My jewellery currently comes packaged in a slim, unbranded box, decorated with chiyogami paper from Japan! These fine papers are pieces of art in their own right: each pattern is silkscreened by hand, one layer of colour at a time.
If you're like me and can't bear to throw these kinds of things away, here are some ways I've found for the reuse of jewellery packaging :) Many of these ideas work best for the larger necklace box pictured above. The mini ring/earring boxes are great for throwing in your pocket or handbag to keep small trinkets safe while you're out and about!
Gifting
A lot of nice things fit surprisingly well in these miniature boxes, so fill them with something sentimental and give it to someone you like! Small, flat things work best, like Polaroid photos, stickers, cards, candy, maybe some pressed flowers... or tickets to a show!
The packaging is actually designed to fit in a standard postal box (as oversized mail, not lettermail), so they are excellent for re-packaging small gifts via snail mail.
If I were to create a gift box for someone (for me?), I would fill the box with sample vials of indie perfume :) Though if you intend to ship liquids, note that you must use ground shipping and not air mail!
Travel storage
Most jewellery boxes are great when you need to organise loose items for travel. I find it especially useful for storing loose personal care or cosmetic products:
- Cotton pads
- Cotton buds
- Blotting papers
- Hairpins
- Hair elastics
- Bandages
- Acne patches
- Tweezers
If you're a scrapbooker/junk-journaller, you could also take this box with you to tuck away ticket stubs and other memorabilia while you're on the go! It's a thin box but naturally designed to be quite protective, so it should keep things from getting bumped around until you get home :)
Home storage
Same idea as travel storage, except for the home! At our place, sturdy cardboard packaging often goes towards storing small, handy items around the house.
- Rubber bands
- Twist ties
- Paper clips
- Safety pins
- Buttons
- Matches
I have a box where I've kept every single allen key that I've ever encountered (across many, many moves). I don't know why I'm keeping them yet, but maybe one day a project will reveal itself...
Red envelope 🧧
The easiest thing to do — put a nice wad of cash in the box and use it in place of hong bao (红包) or lai see (利是)! For an extra festive look, you could cut open a traditional red envelope and use it as a wrapping paper in place of the chiyogami.
The red envelope is traditionally given to children during Lunar New Year. You can also give it to adults on special occasions like weddings, graduations, etc.