Even though summer is behind us, all things nautical don’t have to be! Craft these simple nautical boxes to hold favors for your next party or keep a few stashed away for those times when you need to dress up a small gift in a hurry. With the holidays coming up, I always like to have a few small gifts ready for those “I can’t believe I forgot!” moments and paired with a small gift these boxes are just right.

Materials: kraft paper boxes, various string and cord, scissors, paint, paintbrush, hot glue gun, lighter.
Step 1: Remove the lid from the box. Paint the bottom of the box to match your cord. Let dry.
Step 2: Cut two lengths of cord. The length needed will depend on the size of your box; for the small box pictured two 10″ lengths was plenty. Use a lighter to melt the ends to keep them from fraying.
Step 3: Use the two pieces to tie a carrick bend. The picture below shows two different colored cord to best illustrate how to weave the cord together.
Step 4: Once you’re happy with the size of the knot compared to your box, hot glue it onto the lid.
Step 5: You can also hot glue the tails to the side of the box.
Step 6: Bend the tails into the inside of the lid and hot glue them in place, squishing the cord as flat as possible so that the lid will still fit over the box.
Step 7: Trim the tails.
Step 8: Use hot glue to seal the ends of the rope to prevent fraying.
Step 9: If you don’t want to use a box with a lid, these knots can easily be applied to a wrapped box instead. Simply tie the knot as usual and tape the tails down on the bottom of the box. You can also use more than one cord – just hold the cords together as you tie the knot.