This instructable has it roots in an assignment for school.

We needed to make someting usefull out of a cardboard box, but keep the connection with the content of the box and use technology.

I chose to work with the box of my blender.

As a student in design, I don't only like to experiment with materials, but also with food. So a lot of different stuff go into my blender and cooking pans. Which means that....

Every once in a while something actually good comes out of it. But then I just scrable it down somewhere. Mostly on drawings for school. And never find it back. Weird enough, the women around me (yes, the men here are barely cooking :( ), are as messy with their cooking books as I am. Guess that it runs in the genes.

So, the solution for us being messy with recipes?

A treasure box with all our favorite recipes and a surprise effect as you never know what you will be making.

Second, a app that scans your handwriting and converts it into 'digital' text, so that all your recipes are safe.

Step 1: First Things First: What Do You Need

Before we start it's good to have al your tools nearby.
The tools you need for this box are:

- cardboard box

- cutting knife

- ruler

- pen

One of my recuirements was that I wouldn't use glue to attach everything.

On the website 'Design to connect' you can find several other interesting connections.

Step 2: Draw Your Pattern

First things first: deceiding the size and form of your box.
I first tried on a A3 paper and cheked if it fitted on my big cardboard box, and check if I didn't forget sides of get measurements wrong.

After that I made a thin cardboard stencil so that I could position this on my big cardboard box. And draw it over.
This saves me a lot of time recalculating everything.

Then I drew the outlines of the box by following the stencil. I just used a pen for this, nothing special, you don't need a real visible line.

Tips:

Tape your cardboard stencil to the box. And make sure it doens't move while drawing this over.

Try to make a box first out of paper or thin cardboard so that you can see if everything fits.

Step 3: The Cutting Part

Now that you drew the outlines of the small box it's time to cut everything out.

Make sure to use a ruler to guide you.

And as I needed the other part of the box for school, I used a cutting plate inbetween the two layers of the box.

remember in the technical drawing before, the red lines?

These need to be but out to.

And don't push to hard on folding lines.

Step 4: Folding

1. start with folding all the big lines

2. try to connect the back with the side

3. try to connect the side with the front

4. repeat on the other side

As we needed to use corrugated cardboard for this assignment, when you have difficultiees putting the 'pin's in, squeeze the cardboard a bit. But try to fasten and unfasten the cardboard as little as possible. Otherwise we might need to use tape.

Step 5: How Do You Use It?

As this is just a concept, the app doens't exist, yet.

The box is used as a treasure box with all your favorite recipes. As you put them in envelopes, or fold them toghether, you never know what you will be making

The app gives you the oppertunity to digitalize your handwriten recipes to a digital version. So that if you ever spill milk on them, nothing is lost.