Failure clips and successful gift... boxes

I decided to make a friend some hair clips. I wanted to whip out my embroidery skills, but they were much more rusty than I thought. But I persevered. I embroidered the clips with paisley designs, but it was such a small space that it did not turn out the way I wanted.

So I tried to redeem myself with a cute gift box made out of paper... and I think I did an okay job!

I've never been good at sort of origami crafts, but my mother and I used to make these small boxes out of greeting cards.

For these boxes, I just used scrap booking paper, but I think a heavier craft stock would be better. These boxes are cute for small gifts, and I tied this one with embroidery floss. You could also attach a loop at one corner and use this as a cute ornament! A garland of them would be cute for birthday parties or make many in different colors for your Christmas tree.

The instructions were in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts, which I highly recommend! You can also find the directions at Martha Stewart Living.





(I apologize for the pictures. The lighting in my kitchen isn't great!)