Twist Top Gift Box

Who says boxes have to be square?

With a self-locking twist top and customizable height, this simple hexagonal box makes an ideal container for little gifts.

Test out your paper engineering skills with this simple yet clever twist-top box!

One sheet of card/paper (with a pattern of your choice)

Scissors

Quick-drying glue

The twist top gift box has a simple template which shows exactly where you need to fold and cut.

Start by choosing your paper and copying or printing the template onto one side.

The side with the template drawn on will be the inside of your box.

You can customize the height of your box by changing the length of the segment marked "4.8 (or your chosen height)" on the template.

With the template lines facing up, crease along all of the lines.

Try to be precise with your creases, as this will make it easier to close the box later.

The vertical lines should be folded so that the crease faces the outside (i.e. the pattern side).

The diagonal lines should be folded so that crease faces the inside (i.e. the side with the template drawn on).

Tip: You can use an old ball-point pen to crease precisely along the lines. Trace the lines firmly with the pen to create an indentation, and then fold along the indentations.

At the bottom of the template, there are seven square sections. These will make the base of the box.

Cut in between the square sections to separate them.

If you're using the printed template, the lines are dashed to help you cut in the right places.

Make sure you don't cut the squares off completely - they should still be attached to the bottom of the template.

Also, make sure you don't cut too far - only the lines in between the square sections should be cut.

Now you're ready to make the template into a tube.

There are seven vertical segments on the creased sheet.

Apply glue to the inside (template side) of the right-most segment. Make sure to cover it well, or your box might come unstuck!

Now, close the box by sticking the glue side of the seventh segment to the pattern side of the opposite segment.

You should now have a hexagonal tube with six square flaps at the bottom.

Time to make this tube into a box!

Overlap the six square flaps on the bottom of the box to make a pointy flower-like pattern.

The point should stick out for now. This is okay, because we'll turn it inside-out in the next step.

When you have the flaps arranged correctly, use glue to stick them down.

Make sure there's no gap in the middle and make sure the flaps are firmly stuck, otherwise the contents of your box might fall out later!

Gently push the bottom of the box until it turns inside out.

With a little force, the point should pop right into place inside the box.

Make sure the glue is fully dry before pushing so that the base doesn't come unstuck.

Almost time for the tricky part - closing the box!

To make things easier, go back over the creases on the top of the box to strengthen them.

When you're satisfied that the creases are good enough, it's time to try closing the box.

Now the tricky part!

Looking down at the top of the box, carefully twist the bottom in the clockwise direction while twisting the top counter-clockwise.

Gently push the top and bottom together while twisting until the box closes.

Don't worry if the box becomes slightly squashed while you try and close it. You can neaten it up again by sharpening the original creases.

Note: This step may take several attempts, so if you're finding it tough - don't give up! Just keep trying and you'll be sure to get it working.

Congratulations! You've finished making your twist-top box.

Why not fill it with something nice and give someone a cute little gift?

Or maybe you'd like to go even further, and modify the design...

Could you make a square or octagonal box by changing the number of sides?

Or could you make a twist top box with a twist bottom too, by making the template symmetric?

So many possibilities!

Happy making!