Itty bitty boxes

I sometimes get the biggest amount of enjoyment out of the smallest projects.

If there’s any type of project I’ve done more than another, it’s boxes – jewelry boxes, gentlemen’s boxes, puzzle boxes, you name it. Even things like spool cabinets and mantel clocks are merely variations on boxes. I make them for friends and family, I make them on commission, and I make them for fun.

And when it comes to fun, making boxes small enough to be held in the palm of your hand are among my favorites.

They’re simple, fast, easy to make, and require almost no material – I typically make little boxes entirely with wood pulled from scrap bins. In fact, I go out of my way to save small pieces of great stock just for little boxes, like the walnut burl on the left in the photo above.

And most of the time, I make them to hold something else. The box on the right is a perfect example. When my wife lost one of her favorite earrings almost 20 years ago, I miraculously found an identical pair on eBay. I bought them, stashed one away as a backup in my sock drawer, and planned to give her the other as a gift to complete her set.

I didn’t have a small ring box or anything like that to put it in, so I made one. Just some 3/16” red oak scrap, mitered corners, a lid with a keeper on the underside, a bit of glue and clamp time, and bingo. An hour later, a finished project.

After a quick sanding and a coat of varnish, followed by a black velvet lining, it was ready to hold that earring. Sally was thrilled that I managed to find a replacement earring, and she absolutely loves that itty bitty box. Now, 20 years later, she’s still using that box to hold the full set of earrings. (And I still have that extra earring in my sock drawer.)