I made my first cubic origami box in 2004 after trying quite a few times to come to [...]]]>

I actually wanted to post this tutorial before Christmas last year, but children have birthdays or parties every day of the year, so these cute (and easy) origami favour boxes can be made whenever you need them.

I made my first cubic origami box in 2004 after trying quite a few times to come to terms with the folding terms (like valleys and mountains, for instance) used in the book that I had at that time.

However, once the actual folding process “clicked”, I could not believe that I had so much trouble with it.

Nowadays I sometimes find myself folding these boxes when I am waiting for the food to finish cooking or whenever I am bored. I folded a very, very small box the other day, it was only 3cm in diameter…

Anyway, I am digressing. Let me show you how to fold these boxes yourself to use as party favours or gift boxes for any occasion.

Oh yes, for the purpose of this tutorial I used a square of paper cut from the inner brown paper rolls used for gift wrapping paper. It is quite a sturdy paper and ideal to make boxes with. The colour also lends itself very well to other decorations you would like to add.

So, first things first. These boxes are always made from a square piece of paper. You can easily make a perfect square from any oblong piece like this:

Unroll the brown paper and fold it as in the diagram above to make a triangle.

With sharp scissors or a craft knife and ruler, cut along the bottom of the triangle to give a perfect square

Fold the paper over as shown, open and repeat to the other side – (Origami term – Book fold and unfold two mountain creases)

Fold (Valley) the corners into the middle, then divide into horizontal lines and vertical lines as shown in the next few images

…like this – open and repeat on the other side

Unfold two opposite corners so the paper look like this

Now fold the two opposite sides like this to re crease  – Up until here it was quite easy, now comes the tricky part.

You have to hold these two sides and then collapse  the paper at one end so it looks like this

Now lock  the corner point over the rim of the box so that it rest on the bottom of the box. Repeat with the other side

…and here is your origami box!

Make a lid in the same way as the box but alter the placement of the creases to let the lid fit over the box without squashing it. If you look to the diagram, the black lines represent the creases of the actual box and the red line the creases for the lid.

Remember that this is just an example and not actual measurement. You can make different size boxes by altering the size of the paper square and then alter the width of the outer edges. The bigger the outer edge, the deeper the box will be and vice versa.

Experiment and make notes, for instance a 5cm x 5cm deep box can be made from a 20 x 20 cm square piece of paper, a deep lid for this box would only be slightly larger, but to make a shallow lid you would need a square piece of paper of about 11.5 cm x 11.5 cm and the outer edges would be approximately 2.5 to 3 cm.

You can use thin paper, thick paper, plain paper glued to the back of gift paper, two-coloured paper and even hand-made textured paper. The basic rule is to use thin paper for small boxes and thick(er) paper for larger boxes.

Here is another box I made after I saw this advertisement for a duvet in a magazine. I used pastel cardboard for the box itself.

I would like to hear what you think about this tutorial, so please leave a comment. If you have any queries, please drop me an e-mail at kidtheme (@) kids-theme-parties dot com.

As always, have fun when you make these favour boxes for your child’s birthday party.

Update: Apart from the fact that the images are not totally aligned in this post, (I will figure it out one day), I also forgot to tell you that I compiled a file with step-by-step diagrams and photos that you can download by clicking on this link

The file is in Winrar format, but if you download the free open source software called jzip you will be able to open Zip and Rar files as well as a few other archive formats  (and then I don’t have to give you a link to download Winrar every time I upload a file).

The photos in the pdf. file have been taken in 2007 and it shows you how to make the original cubic origami box.

Have fun!

1. They will play games and/or be entertained.

2. They will eat birthday cake and other snacks

3. They will see their presents get opened.

But they also know that when they leave the party, they will receive [...]]]>

Every child knows that when they go to their friend’s birthday parties, certain ritualistic events will occur.

1. They will play games and/or be entertained.

2. They will eat birthday cake and other snacks

3. They will see their presents get opened.

But they also know that when they leave the party, they will receive a favour or goody bag. The favour bag is usually considered the best part of a birthday theme party because it is something that they get to take home. Almost like their reward for attending their friend’s birthday theme party.

Don’t think you can just throw a couple of pieces of candy in a bag and hand them out as the children are leaving. The birthday child is usually judged by how cool their favour bags are. If the favour bags are exceptional, kids will look forward to the next themed birthday party.

Today’s kids are quite more sophisticated in their choice of favour bag items.  They often try to outdo each other when their respective parties roll around – take care or they will really press you to come up with expensive items for their favour bags. It can become more difficult each year to try and come up with ideas for party favours. Why not try  some fun new ideas that will leave them with something to remember and will make them feel good about attending your kid’s theme party.

Since most kids like to vent their creativity through a variety of art projects, it might be a good idea to provide white t-shirts and fabric paint for them, so that they can create their own masterpieces and have a lasting remembrance of the party, as well. This doubles as an activity and a party favour, making it ideal for kids who aren’t terribly young. Even in the case of those who are under the kindergarten age, similar projects can be done using fingerpaints that are designed for fabric.

Another arts and crafts idea involves purchasing wooden cut-out letters – using the first letter of each child’s name who’s attending the party. With these, a bit of glue and lots of decorative accessories, the kids can decorate their own initial with glitter, sequins, foam shapes, stickers, and any other bauble that you might find at the local craft store. If you prefer not to risk the mess of gluing decorations, then you can buy self-adhesive decorator items. They’re a bit pricier, but will eliminate the worry of clean-up.

Prior to the party, purchase enough small picture frames to give one to each of the party guests who attend. During the festivities, take a series of photos, making sure to include each child – and be sure that they’re instant photos, so that they don’t have to be taken out and developed – super easy with today’s digital cameras, a computer and your own printer. Let them decorate the frames themselves while you print out the photos – just before the party ends, hand over the respective photos so that they can put it in their decorated frames.

For those who still like the idea of sending a favour bag home with the children, you can make it a bit more interesting by allowing them to make their own goodies to go inside. For instance, using lollipop molds and the necessary ingredients, you can instruct the children to make their own pops early in the party, so that they’ll be ready to go when they leave. Other types of candy can also be made and taken with them, offering a fun activity during the party and a tasty treat afterward.

To make the lollipops extra special, print out some colourful butterflies, flowers or images that will suit the theme of the party. Cut two small slits in the picture and push the lollipop through. (See picture…)

Once you let your imagination go, you can come up with great ideas for favour bags for your kid’s theme party – you can either make the items yourself before the party, and choose to include it in the activities once the party is under way. In most cases, the party guests will have fun as well as have something to take home.

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party!

Once they get the hang of it, they will be able to finish a few bags in no time at all.

Once the favour bags are made, they can get creative with decorating it to suit [...]]]>

Let your child or children share in the excitement of an upcoming theme party by making the favour bags.

Once they get the hang of it, they will be able to finish a few bags in no time at all.

Once the favour bags are made, they can get creative with decorating it to suit the theme of the party.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to make your own favour bags or even gift bags (why buy when you can make it yourself?)

First off you will need some empty cardboxes like cereal boxes, biscuit boxes, etc.  (the size of the box will depend on the size of the bag you want to make – if there is no empty boxes on hand, try using a soft-cover book)

Other things you will need:

Scissors
Coloured card or heavy wrapping paper
Double-sided tape or glue
Cardboard
Hole punch
Ribbon, string or cord to match or compliment the paper

Lay box flat on long side of paper, ensuring paper will fold up to cover three-quarters of base.

Wrap paper around box to take circumference measurement, adding 2cm for overlap at side join. Mark dimensions with pencil, remove box and cut out.

Wrap paper around box to measure overlap, remove and open up again. Fold 3-4 cm over to inside at top edge of paper, glue in place.

Idea: Strengthen the places where the holes for the string or cord will be by cutting two pieces of firm cardboard about 3.5 cm wide and just a little shorter than the front and back width of the bag. Put glue on either side of the cardboard and position the pieces of the cardboard along the inside of the bag before gluing  the top edges in place.

Wrap paper around box and secure the overlap at the side with double-sided tape or glue.

While the box is still in the bag, fold the bottom edges over.

Secure with double-sided tape or glue

Tip:

For extra strength or a neater finish, you can cut a piece of paper just a little smaller than the base of the bag and glue in place.

Slide box out of bag

Another tip: You can also cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the base  and insert it into the bag on the bottom.

Pinch edges of bag together with fingers and crease down sides carefully.

Flatten bag, fold bottom and flatten. Fold bottom back and open bag.

Punch two holes in each side at top, measure the string or cord to the length that you want the handles and add about 5 cm.

Thread the string or cord through the holes and knot the ends. Make sure that the knots are big enough so that the handles don’t come off.

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party!

In today’s [...]]]>

A camera is a device used to take pictures (usually photographs). Some film cameras feature date imprinting devices that can print a date on the negative itself. The first permanent photograph was made in 1826 by Joseph Nicephore Niepce using a sliding wooden box camera made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris.

In today’s modern world a camera is a device that needs batteries to take pictures and if you do not have one set of charged batteries in the house, you cannot take pictures!

I wanted to show you in this post how easy it is to make your own gift or favour bags from gift paper BUT when I tried to take a few photos this afternoon to post here, I discovered that my camera’s batteries were flat.

Normally that is not a problem because I always have another set of batteries that are charged. Not today!  So the photos (I was going to post a video tutorial) have to wait until a later stage.

I once again realised how important it is to have a checklist when you plan your kid’s theme party.  How awful it would have been if I had to take photos of my granddaughter’s theme party or any other special event today only to discover that flat camera batteries were going to rob me of those precious moments.

I don’t want the same thing to happen to you, so click on the link and grab your free Theme Party Checklist now before you start planning your kid’s birthday party.

Take a look on things to do in the section – 2 Days before Party – and you will see the following: Check batteries for camera AND Buy extra batteries if needed; maybe I should keep this checklist at my side permanently and not only when I plan a kid’s theme party…

Oh yes, before I go… the interesting little story about what a camera is, was found on the following site: http://www.hscripts.com/freeimages/icons/electronics/camera-clipart.php

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party!

Obviously party guests at your kid’s theme party expect to [...]]]>

My granddaughter (nearly 4 years old) came home from a party one Saturday morning and proudly showed me the goodie bag, or in this case, the goodie box that she received when the party was over… and let me tell you, I was NOT impressed!

Obviously party guests at your kid’s theme party expect to receive a favour bag after the party, but is it really necessary to fill it just with candy? All those sweet, chewy  and often jaw breaking toffees and other  candies can surely not be good for young children after they had their fill of cake, sweets and ice cream during the party as well.

I know many working mothers would disagree with me as it is a lot of work to plan a theme party and then to really spend more time on the favour bags is sometimes just too much to ask, so it is so easy to just put some different candies and a packet of crisps in a bag or small box.

However, while you are out shopping for the party, why not also purchase a few odds and ends for the favour bags at the same time? Your chances of finding small gifts that will suit your party theme are particularly good while you shop for decorations, table ware, etc. At the same time however, take care not to buy too many small toys and novelties, as these often  just find their way to the waste bin after a day or two.

You can  find quite inexpensive items at dime stores or stock up on items when your local store has a stock clearance. I found a couple of Finding Nemo puzzles for nearly next to nothing at a dime store for my granddaughter Mia’s Finding Nemo theme party.

There were also some inexpensive wax crayons that I bought as I stumbled onto a coloring page site the previous night with a choice of 71 colouring pictures of Finding Nemo and his friends (yes, 71! – this is a wonderful site) so I printed two pictures for each guest.

Finding Nemo stickers, 2 marshmallow fishes and a small packet of fish shaped crackers completed the favour bags.

Favour bags need not cost a fortune, but you should also put as much thought and planning into it as you do for the rest of the party.  The party guests should really find value from these small gifts; you don’t want the gifts to find their way to the waste bin after a day or two.

Remember, favour bags are a token of appreciation to the party guests for attending your kid’s theme party.

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party