I’m love baking, but live with a health nut, so when it comes to consuming my baking creations, I’m on my own. That’s why I give away baked goods for pretty much any special occasion. I made some French macarons for my mom for her birthday and wanted a quick and easy way to give them to her that looked much better than a plastic container. I think I’ll be making many more of these little treat boxes for all of the recipients of my sweet treats.
What You Need:
- 12 x 12 inch printed paper
- Paper Trimmer
- Ruler
- Optional:
How to Make It:
You’ll need 2 sheets of paper for each box you want to make.
Trim down your sheets of paper to size. The piece for your base will need to be a square about 1/2 inch smaller than the sheet you use for your lid. For example, my largest piece is 12 x 12 inches and its base is 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. My smaller box is 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches with a 10 x 10 inch base. Always make squares.
Take one sheet of paper and fold it in half. Unfold, and fold it in half the other way. You want really defined and clear creases with every fold. Press down hard with your finger, use a bone folder, or a ruler to get really good creases.
Your paper will now be divided into 4 even squares like above.
Fold each of the corners toward the center.
Your piece should now look like this. Again, make sure each crease is well defined.
Fold one side toward the center.
Turn the piece and fold the other side to the center.
Unfold, and repeat with the other two sides.
Unfold again and pull two opposite corners out so your piece will look like the photo above.
Now for the tricky part. Bring those diagonal folds I’ve highlighted in purple in toward the center of your box.
The whole thing should lift a little bit and you should have the two corners touching with a diamond shaped flap.
Fold the flap over and around the diagonal corners you just folded and give the top of your box a good crease. The middle crease of your diamond should fall at the base of your box, and the triangle should be at the bottom.
Smooth everything out. It should look like this. Repeat the last steps with the other side. You now have your lid or base!
Repeat with the remaining pieces of paper. Slide your larger box over your smaller one, and you’ve got a cute paper box!
Optional (Create a little window to show off your fancy treats!)
Macarons are all about appearances, so I had to show off my work. I decided to create a little window for my smaller box. Here’s how I did it.
Unfold your lid to this point, where all the corners are in the center of your square.
Mark a square about 1/4 inch from the square creases in the center of your box and cut it out with a craft knife and ruler.
Take a transparency sheet or a piece of cellophane and mark out a square that is very slightly smaller than the size of your lid. My lid, made from the piece of 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inch paper was 3 1/2 inches. The 12 x 12 inch lid was about 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches. Cut it out with your ruler and craft knife.
Unfold your paper completely and make a line of glue a little ways from the edge of your cut piece of paper around the whole square and attach the transparency sheet. Make sure to wipe away any glue that is seeping through and let dry under something heavy like a book you don’t care to see a little glue on.
Make another little line of glue on the transparency sheet and quickly fold the box back up, making sure to press down on the glue.
Now you’ve got a fun little window to show off your cute creations.
Once you get the hang of the final folds to create these boxes, you’ll be surprised how quickly these work up.
If you’ve got treats that are a little oily or wet, line the bottom with some wax paper or parchment paper. Fill them up with your treats and tie your boxes together with baker’s twine for a super cute homemade gift!