Little Boxes

I love little kraft boxes. They used to be a bit hard to find but no excuses now as quite decent ones are available in the chain stores in sensible quantities. Little boxes look fabulous en masse and all the same.

Don’t limit the little kraft box to boutonniere or party favours – goodness no. They are a great idea for small gifts like jewellery and make up and gift cards and socks and herbal teas and baby items such as bibs or fluffy white wash clothes or teensie weensie socks.

It’s all about what you do with the humble little box that counts. That’s where the belli band or wrap comes in. A piece of yummy paper wrapped around the box. These little beauties feature a watercolour floral print that is all the GO at the moment. But really you could use any paper as the wrap, giving further weight to my obsession (not shared nor loved by my husband) of keeping every small remnant from your wrapping paper because you just never know when it will come in handy.

The final layer is the twine – and I think that the key here is the layers of twine which give it a bit of body, ensuring the twiny texture is not lost gobbled up by the floral print. A little bow and there you go. You could of course try coloured twine because there are a lot of fabulous twines out there, but I think the neutral option works a treat.

If you are clever and above all precise, there are many patterns for boxes online. Choose your favourite card stock (pastels mmmm), print out the net and off you go. Provided you cut straight and love scoring and crisp folding, you will be in heaven making your little boxes.

I play around with little boxes quite a lot – all the while humming that worm song Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds. It has absolutely nothing to do with gift wrapping because its a statement on sixties life and suburbia but I love the term ticky tacky ( The term “ticky tacky” is now included in the Oxford English Dictionary, and credited to Malvina) and I’m not adverse to a bit of political history.