A masu box is one of those origami projects that looks fancy but folds up fast. One square of paper, a handful of creases, and you have an open paper box for trinkets, sweets or paper clips on your desk.
This version follows the easiest method from Paper Kawaii, who has folded hundreds of them. A small change right at the start means fewer creases and cleaner walls, so the finished box looks neat instead of crumpled.
Work on a flat surface and press every crease hard. Sharp folds are the only thing holding this box together - there is no glue or tape doing the job.
Working out the finished size
A masu box finishes at roughly half the width of the square you start with. A 15 cm sheet gives a box about 7.5 cm across and a little over 2 cm deep, which suits a ring or a handful of sweets. Scale the square up and the box grows in proportion, so a 30 cm sheet lands near 15 cm across.
Paper weight matters more than it sounds. Standard origami paper works, but the walls stay firmer if you use something slightly heavier - patterned scrapbook paper around 120 gsm is about the ceiling before the corner tucks get too bulky to sit flat.
Adding a lid
The lid is the same fold again with one change. Start from a square about 5 mm larger on each side than the one you used for the base, or fold the same size and leave a slightly wider gap when you bring the edges to the centre. Either way the second box slips straight over the first.
Contrasting paper for the lid is the easy win here - a patterned lid over a plain base looks deliberate, and it costs nothing extra.
What a paper box is good for
Small gift packaging is the obvious one, especially for jewellery where a bought box costs more than the wrapping. They also work as desk drawer dividers, seed sorters when you are collecting from the garden, and disposable paint pots. Fold a few from newspaper and they become bin liners for peelings that go straight in the compost.
