Paper Container

Very low cost folded paper container, for holding small items (such as screws) during repair, assembly, construction etc.

Can also be used as an envelope for carrying items securely.

It's disposable, recyclable, sustainable, environmentally friendly plus widely and freely available.

Take a rectangular sheet of paper. In America this could come from a legal pad, or in Europe an A4 notepad.

You are going to use basic paper folding techniques to crop it square.

Use your finger/thumb nails to form sharp, straight creases. If your nails are too short, use the edge of something like a credit card or a plastic ruler.

Turn down the top right corner, aligning the short edge of the paper accurately with the left, long edge.


If you have made a paper aeroplane, or tried some basic Origami, this move should be famliar to you. Or you may be lucky enough to have some square paper already.

Open out the diagonal fold you have just made.

Turn up the bottom short edge to make a horizontal fold. This should be parallel to the top edge of the paper. A square will be created when this horizontal fold intersects the bottom right end of the first diagonal crease.

Open out the paper, then remove the waste portion, leaving a square with only one crease in it, the diagonal one. Tear or cut, as you prefer. If tearing, don't worry about any slightly rough edges.

(If you were making a paper aeroplane, the piece you are now discarding would form its tail).

Rotate the square to form a diamong shape, with the single crease horizontal.

Lift the bottom point of the diamond up, to meet the top point.

Crease the centre fold sharply.

Bring the left point of the triangle across to meet and stop at the right, sloping edge. Keep what was the lower left edge of the double skin of paper parallel to the base of the triangle.

Repeat the previous step, but this time do it for the right side, bringing it over and on top of the left side flap.

Make all the creases sharp, to keep the flaps in place as much as they will. Thinner papers will behave better than thick ones at this stage.

Fold the top front flap down, over the two side flaps, keeping the fold in line with the points at each side, creasing it sharply to hold them in place. The point will line up with the apex of the small triangle which has appeared by itself at the base of the container.

The top front flap locks things down.

Turn the whole assembly over and fld down the rear flap.

The container is flat at tis stage and you are going to open it out, gently, and squeeze it into a cup shape, or a truncated cone, rather like the ones used in some office drinking water dispensers.

Push your thumb into the base of the container, to make a dimple. It may help to put two or three fingers into the mouth of the cup, to oppose the force of your thumb pushing the paper in..

Squeeze the folded seams of the sides of the container together, making a cup shape.

The conainer is not free-standing but will lean quite happily against something else.

It's now ready to store those pesky little parts that would otherwise roll off the bench onto the carpet and get lost. You can write notes on it to help you re-assemble things.

You can squash the container back down almost flat, while keeping its contents inside. Bring the top rear flap over the meet the front flap, forming an envelope.

You can stick the flap down for greater security in transit.

This container has many uses. With the right paper, it will even hold water long enough for you to drink from.

You might also try making some of these from larger sheets of paper, such as newsprint. With the appropriate choice of materials, you can easily fashion silly hats, or create temporary plant pots for example.