Gift Box From Tea Box

Did you ever notice how some brands of tea have beautiful designs on the inside of the box?  To me, they are like little gifts from the packaging designer.  I have been passing them on (inside out) for years as gift boxes.  Mostly, I will write the name of the friend it is going to.  But there is so much potential here in the coloring in aspect of this tiny project.  Lotus flowers. . .Moroccan geometric patterns. . . you can give a small gift a very personal touch with this fun wrap job.  You may even find that you just want to keep it and put your tea back inside as a gift to yourself.  Enjoy!

Find each glued flap and carefully lift it to release it from the glue spot put there by the manufacturer.  A bit of paper may come up.  Just pick it off.  You just want to make sure that you don't tear up too much of the patterned side of the paper box.  Do this until you have a flat and totally open layout.  Here is where you will do any coloring in.

Once you have the flaps all open, and the layout is flat, you can begin to reverse fold all folds and flaps.   

Using clear packing tape, secure the side 'flap' and the 'bottom' flap to their positions (while covering the old glue spots).  Leave one 'top' flap open, so you can pack your gift inside.  Sometimes I'll tape the last flap shut, once the gift is packed.  Other times, I will leave it open and use twine to wrap the box (and keep the lid shut).  That way, the box can easily be reused without anyone having to tear the tape off and mess up the design. 

Note:  Tea companies that I've found to use patterned box interiors are:  Yogi (mehndi/lotus flowers) & Tazo (moroccan geometric).