I love giving gifts to people! Wrapping a gift in a thoughtful way speaks volumes about the care put into the gift itself. I love these paper mache boxes because they make a great blank canvas” for gift-wrapping. Adding a hand-stitched design is a simple way to make these gift boxes stand out. I love the way the hand-stitching looks against the rustic brown of the box. I did a heart on mine, but it is easy to do all kinds of designs. Try stitching X’s and O’s, flowers, names, etc. to make your hand-stitched gift boxes extra special for the recipient. This is a great project for kids who want to practice their stitching as well! The design possibilities are potentially endless, so make a personalized gift box for all the special people in your life!

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Time required: 15 minutes
Age range: 8+

Things you’ll need:
Paper mache box
Embroidery floss
Sharp burnishing tool
Crafting needle
Stencil *This is optional. I made a heart stencil out of paper for my demo.
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Remove the lid of your cardboard box and set on a table or hard surface.
2. Select your design and place it on your box. (I centered my heart stencil in my demo, but you can place your design however you like.)
3. Use the sharp burnishing tool to punch holes around your shape or design. Make sure not to make the holes too big because you do not want it to look sloppy.
4. Thread the crafting needle with your embroidery floss.
5. Stitch your design with the embroidery floss and crafting needle.
6. Either tie the end of your floss to end or to fill in all the gaps, go through and stitch where you did not stitch the first time around your design.
7. Snip the ends of your embroidery floss and tie them together on the back of your box top.
8. Place your hand-stitched box top on top of your box and use it to wrap a gift for someone special.