on the inside, onto the piece of stiff card (covering the original inner flaps) and a layer of pink felt was then added on top of that to cover all the raw edges. Having finished the bottom half, I turned my attention to decorating the lid.



Here I've used a multicoloured sparkly confetti. Simply by spreading glue evenly over the lid of the box, it's possible to achieve a good covering of the confetti. If you feel it needs more, just spread more glue and add more confetti or glitter. After the confetti dried, I glued on a strip of ribbon to the bottom of the sides of the lid to finish it off.

If you want to completely prevent any loss of glitter, cover it over with a clear cellulose varnish, such as (fishing) rod varnish, also known as clear cellulose dope.

The Sand Box

long boxThis is a little different and here is where the ubiquitous elastic band shows its value.

I decided I wanted to make a box with a bit of the seashore on it but in order to do so I would need to raise edges all around the top of the lid so that the sand would be contained. To do this, I chose a thick card / thin fibreboard, not quite as thick as hardboard, so that the sides would be substantial. I also wanted the lid to extend a long way down the sides of the base for stability. There is a considerable weight in the sand alone. You can see where the elastic band comes into its own, holding the thin card covering in place while the glue sets.



To fill with sand, I poured a veritable lake of glue into the top of the lid and spread sand into this. It takes a long time for the glue to set but, once it has, the sand is very firmly held in place. you could set shells or anything else you want into the sand at the 'wet' stage and they will be held securely.

Because I wanted this lid to fit snugly but not so tight I can't get it off, I added in spacers to increase the width and length of the lid, covered these with card and painted the interiors, top and bottom.

Funky exterior

applying a coveringWith a sand lid, the rest of the exterior of the box needed to be in keeping and I found a roll of garden twine just perfect for the job.

I began by glueing the twine around the sand and then worked my way up and over the edges of the thin board which still stood proud of the surface of the sand. It's simply a matter of glueing and winding on the string as you go until the whole of the exterior of the lid is covered.



On the bottom part of the box, I covered the join with a piece of medium thickness card and then, having measured how far down the sides the lid would come, started to wind on the twine again so that it would match the top.



I found that, because of the difference in width between the top and bottom (remember those spacers?) It took three layers of twine on the sides of the base to match the thickness of the top, which has only one layer of twine.

The twine is actually quite rough and hairy but can be smoothed over as you work with a sticky, gluey finger.

A Window Box

making a viewing windowFor the last box I want to show you, I've made a box with an interior lift out compartment and a viewing window.

As before, I started with a plain cardboard box but have turned it on one end so that the joins run up two of the sides. I then cut off what will be the lid of the box and marked out the area I will cut out for the viewing window, fitted spacers to the outer edges, and I'm ready to glue on the sides of the lid..





The sides need to be strong as removing the centre of the lid weakens it, As well as the thin card shown above, I then glued on strips of thicker card for maximum strength before covering the lid. The viewing window is then filled with a piece of clear plastic from the front of a Christmas Cracker box, sandwiched between two thin sheets of card (glued together).



(Elastic bands kindly provided by the Royal Mail - you can find them on many pavements and I wish they would be more responsible with them as they are dangerous to animals who can swallow them.)

From the extra thick card (thin board) I used on the sides of the sand box lid, I cut out a base for the lift out tray. This needs to be smaller than the dimensions of the cardboard box as it will have sides attached and a covering glued onto those to strengthen them, so make sure you leave enough of a gap on every side to allow for this.





You can see in the picture above that I have added the sides for the tray and pierced a hole in each corner so that I can attach two cords to make handles to lift out the tray.
viewing window and display trayOf course, the tray must sit on something to keep it in place near the top of the box.

I glued together a number of thin strips (approx half an inch) the width of the interior of the box, marked off the distance down the inside where I wanted to attach them and set them in place. In the picture below you can see these in the drying process, weighed down with a heavy jar. Please note that I have glued these supports onto the sides of the box (previously top and bottom) where the joins in the original cardboard box appear. This also helps to strengthen and hold together those sides.

Also glued and being held by the jar while they dry, are the flaps which are left at the bottom of the sides.



It doesn't exactly look pretty at the moment but once those supports are covered, it will look fine.

I'm using thin card to cover them up. The same piece of card will cover the outside of the box and after measuring the distances, I have pre-folded the card to fit easily over the supports before being glued.



Once the card is glued in place, the supports look fine.



I 'm nearly finished now, all that remains is to make the cushion for a favourite piece to sit on and cover the exterior for decoration.



You can see I found something to cover the exterior of the box with ... kitchen foil. It makes this box look quite glitzy but don't forget, if you are making a box with a display window, you will need to make sure the inside of the lid complements the outside.

Little Boxes

finished boxesSo, there are my three little boxes, all finished and ready to store some of my small collections.

Any box can be made respectable and you can let your imagination run riot. Boxes such as this are great for keeping children's small toys tidy as well. Why not find some pictures of the toys to be kept in the box and use those pictures to decorate the sides or lid. The child can help to make the boxes, it's fun, it's messy and it doesn't take very long to complete, especially if you're working on one box while the glue on another is drying.





You can make boxes this way for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Birthdays or Un-Birthdays. They're absolutely ideal for giving away handmade cookies or sweets, hand knitted socks and scarves, in fact, anything at all.

Cover them in hearts and flowers, paint them in funky retro designs, glitter them up or dress them down, whatever you please ... and into the bargain, you're giving them a new life ... recycling.

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0ctavias0fferings - GiantSquid100

A box for your comments here

  • Angelgirl1976 Mar 27, 2012 @ 8:29 am | delete
    Fantastic lens, and as you say these days you are lucky if you can swing a cat never mind fit furniture and collectables so these boxes are really good ideas. Also in these tough times why spend lots of money on things from shops that will fall to bits in a few years. You might as well jaz up a box or jar etc yourself for a fraction of the cost and it might become a hobby you enjoy :)
  • gemjane Jan 15, 2012 @ 11:51 am | delete
    Cool ideas!
  • jackiebolen Mar 7, 2011 @ 9:05 pm | delete
    I love it! Way to recycle.
  • aesta1 Feb 25, 2011 @ 7:34 pm | delete
    Love those boxes. Great teaching lens. Easy to follow.
  • aesta1 Feb 25, 2011 @ 7:34 pm | delete
    Love those boxes. Great teaching lens. Easy to follow.
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