A simple box for holding jewelry or other nicknacks. My son and I got to make it together and hopefully his "friend" will enjoy it greatly.

During the making of this my son also got to learn about safety, math, construction and creative thinking. I also hope he enjoyed spending the time with me as I did with him.

We used scrap wood that we had around and picked up some of the hardware we needed at our local hardware shop. (After all isn't that where you get hardware?)

We spent around $4 and the time was priceless.

Step 1: Materials

1. Plywood - We had some leftover laying around though you can get a 1/4 sheet from the hardware store.
2. Wood glue
3. Hinges and Hasps.
4. Drawing paper, grid paper, or just paper to design on.
5. Pencil and ruler.
6. A saw - Just about any wood cutting saw can be used if care is taken
7. Files, Sandpaper and wood clamps
8. Paint or Stain
9. Some sort of pretty cloth for interior

Step 2: Design

First you start with an idea of what you want your project to look like.

Step 3: Put Your Thoughts on Paper

Get your paper. We used grid paper for ease of drawing.

When drawing, this is where grid paper works nice, you measure out everything again. If done correctly you will notice that the wood will not all be cut at the dimensions that you decide for your box. If your box is 5 inches wide x 3inches high x 3 inches deep you are not going to cut all your pieces at those dimensions.

We used 1/4 inch plywood so I cut the front and back at 4.5 x 3 and the sides was 3 x 3. The bottom was then cut at 4.5 x 2.5 inches so that when it all came together it fit properly. Remember subtract 2x the thickness of your wood on the parts that don't go the full length.

Step 4: Saw Away!

After all your prep. work you can then mark your wood and start cutting your pieces.

Step 5: Assemble

Get out the glue and the clamps and put it together.

Fit all the pieces together to make sure that your pieces fit properly and make any adjustments needed then put some glue on all the areas where they will be joining.

If all the joints are correct you will only need a thin layer of glue. A little bit goes a long way.