These gift boxes are a brilliant idea for a really quirky and personalised wrapping option for small items. Made from toilet paper rolls, whatever craft things you have lying around & a bit of imagination!

I have made a few in the past few years (I've added pics at the end) and today I decided on minions as a small token for a colleagues birthday (she loooooves the minions). The styles are endless, you could create all kinds of characters or even just cover in paint or paper for a different and sturdy wrapping.

Enjoy

Step 1: Set It Up

Things I used:

- Toilet Paper Rolls

- Scissors

- Craft Knife (some bits are fiddly, so you'll want precision)

- Glue Tape (this is the best invention EVER by the way..... ever)

- Super Glue (the minion goggles required a bit more of a bond)

- Assorted Paper & Card (I have a collection of those packs of metallic, felt, foil types of paper/card I pick up in places like Officeworks, so they come in handy for these things)

- Paint & Applicator

- Permanent Markers & maybe a black pen

- Something to cut on (I used a piece of wood I had lying around) so you don't ruin furniture

**I also used a scrap of plastic packaging from something I had near me for the 'glass' in the goggles, this is obviously optional

Making the base:

1. at both ends of the roll (one at a time) carefully pinch the sides and bring the ends in to meet (see pic); you only want to crease the pinches a few mm.

2. hold both pinches (and support the general structure of the tube) whilst gently pushing the top edge closest to you down to meet the inside of the other side of the tube. This feels a little tricky so I'd recommend practicing on some first.

3. turn the tube around and again holding the pinches, push the remaining flap over the top of the other.

You can even these up by using a pinching method around the area the cardboard naturally bent, again, practice.

4. complete the other end and then open them back out carefully (don't open/close to much or they wear out a little)

5. paint the rolls whatever colour your base should be (I used a white first to make the yellow brighter)

Now wait for them to dry.....

Step 2: Minion Goggles

Skip this step if you're not making goggles

1. cut thin strips of silver cardboard (or white card, painted silver) and find something of suitable size to create your goggles. I found a lip balm tube was the perfect size & it also allowed me to slide the loop off once I had joined it.

2. wrap the strip around the tube to curl it, then mark it at one loop with an extra few mm to allow for adhesive.

3. cut the strip at your mark & place a few mm of tape or glue to the underside of one of the ends.

4. wrap the strip carefully back around the tube & stick it together, then slide the card off the tube.

5. repeat that process one more time & then glue the two rings together (best to do this so that both joins are on the very inside so you won't see any joins on the finished product) - maybe find something to hold them together tightly until the glue has set.

6. once the glue has set, trace the inside of each ring onto the silver card. Find something of a slightly bigger diameter (like a ring, a coin or a cap off something), place it over the drawn circles & trace around it to create a 'frame' for the goggles.

7 cut the inside of the drawn circles & then cut around the outside (outside last, as it will risk tearing without the support). This is where the craft knife comes in handy as it was precision work. *Make sure you're cutting on an appropriate surface too

8. it was at this point that I found some thin plastic that was housing some card I had, so I decided to incorporate it as 'lenses'. I placed glue on the back side of the front piece of the goggles and sat it on the plastic. Once dry, I cut the excess plastic off.

9. affix the front piece to the body of the goggles using a very thin layer of super glue. You might like to carefully place something a little heavier on top whilst they dry, to help the bond.

Step 3: Make It Happen

1. cut up some black paper strips (I used a soft, recycled type of paper that looked a bit like felt) into thin strips for the goggle straps. before you affix them, wrap them around with the goggles sitting in the place you want them, to measure & cut the right length.

2. place some careful light markings on your minion so you know where to arrange the features. I used the pics in the background I printed at the same size as the tube as a reference during the process. I used the lip balm lid to trace light circles for the eyes as I knew it was the same size as the goggles.

3. paint the eyes & thicken up the line around the eye circle (as the goggles may be a tiny bit different in size & it helps hide any gaps.

4. affix the goggle strap around the tube to meet each eye edge

5. cut out some blue material to suit the look of overalls (or paint them) - I had to cut the overalls shoulder straps on an angle as it would not curve around the surface & finish where I wanted it to. I also used a piece of plain printer paper to trace an outline of the shape of the folded up end to help me cut the right shape (you'll see in the finished pics)

6. affix the overalls & place any decorations on the as you see fit (I drew some buttons & a pocket)

7. affix the goggles (please note that at this point I needed to trim the back of the inner join as I realised it needed affixing to a rounded surface!).

As you can see from the odd pic with the elastic band around it, I wanted something to hold the goggles in place while the glue set which also meant I had to be careful not to collapse the tube under the pressure. I placed one of my paint tubes inside the roll to act as support.

Once they're dry, that's pretty much it! Finishing touches if you like (oh, like adding a mouth!) and then fill them with whatever you like as a gift that doubles as art! ;)

Step 4: Other Ideas

The owl was the first one I had tried and the other pair were designed for a bride and groom to house their wine glass charms I had made for their wedding present; they are cat lovers so the character was great to come up with!
Happy Creating :-D