Learn how to make a useful origami stepper box, this origami gift box has 3 – 4 levels and is easy to make. Perfect to store jewellery or give gifts.
This secret stepper box is made by putting together two different origami models. One is a hinge box and the little boxes inside are masu boxes.
Included are two different heights of box, one has three levels and the other has four… you could actually make one with more if you can work that out.
You can make a cover for this or use some ribbon or something to secure it. The pink one I made stays shut by itself and doesn’t need it. If you want it to do that, you may need to use slightly larger paper for the masu boxes, just 1 or 2 mm more. Or if using textured paper, it will probably stay shut.
A small rant: This box became really popular on youtube, which is great but unfortunately a lot of people re-made my tutorial, without giving any information or crediting me for the design. At the time I was quite upset about this and actually asked a few people to add credit, some did and others didn’t. Some people actually got angry with me for even suggesting that they needed to. After that a very large channel made a tutorial for this box, and then [5 minute crafts] did one. They refused to even reply to my messages about this. This issue honestly made me question even wanting to continue with Paper Kawaii, as weird as that may sound, it upset me that much. It’s 2021 now and I haven’t been posting like I used to, this issue still bothers me, even now.
The diagram for this origami stepper box can be found here.
Design: © Paper Kawaii Copyright Information
Level: ★★☆☆☆
You will need:
▸ 1 sheet of rectangular paper
(4 levels): 29.7 x 19.8 cm
(3 levels): 29.7 x 17.8 cm
▸ 4 sheets of square paper: 13.5 x 13.5 cm
▸ Optional rectangular paper to make a cover
▸ Glue, pencil, ruler
Final model size: 10 x 5 cm
The ratio for the rectangular paper is 2:3 (4 levels) and 3:5 (3 levels). I used A4 paper to start with.
The boxes to fit inside are the width of the rectangular paper divided by 2.2
Some other sizes you can use are:
Cut from US LETTER PAPER: 11 x 7.3 inch (4 levels) 11 x 6.57 inch (3 levels) & 5 x 5 inches for the boxes.
30 x 20 cm (4 levels) 30 x 18 cm (3 levels) & 13.6 x 13.6 for boxes.
20 x 13.3 cm (4 levels) 20 x 12 cm (3 levels) & 9 x 9 cm for boxes.
15 x 10 cm (4 levels) 15 x 9 cm (3 levels) & 6.8 x 6.8 cm boxes.
What paper size should I use for the inside boxes if I use a peice of A4 paper for the outside box?
13.5 x 13.5 cm for the inside boxes, trim the A4 paper to (4 levels): 29.7 x 19.8 cm or (3 levels): 29.7 x 17.8 cm 🙂
hi this is so good
If I have 22.5 cm x 30 cm construction paper, then what size would I need for the boxes
What would the sizes be if you have 28×21.7 size paper?
*28×21.7 cm
What is the finished size for this?
20 x 12 cm (3 levels) & 9 x 9 cm for boxes.
About 6.5 x 3 cm I believe 🙂
Hi, my small boxes were too big to fit into the big opening box.
Hello 🙂 Is there any way to make the box shut and not pop back open?
How big would the outside box need to be if I had 15 x 15 cm origami paper for the inside boxes?
I think it might be 33cm x 33cm but it might be wrong
Of you were to do four
No it’s wrong sorry
,this thing looks Cool 😎
Is it possible to make the hinged box with a length of 15cm? If so, what is the width and what are the measurements of the smaller boxes?
You’d need 45x30cm for 4 boxes or, 45x27cm for 3, and then 20x20cm for the boxes 🙂
Hi,
I am hoping to be able to make this box so that each drawer will hold a different type of tea packet. Most tea packets are 2.5×3 in. I would like it to have 3 drawers each 3x3in. What size paper would I need to be able to make the outer box? What size paper do I need to make each drawer? Thanks!
Hi, I have used my calculator and I’m pretty sure you’d need: 19.5 x 11.7 inches for outer box and 8.85 x 8.85 inches for the inner boxes. But – I have not tested 🙂
This is sooo CUTE. I made like a dozen of them xD
Hi Chrissy,
I really like this design!!
To have a completed inner box 1.5 inches in length and wide, what size would I need for the square sheets and the rectangular piece of paper?
Hi Ally, I think you’d need 8.9 x 6 inches or 8.9 x 5.3 inches for 3 box version and 4 x 4 inches for the squares. 🙂
Thank you so much!! also, how tall would a finished inner box be??
Sorry for troubling you
0.5 inches I think…. 🙂
Hi Chrissy,
I need the boxes to fit tea light candles. What paper could I use and what sizes for the sheets will work?
Thank you! These look really great!!!
Brendan
Sorry for the late reply, I might be wrong but I think the example measurement listed would fit tea light candles 🙂
I have origami paper 14.6 x14.6 for the inside boxes, what size would the outside box be?
32.2 x 21.5 cm for 4 levels, 32.2 x 19.3 cm for 3 levels. If you don’t have it big enough, maybe trim the smaller paper to the 13.5 cm listed in the post 🙂
thank you!
This is really cute! Just a question, can you make this with average American letter paper? Thanks again!
Yep! I included the dimensions for US letter paper in the post 😀
This is an awesome tutorial!! I want to recreate it but to bigger scale. How big should the paper size be if I want the finished container to be 27.9cm long?
I’m glad you like it! when you say ‘long’ I hope you mean, ‘tall’? If so, the measurements are:
88.2 x 59 cm – 4 level
88.2 x 53 cm – 3 level
inner boxes: 40 x 40 cm
This is a fantastic tutorial, thank you! I noticed in making these that the boxes/shelves are just about the right size to fit a battery-operated/flameless tealight candle on the top box (with a little packing to make it higher and cutting a hole in the top. It makes it serve as a “candle” (kind of – the “flame” barely pokes out of the top). Do you have any plans to make a similar stepper box design that’s more rounded, with shallower boxes so it might mimic a candle? Just an idea if you wanted to play around with it.
Thanks again for all of the great tutorials!
Hi, I’m just wondering: in the video it says at around 0:49 that you divided your paper into three sections, you stated that 29.6 / 3 = 9.9. Does this imply that your paper was 29.6 cm long, nor 29.7? Because in the text right below the video you said to use paper that was 29.7 by 17.8 (three-layer.). Should I use 29.6 or 29.7?
Sorry if this is a bother! ?
Haha yeah my paper was a little off on it’s size. It’s meant to be A4 paper, 29.7 cm long but mine was shorter. It doesn’t matter either way, I would have rounded it up to 9.9 anyway. If you have other sizes of paper, I’ve included example sizes for US letter paper and others too, which you’d divide into 3 at the time. 🙂
Please do a picture tutorial for this
Will do! I’ll post it in my new Facebook group, feel free to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/origamipapercraftfun/ 🙂