How to Weave a Spice Storage Box From Old Magazine

The Spice storage box above is woven with pieces of glossy paper from old magazines.

Lots of old computer magazines are lying at our home. As these magazines are very old and the information they contained is outdated, I thought of using some of those magazines for making few useful things. The spice storage box above is the outcome, made with glossy papers from the magazines

• A cutting Mat
• A measuring Scale or Square
• Craft knife
• Synthetic Resin Adhesive
• Any old Magazine with glossy papers

I needed approximately half an inch wide strips of paper for weaving the box. The size of the magazine page is 9 inches x 11 inches. So one page can be cut into 8 strips and then folded to make stronger strips of paper, which are slightly larger than half an inch.

• Remove a page from the paper and fold it twice and cut.
• Fold each strip again and cut. We have 8 strips from one page
• Fold each piece again in halves.

Now we have 8 folded strips of paper from a 9 inch wide page. Each strip is slightly more than half an inch in width. We will make a box of size 6 inches x 4 inches, so cut and fold enough strips required for the box

• Apply adhesive in between the strips and stick them together
• You can also join strips to make it longer
• For the sides of the box, I have joined two pieces together and folded one end to about 10 cm length

• Arrange 6 pieces of glued strips with on a work surface so that the 10 cm folds are standing vertical at 90 degrees to the bottom layer.The six pieces will make approximately 4 inches (About 10 cms) wider box
• Start weaving the box with strips placed between the 6 pieces on the work surface, alternating with below and above pattern. here also keep the 10 cm folded side vertical

• Weave with 10 pieces of glued strips. This will make about 6 inches long (15 cms) box
• Align the weave to right angles using a drawing square or any suitable method

• Measure the exact dimensions inside the box and cut a card stock to the required dimension.
• Apply glue to the card stock and paste at the bottom of weave as shown in the picture.
• This will keep the paper strips in position to the required shape while weaving the sides

• Fold the standing portion of strips over the glued card stock on all sides and keep them vertical
• Join 3 pieces of glued strips so that each strip will cover all four sides of the box
• Start weaving from the bottom, folding the longer strip as required at corners
• Once you finished weaving the layer, trim extra, apply glue and join the ends
• Also apply glue in between and join the verticals with the horizontal strips
• Weave 3 layers which will provide a height of about 5 cms

Once our weaving is completed, we can trim the excess vertical strips

• Fold the verticals inside and outside as per the weave
• Trim the vertical strips leaving about half an inch extra
• Apply glue at the ends and stick inside the box or outside the box

The last two pictures show the completed box at this stage

Our box is completed in all respects, but it is of no use unless we put the box to some use. Here we will provide partition inside the box with card stock and will use it to store spices

• Measure and cut the card stock to size
• Divide the longer card in three and cut a notch to half the depth on top at intersections
• Divide the shorter card in two and cut a notch to half depth from bottom
• Now we can insert the longer and shorter cards perpendicular to each other with same height as of the box
• Place the divider inside the box and apply glue

Please see the completed box in the last picture above

We can also make a lid for the box with cardstock to prevent dust forming on the spices

• Place the completed box upside down on a piece of card stock
• Mark the exact size of box on the card and another half an inch for the fold
• Cut the cardstock to size.
• Lightly score the card stock at marked portion for the fold. Do not cut deep
• Fold the card stock along the score line and apply glue

Our lid for the box is completed

Now you can store your favorite spices inside the partitioned box.

We have placed Cardamom, Star Anise, Cloves, Cinnamon, Bay Leaves and Black pepper in the six compartments of the box. The box can also be covered with the lid to prevent dust spoiling the spices

Have Fun...