And other concerns).
But recently I made a box as a gift and decided to post a small master class.
So let's do it surprise clamshell box.
The idea is this: a person receives a huge box as a gift, opens it, inside there is another smaller box, then another one, and so on until we have a tiny box with a small gift in front of us.
This packaging is very convenient when you want to give a small gift such as jewelry (ring), money or any other memorable gift.
The clamshell box solves several problems at once:
1. It looks impressive and does not create the impression that the gift is too small (this is for lovers of gigantism))));
2. It’s much nicer to receive such a box than just a banal envelope with money;
3. The box can be decorated with various wishes, photographs, small memorable items and becomes a repository of pleasant memories, and this, you see, is more valuable than even the gift itself.
What you will need for work:
1. Cardboard (binding or corrugated)
2. Wrapping paper is different
3. Decorative elements made of paper, wood, beads and anything else you want to decorate the box with.
4. Double-sided tape (thin and foam)
5. Paper glue (PVA, Moment Crystal or any other that you are used to working with)
6. Paper or masking tape of different widths
7. Scissors
8. Ruler
Opening hours:
The time it takes to assemble a box depends entirely on the size. A box measuring 30x30x30 cm can be assembled in 1-1.5 hours (this is only one outer box!), smaller inner boxes can be assembled in 30 minutes to 1 hour. Plus add here the time for decorating - about half an hour for each box. In general, you can spend 10-15 hours assembling and decorating the entire package. Therefore, plan to create such packaging in advance; you definitely won’t be able to do it at the last moment.
I’ll say right away that this option does not pretend to be highly artistic, it was made quite simply and quickly, so we believe that this is a version of a simple clamshell box))) You can get confused and make a clamshell box that is ideal in all respects, but be prepared to spend a few on it full days, since working out the details will require an appropriate approach.
Are we getting started?
1. Before starting work, decide on the size. I recommend starting with the largest, outer box, as this takes up the largest amount of material and can be used to plan the size of the inner boxes from there. It is better to make the box in the form of a cube, then it will be easier to calculate the dimensions - all dimensions of a cube are equal. Each subsequent box should be 3 cm smaller so that decor and a lid can be placed between the boxes inside. Also decide what size you should have the smallest inner box that will contain the gift.
2. Select base material.
Corrugated cardboard(from old boxes or purchased specifically in sheets) are much lighter, so the overall weight of the finished clamshell box will be relatively light. But keep in mind that the boxes will be larger, so the appearance will not be very compact and neat.
Binding cardboard much heavier, but it is smooth, sticks well and holds the paper, and is much thinner than corrugated, so the box will turn out smooth, beautiful and neat.
3. We will use 5 sheets of cardboard of the same size for the base of the box. In my case, these are sheets of 30x30 cm (in what follows I will give all sizes based on the size of my box).
We put one sheet in the middle and place 4 on its sides. Leave a small gap between the sheets (about 3-4 mm) so that the sides of the box can be laid out freely.
4. Using paper tape, glue all the joints of the sheets on one side, turn the workpiece over and do the same on the other side. Thus, we obtain a blank of 5 sheets, glued at the joints on both sides.
5. We are now working with the largest, outer box, so we need to glue the outer bottom so that the box looks decent from the outside.
Cut out a square measuring 35x35 cm from wrapping paper (it should be slightly larger than the cardboard bottom).
6. Glue strips of thin double-sided tape to the cardboard bottom, not too often and not too rarely, so that the paper sticks evenly.
7. Remove the protective paper from the tape and glue on the sheet of wrapping paper that we cut out in advance.
8. In the corners of the protruding parts of the paper, make cuts at an angle of 45 degrees.
9. Turn the bottom blank over, bend the corners and glue them to the base.
We bend the extra centimeters and glue them to the base. Here it is better to use glue, since you need to coat quite large areas of paper.
Before gluing the sides, you need to bend the corners of the paper so that the corners of the base look decent.
This is what the inside of a large box should look like after gluing the paper to the outside:
13. We have the base of the largest box ready, now we need to make the lid. We know that the size of our large box is 30x30 cm, so the size of the lid should be a centimeter larger. We cut out a square 31x31 cm and 4 strips measuring 31x5 cm from cardboard. Here 5 cm is the height of the lid, I took this size in particular because of the paper tape (I had it wide, 5 cm), so that it would be convenient to paste over and not necessary I had to constantly cut off the excess width. You can make the height of the lid smaller by adjusting it to suit your needs.
We lay out the cut out parts in the same way as when creating the base of the box, but close to the middle sheet (that is, we do not make gaps between the parts)
14. Cover the joints of the parts with paper tape only on one side of the workpiece
15. It turns out this design (we have glued joints inside)
16. Fold the corners tightly and cover them on the outside with a strip of paper tape. It is important to ensure that the parts are glued evenly and tightly - this directly affects appearance covers.
We get such a cute blank. By the way, you can “learn” this method of gluing at the post office - watch how they pack your box with your parcel, the principle will immediately become clear.
You should end up with a neat lid like this:
I successfully forgot to take a photo of the process of gluing the lid, but in principle this is worthy of a separate master class, since the process is interesting, but in order to have at least something, I am posting the process of gluing the lid from corrugated cardboard.
First you need to cut out a sheet of wrapping paper taking into account the height of the lid, that is, if the base of the lid is 31x31 cm, its height is 5 cm, then we cut out a sheet of at least 42x42 cm so that it is possible to seal the outer and inner heights of the lid:
19. Ufff. Are you tired?)) And we just made the first, biggest box! Let's move on. Each subsequent box needs to be made 3 cm smaller, that is, we cut out 5 sheets of cardboard measuring 27x27 cm.
Laying the sheets:
Cover both sides of the workpiece with tape
You should end up with something like this without the bottom covered with paper:
20. Now we glue the smaller box to the larger one. To do this, place the base of a large box on a flat surface, coat the bottom of the smaller box with glue and carefully glue it exactly to the center of the inside of the bottom of the large box. Like this:
21. Next, we repeat all the above procedures several times with a corresponding reduction in the size of the boxes. Here's what I got:
1 box – 30x30 cm, lid 31x31 cm
2 box – 27x27 cm, lid 28x28 cm
3 box – 24x24 cm, lid 25x25 cm
4 box – 21x21 cm, lid 22x22 cm
5 box – 18x18 cm, lid 19x19 cm
6 box – 15x15 cm, lid 16x16 cm
I didn’t make the box smaller, because... I needed to put an envelope with a gift card, and 15x15 - the smallest box was very convenient for this.
In general, you can make a larger number of boxes, increasing them, for example, to 9 pieces. Then the smallest box will fit a box with a ring or any other small gift.
22. Now we need to decorate all the boxes of our packaging.
We start with the smallest one, and in front of us lies this structure:
We decorate with congratulatory inscriptions, stickers and other decor, and insert the envelope right away!
We close the box with a lid (you also need to decorate the lid) and start decorating a larger box.
Close the lid again and decorate the following:
And finally, our big box!
To prevent the box from opening prematurely, you need to tie it up beautiful ribbon and solemnly present it to the recipient. Delight and tears of happiness are guaranteed!
Here’s another small gif where you can briefly see the process of creating a similar clamshell box:
Our box for storing small items, as you already understood, is made of corrugated cardboard, but other than that, it has nothing in common with parcel or shoe boxes. Thanks to its durable and solid design, as well as special seam processing technology, it can be compared more closely to wooden organizing boxes. 
In fact, this box was originally created as a storage for a collection of minerals - employees asked us to help in this matter kindergarten(specific sizes and number of cells were specified). But looking at finished product, we came to the conclusion that the scope of application of this box can be much wider, and it can be useful not only for children’s workers educational institutions and collectors.
Have you already figured out what you can put in the cells? :) Then this master class is for you!
Master class: DIY cardboard box for small items
Materials and tools:
- sheets office paper A4 format (for printing templates);
— corrugated cardboard about 3 mm thick;
- some micro-corrugated cardboard;
- stationery and breadboard knife;
- scissors;
- metal ruler;
— creasing tool;
- pencil;
- glue stick;
- double-sided tape;
— glue “Moment Crystal”;
- small magnets.
Immediately download the templates for cutting out the parts of the box for small items:
And let's get started.
As usual, first we print and glue the composite templates. We cut out parts from cardboard using them. I will not stop at this stage - this standard process has already been described several times in previous master classes, for example.
The only thing I want to draw your attention to is that along the blue lines on the templates, cuts should not be made all the way through, about half the thickness of the cardboard (ritzovka). Be careful not to damage the front layer of cardboard.
Another important point - direction of the waves of the corrugated layer (i.e. lines on wrong side cardboard). The mechanical properties of cardboard depend on this. So, the recommended direction of the waves is indicated on the templates themselves. When cutting, simply orient the templates accordingly.
1. Preparing the grille parts.
So, the parts are cut out, and ribbing is made along the blue lines (cuts are made).
Then we bend the parts outward along the cut lines (as if we were breaking them).
Separate 2 layers of cardboard between the cuts.
What is this for? You can, of course, simply crease and fold the part in half. But in this case, the upper narrow edge of the grille part will have rounded corners. If you separate 2 layers of cardboard, the edge will be smooth and flat. This, you agree, in this specific case looks more aesthetically pleasing.
Fold all the lattice parts in half. There is no need to glue them together; once assembled, everything will hold together very securely.
Transverse (short) parts must be made in triplicate. However, there are two templates per sheet, so either cut out the parts in 2 layers, or print an additional sheet with templates.
We are assembling a lattice for our small items box.
2. Preparing the base of the box for small items.
After we have cut out the base pattern, we crease it along the dashed lines.
Clue!If you have already worked with corrugated cardboard, you have probably noticed that across the waves of the corrugated layer it creases and bends very well, but along it there can be difficulties. When the fold line hits the top of the wave (that is, directly on or close to a visible line on the back of the cardboard), creasing is difficult and the fold may end up uneven. In this case, you can make a cut (for reliability, you can also punch it to press the edges of the cardboard layers along the cut) and then bend it.
We make a drawing along the blue lines and separate 2 layers of cardboard in the corresponding areas.
You should get approximately these single-layer sections.
Your scan will be slightly different around the edges because we subsequently adjusted the templates. There is no limit to perfection. :)
Bend the development well along the corresponding lines. Here we recommend additionally creasing the folds along the entire length with your fingers to make the corners as accurate as possible. This is important for subsequent assembly!
Wide single-layer sections of cardboard will need to be folded onto the inner surface of the development. For convenience, we will draw 2 scoring lines - directly along the cut of the corrugated cardboard and at a distance of 3 mm from it. This can be done with the tip of a compass.
No scoring is required here. You just need to perform a trim and separate 2 layers of cardboard in the appropriate areas (see photo).
In addition, we cut out the inner layer of the lid (rectangle 360×280 mm) and the inner bottom of the box base (according to the template).
4. Assembling a box for small items.
We bend and glue (using Moment Crystal glue) wide single-layer sections of cardboard onto the base pattern. This is necessary to ensure that there are no gaps at the corners.
Glue the inner bottom exactly in the center of the base of the box ( front side up). 
Glue the inner layer of the lid (also with the front side facing out). 
We glue the extreme parts of the lid, folding them in half.
We glue the short side parts to the inner layer (in this case, glue must also be applied to single-layer areas - the inner surfaces of the side faces). Press down well and hold until the glue sets. 
We bend and glue single-layer sections of cardboard, as shown in the photo.
Apply glue to the front and back parts (including single-layer areas) and glue to the inner layer of the lid and to the side parts (in the corners).
We assemble the base of the box for storing small items in the following order. We place the grille on the bottom, pour glue into the slots of the inner layer along the short sides, alternately insert the side walls into the slots of the grille and the slots of the bottom, press well and hold until the glue sets. Then we glue the front and back walls (don’t forget to apply glue to single-layer areas.
This is how, using only the multilayer structure of cardboard, you can create an almost seamless structure, which, it would seem, is unusual for corrugated cardboard.
Now let's prepare the nests for the magnets. The template kit includes a special template for cutting holes. We fasten it in the center of the upper edge of the front wall and cut out circles (just not right through!). For this operation it is better to use a breadboard knife.
We cut out the same nests in the middle of the front edge of the lid. We remove only the first 2 layers of cardboard.
We used these round magnets with a diameter of 11 mm. You can remove the magnet using an awl, destroying the walls of the socket of the plastic case.
We place magnets in nests with glue.
When choosing magnets, pay attention to their thickness. If it turns out to be more than 3 mm, then even before gluing the base of the box for small items, glue an additional layer of cardboard from the inside to the area where there will be nests for magnets.
You can, of course, choose other magnets. The main thing is that they are strong enough. A very good option is furniture magnets.
By the way, among the accessories you can also choose hinges for a cardboard box. Only to attach them will you need to additionally glue pieces of a wooden or plastic ruler.
We took the simplest and most accessible route - we made loops from micro-corrugated cardboard. We cut out 2 rectangles according to the templates and punched them in the middle on both the inner and outer surfaces. It is also worth bending the loops both outward and inward so that they move more freely in both directions.
For greater reliability, you can make not 2 short ones, but one continuous one long loop.
Glue the hinges to the base and lid.
Important point: There is no need to apply glue to a small area along the fold line (it will be visible when the lid is open)!
Now the box for storing small items is ready. I must say that the product turned out well. :)
Since this was a box for a mineral collection, we made a carved applique out of micro-corrugated cardboard on the lid. For those interested, the templates for the application are in the downloadable file. 
The dimensions of the box that you can make with your own hands are as follows: 360×280×61 mm. Cell dimensions: 76×76×44 mm.
In general, you can decorate such a box in the most in different ways, for example, using a variety of decoupage techniques.
Yours Inna Pyshkina and the KARTONKINO team.
Sometimes it takes a lot of time, effort and nerves to find the right item on the table. To avoid stress and quickly find this or that item, you need to properly organize storage in drawers. How to do this? We've found the coolest and fastest-to-implement ideas that will help you sort out even the biggest mess.
Cutlery storage
If cutlery items are stored in a drawer without dividers, then sooner or later they will mix with each other. To prevent this from happening, it is better to immediately ensure that forks, spoons and knives are stored separately. To do this, you can buy a special container with dividers at a kitchenware store, or make partitions yourself from plywood blocks. In this case, it is better to cover the bottom with a piece of non-woven tablecloth or stick a decorative film.
Cosmetics storage
To store cosmetics in a drawer, you need to get plastic and metal containers different sizes. For convenience, it is recommended to put lipsticks and glosses in one container, place brushes and sponges for applying cosmetics in a separate jar, fix eye shadows and blush so that they do not fall off when opening and closing the drawer.
Little Helpers
To turn a drawer into a functional organizer, you don’t have to spend money on containers or look for special dividers. It's worth looking into the kitchen and seeing if there are any unnecessary ones. cardboard boxes from corn or oat flakes. Boxes (and their lids) left over after buying shoes, a phone or other accessories will also come in handy. For beauty, they can be decorated with remnants of wallpaper, glued together and decorated in the same style.
Original solutions
If boxes, containers and dividers are not at hand, then the most common items that can be found in any kitchen will come to the rescue. For example, in almost any supermarket eggs are sold in cardboard boxes, which after purchase are often simply thrown into the trash. In fact, they are convenient for storing paper clips, pins, erasers, keys, threads and much more.Boxes are boxes, but small things need to be put somewhere. That’s why humanity invented boxes with compartments))) Here, of course, I won’t tell you how to make small, very small compartments, such as, for example, in an organizer for threads, buttons or beads, but I will tell you about medium-sized compartments.
You should have seen me photographing all this))) the case was filmed right as this box was being made, and I valiantly, despite my hands covered in glue, took pictures. True, I forgot a couple. I got carried away. But I will try to explain clearly!
First, we cut out the partitions themselves. I cut out the same 2mm cardboard as the outer walls. Choose the width and height based on the size of your box. I made the height 0.5 cm less than the height of the external walls. To make them look beautiful on top, we will need strips of fabric 2.5-3 cm wide:
The fabric should be folded in half (along, not across). First we coat one side of the partition with glue, glue 1/2 strips there, then do the same on the other:
Now, if the fabric extends beyond the edges of the partition, carefully cut off the excess:
We have a beautiful top edge. Now we coat the edges without fabric with “Moment Crystal” glue or other powerful (and preferably transparent) glue:
It will be just great if at the bottom of the box you mark in advance the lines where you will need to glue the walls:
Now we glue the partition to the marked line. Be careful with the glue, try not to smudge the top edges of the box (we don’t care about the others, we’ll paste them over later).
We glued it, but it’s clear that our wall won’t last long like this. Therefore, we reinforce each...uh...area where the partition joins the box with corner-forming tape. That is, to strengthen this wall, we need 6 corner-forming pieces. And try not to layer new pieces of tape on top of those already in the box:
In the same way we glue the second wall and strengthen it:
Now we will need to glue the bottom. To do this, first of all, you will need cardboard with a density of 320 g /m 2.
You can take a different density, smaller, but I somehow got used to it.
Cut it out required size cardboard, but taking into account the fact that you need to cut 1 mm less the right size! Because when you cover it with fabric, it will just adjust to this 1 mm at the waist. Yes, and if you are as lucky as me and you are the happy owner of black (or other non-light) cardboard, immediately prepare a piece of ordinary white paper and a glue stick of the same size [a pencil is not necessary, you can also use PVA, but use a very, very thin layer, because... PVA is wet and paper or cardboard may swell and become lumpy]))) Secondly, we need fabric, we cut it out with allowances of 1 cm on each side:
We glue the paper to the cardboard with an adhesive pencil, then glue the fabric to the paper using PVA. Smooth it out well. Cutting corners:
You need to cut not at an angle of 90 degrees, but a little more. So that when you fold the excess fabric and glue it to the cardboard, nothing peeks out [by the way, there is a wonderful alternative way to cut corners (and the site as a whole is simply wonderful), but I do it as I learned from a French textbook]
:
Before gluing, make sure that this piece fits perfectly in the place where you have determined it. It’s better to try it on one more time than to tear it off and redo it later :)
We grease the bottom with PVA glue, put our piece on top and press it well with our fingers, or, if the depth does not allow, with a bending stick, which normal people call a folding/creasing bone or any other suitable object:
Glue the remaining bottoms in the same way:
Hooray! The bottom is ready. Now it's the turn of the walls. To begin with, we will paste over those walls into which the partitions rest (I have 3 of them), since things are tricky there and a simple rectangle will not do.
The height of the internal walls is up to you to decide what you like best. I like them to be the same height as the outside walls; someone likes, on the contrary, to leave it on top indentation . The main thing, do not forget: subtract 1 mm from the desired height!!!(and from the width too)
In general, we cut out the required length and width, now we apply and mark the place where the partition adjoins:
Marked, then at right angles (square - best friend cardboard maker) drew lines upward, leaving the part where the partition no longer adjoins (in my case it's 5 mm) and made a cut:
