Pencil box – Rectangular masu

For back to school, we suggest folding this rectangular box, which can be used as a pencil case to store your pens or pencils. This origami by Hisashi Abe is in fact a variation on the traditional Japanese masu box! If you have already folded the masu, you will notice the similarities between the two models.

To hold pens, you will need to make it with 2 squares of 21 cm (that is, cut from A4 sheets). Glue is not essential, but it will stop the paper flaps pressed against the bottom of the box from lifting up on their own. You will see, it is not difficult to fold, and if you want to try other rectangle proportions for this box, it's easy: for the first two folds, simply don't bring the corners all the way to the centre of the sheet, but stop short (halfway, for example).