A Twisted Tube Treat

Hello, Kathy here today with am idea for a Treat Box which might come in handy for Halloween, or Christmas or whatever other reasons you can think of for giving someone a little treat.

The great thing about this one is that you can make it in whatever size you like as the starting point is simply a rectangle of thick paper or thin card.

 Twisted Tube Treat Box

Because of the shape of these boxes, the easiest way to work out what size box you need is to have a "dry run" using a sheet of ordinary A4 paper first.  For instance even using a quarter of a sheet of A4 will produce a box big enough to hold a lot of small sweets like Smarties or Jelly Tots - if you want to make tiny boxes to hang on your Christmas Tree, consider making them even smaller.

So just cut a sheet of scrap A4 into half to start with and  follow these instructions to get the idea first

For this Halloween themed treat box, I started with a rectangle that is a quarter of a sheet of A4.  I've used Spookie Dookie  for this one

 Turn to the "wrong" side and from one edge, fold in about 1cm and make a crease.  Apply glue or tape down the folded piece

Now,bring the other edge over to line up with the crease and stick down to form a tube - just like the card  inner tube from a loo roll!

 Now, flatten one end of the tube - keep the join at one side of the flattened end, use glue or tape to stick these two edges together. I find glue is a bit easier to apply on the inside edge.  You may find it useful to have a supply of mini bulldog clips handy to hold all the edges in place while they dry

For the next crease you need to flatten the top end of the box in the other direction - this time, make the crease but don't do any sticking as your box needs to be filled first! You should end up with a box with 4 triangular "faces"

At this point you need to decide two things: what to put in it and how to close it.

You could just add glue as before and maybe make a sticker to decorate the box with

If you want little boxes to hang on the Christmas Tree you could simply fill with goodies, then add the glue as before, but remembering to tuck in a loop of Bakers Twine to hang it with.

Or if you've made a larger box,  punch some holes and thread ribbon through to hold the opening together - this is nicer for a gift box, I think. 

Or punch a medium sized circle and stick half down on each side of the box opening - it would be simple then to open with scissors

How about making 24 of these in some  of Funky Hand's Christmas designs (such as these form Funky Hand's Yule Be Funky CDrom)- add a number to each , hang them on a branch or display in a big bowl and you've got a unique and stylish Advent Calendar. 

That's it for this time, I hope you like these little boxes and will have ago at making some for yourself.  We'd love to see if you do....

Happy Crafting