boxes!

My new seed packet box.
I am not going to tell you how in detail to make a box, don't worry, I'm just going to show you how I make sturdy boxes. All you need to make a seed or recipe box, is some fairly heavy card.
For the seed box, I used an old shoe box of the Husbands, but you can use anything. A shoe box makes life a lot easier though, as there is less chopping up to do.
Take the bottom half of the box, and cut it to the size you require, so you have an almost complete box, minus the back wall as it were.

Cut a piece of card for the back wall. This photo shows why you leave the back of the box until last. You want it to be slightly higher than the rest. It needs to be the same height as the lids depth, the reason being that it's for extra support for the lid to hinge on.
The piece of card on the left (covered in black and pink floral fabric) is to show you the front inside piece. It's the same height as the back 'wall' of the box, and will give the lid it's resting place. Aha, you see, there is method in the way I work! When you cut card for the back of the box, cut another the same size for the resting place at the front.
Attach your lid (which is just the shoe box lid cut down to size, but slightly longer than the width of the box, so you can fold it over to become the 'hinge'. Use sellotape to stick it in place on the inside and outside. It will be strong enough, because you are going to cover the box with glue and the covering of your choice.
I've covered my box both inside and out with floral fabric, but you can use wrapping paper, newspaper, old music sheets or dress patterns. Whatever you like.

Now. To give your box extra strength, use pieces of card (from the rest of the trusty shoe box) and cut it to size to fit on the inside of the sides of the box. Then, cover with fabric and glue inside the box. In the manner of a Blue Peter presenter, this will give it a neater and 'more professional' finish. The main reason is to make the box tougher and not likely to collapse after five minutes of using. This photo shows clearly the inner card stuck in place. You can also see the height difference between the sides and the front card piece.

Cover the rest of the inside with fabric (or paper if that's what you are using), just to make it look nice. Leave the box somewhere warm to dry. To get rid of the iccky glue smell, I usually place an opened jar of cloves inside. It soons clears the smell and leaves a much nicer one behind.

All I need to do now is make a few divider cards so I can keep herbs, flowers and veggies separate. I'll just cut up card and cover with fabric. If I make the card a snug fit, it will help to keep the box in shape and add to the overall sturdiness.

If you don't have a shoe box to cut up, any box or card will do, as long as it's sturdy. When I made my recipe box in May 2007, the only heavy card I had was from a Burberry gift box. I used it in such a way so the Burberry print could be seen. I didn't use fabric on the outside, well, I did in a way. I cut out shapes from a Mary Engelbreit fat quarter that I had, then used varnish over the top.   I made the inner sides as high as the front when I made the recipe box, just because I wanted it to be super sturdy. I didn't feel it was as important with the seed box as it won't be used as much.
I love making boxes. Messy, but good fun to do. You can make them for holding absolutely anything: Notelets, ribbons, candles. Just alter the size to suit your needs and decorate in a way you like.
I hope I haven't rambled on too much, and that it's easy to follow what I mean.