TEA-RRIFIC gift box

Choose the best brew for your loved one and all they have to do is pop the kettle on!

You will need

● Medium-sized circular cardboard gift box

● Paintbrush and paint in two colours of your choice (we used Resene testpots in Romantic and Clover)

● 2-3 sheets of patterned paper (A4 size or larger)

● Pencil

● Ruler

● Scissors

● Quick-dry adhesive

● Clear finish or glaze

● Paper flowers and stick-on letters, for decoration

● 50cm square 100 percent organic cotton muslin or similar fine-weave fabric

● Loose-leaf tea

● Thin, natural, unbleached string

● 2-3 sheets of coloured card

TEA BOXES

1 Paint the outside of the box base with your chosen paint. Set aside to dry, then apply a second coat.

2 Place the lid of the box, top-side down, on a piece of patterned paper. Trace around the outside of the lid with pencil. Measure the depth of the lid sides and add an extra 15mm. Using this measurement, draw another circle around the outside of the first circle (A).

Cut out around the larger circle. Cut incisions at regular intervals from the outside edge to the inner circle.

3 Cover the reverse side of the paper circle with adhesive, then position the lid face-down on the glued paper. Ensure the paper sits smoothly over the lid, then fold up the cut sections to cover the sides of the lid (wrap the excess over the edge of the lid).

4 Apply one coat of clear finish or glaze to the lid to seal. Put aside to dry.

5 Once dry, decorate the lid with paper flowers and stickon lettering.

6 To line the inside of the box, use the same technique as for the lid. Trace around the base of the box on the lining paper, add an extra 15mm to make tabs, then cut out. Glue to the inside base of the box (the tabs will fold up onto the sides). Now measure the height of the box and cut a strip of lining paper long enough to wrap around the inside of the box. Glue in place.

TEA BAGS

1 To make tea bags, cut out 12cm-diameter circles from the muslin.

2 Place 1 tablespoon of loose-leaf tea in the centre of each muslin circle (B).

3 Cut string into 20cm lengths – one for each tea bag. Gather up the outer edges of muslin to create a small pouch and tie tightly with string.

BUTTERFLY TEA TAGS

1 Trace and cut out the butterfly template (below).

2 Glue a piece of patterned paper to a piece of coloured card (pattern facing outwards). Fold in half, place template on fold and trace around it. Cut out and open up to reveal the butterfly shape (C).

3 Poke a hole through the fold line on the centre top wing, where indicated on the template. Thread the end of the tea bag string through hole from patterned side of the butterfly and secure with a knot.

Trim off any excess string. Repeat until you have enough tea bags to fill your decorated container.