Joanna sent me a link to this post at Wild Yeast, which in turn inspired me to make some origami gift boxes for Christmas.
I made mine following these instructions, using a two layer construction – a sheet of red cardboard and a piece of parchment paper. This creates a cheap and cheerful container, with a foodsafe lining (how cool is that?), perfect for filling with small baked goods. At a cost of about 25c each, these are an absolute bargain!
Experiment with different sized card until you get a box that you’re happy with. I trimmed the parchment paper with deckle scissors (the remnant of a failed attempt at scrapbooking). You could also use thick brown paper, or even pretty wrapping paper if your gift isn’t too heavy.
It took a bit of experimenting to create a fruitcake sized box!
I tried wrapping the filled boxes with cellophane – very pretty – although you could probably fold origami lids as well (same pattern, with a slightly larger piece of card). Experiment with paper first before using more expensive cardboard!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I am definitely going to remember this one.
Gorgeous! You are so creative. :)
Thank you! They’re so much fun to make! :)
Is this under the banner “harness the mania”?! Hehehe. I do love that they fit the fruit cake perfectly. A very nice touch to a very thoughtful gift.
For what it’s worth – the fruit cakes fit into a box made from a 18cm x 29.5cm piece of card (7″ x 11.5″). Fold the long sides in 5cm (2″) each (to make a higher sided box).
Excellent – now that is a handy piece of blogging. I have some boxes for packing sweets but I could make one of these to fit my chocolate bars (molds on the way!!). Good start to my Friday morning … my head is now spinning with ideas:-)
Gillian, I packed some of my Ironic Freddos in one of these boxes yesterday as a gift. I’d normally use little cellophane bags, but I’m always annoyed by how they rub together and mark when packed like that. This time I was able to layer them between sheets of parchment, then wrapped the whole thing in a sheet of clear cellophane – just flat, rather than all bunched at the top, so you could still see the frogs through the wrapping.
I hope you get your moulds soon – I have a 12 Days of Christmas set ready to go for December! :)
You know I wish some chocolate shops would adopt your idea! I bought some truffles at the weekend which looked perfect in the shop window but they packed my selection is a cellophane bag. Now they are scuffed :-(
Isn’t it annoying? Drives me crazy. I knew you’d understand.. :)
I think these look far too professional ;)
I read somewhere about a present where you put all the ingredients for something, like choc chip muffins, in layers in a jar, and tie a pretty bow around it and give friend the recipe and then they get to make them for themselves.
You could do a figjamandcordial flatpack fruit cake kit! I told you I get carried away….
Thank you again for the inspiration, Jo!
The fruitcake kit is a nice idea, but I doubt any of my friends would be happy – they all want something they can eat now. And you know I’d send you a cake if you were closer.. :)
Actually I am just jealous of all your friends who will get these lovely cakes!!! :)
For sure….this is on my list as a ‘cookie container’. It would be great with wrapping paper – especially with all the intersting varieties you get. Superb
Oz, I made a box with three layers – wrapping paper, thin card and parchment. I needed to crease up each layer first before folding them all together, but it looks gorgeous. I had a thought today that the boxes might also work well with wallpaper remnants – lined with parchment of course! :)
Well how cool is that! They look so pretty and festive. I think homemade things for Christmas are SO much nicer than just buying something.
SarahKate, I couldn’t agree more! :) I’m really enjoying your River Cottage week, btw, we’re big Hugh FW fans!
Fantastic! Bookmarking this for upcoming baking frenzy. Thank you!