Looking for the rock-bottom easiest craft there is? This awesome Nicho makes paper chains look like nuclear physics! Make one in about two minutes out of practically any box in your recycle bin with the full directions below. These things look fantastic plain or decorated. Use them as special display spaces for a photograph, a paper flower, or bits of nature from outside. Make a Nicho into an ofrendo for Day of the Dead. Collage onto them, draw on them, pin them up on the wall - there’s no end to the ideas you’ll come up with for your Nichos. You’ll look at boxes a whole new way.

• Make in about two minutes with zero cleanup

• Use almost any box from your recycle bin

• Endless ways to decorate and display

• It’s basically craft magic

Steps At a Glance:

Ready? Here’s how:

1

You’ll need:

• a box!

• scissors

• tape

• a pencil

2

Snip into the corner of the box, about 1/2” from the bottom, through both layers of paperboard. Make a snip about 1/2’ long.

Tip: Locate the side seam first and keep that at the back of your Nicho. That way you’ll just be cutting through two layers of paperboard here, not three.

Now get your scissor tip inside the snip and cut across to the other edge.

3

Cut up the center of the box.

Stop about 1/2” from the top.

4

Cut out to the left and right, stopping at the corner.

Open the doors!

5

To make a scalloped top:

Mark the center of the top flap, and mark each half in half. Cut halfway down the flap at each mark. Round off one side, then the other of each tooth to make scallops.

See other shapes at the bottom of the post.

6

Close the other three top flaps and tape shut.

It’s a finished Nicho!

Somehow for me it’s always a magical moment when the doors open for the first time. You just created a special place that didn’t exist a minute ago! What will you do with yours? See some ideas below to get you started. And see this post on decorating paperboard!

Check out these Nichos!

A community art center here in Boston had me come and make Nichos with people attending an exhibit of artist shrines. We had so much fun making our own shrines (aka Nichos) out of empty boxes and magazine pages!

Questions

Can I really use ANY box for a Nicho?

Any box can be a Nicho. The example uses a box that has flaps, like most pantry food boxes. But other kinds of box can work too. Tall boxes will make tall nichos, and short boxes will make short ones. It’s fun to try Nicho-ing a box and seeing how it turns out!

If your box closes with a single top flap, make that the top front of your Nicho, and forget about taping the rest of the top flaps closed at the end. After you have made a couple of Nichos, you will be a pro and able to work with any style of box.

Also, don’t forget about frozen food boxes. They’re often white inside which is nice for coloring with markers.

and try this:

Different Tops and Doors

Here are some ideas. Simple shapes are plenty interesting - see what you can come up with.

Wall Display

These are so quick to make you’ll have a few Nichos in no time. Try hanging them on an empty wall with a pushpin through the back. Even without any decoration a group of Nichos is beautiful.

Fan Top

It’s easy to make a paper fan top, like on the Nicho at the top of the post. Tape down all the top flaps in step 6. Then just take a page from any catalog, accordion-fold it (make the folds about 1/2” wide), staple one end, and trim the other end. In these examples you can see the blue fan is cut straight across, while the multi-colored one is cut at an angle to make points. When you have a fan you like, attach it to the top with regular or double-sided tape.

You can add marker stripes before folding, like here. Check out this post for more ideas.

Collage Shapes

Easy to make with accordion-folded paper just like the fan top, above. Fold the paper, then cut it at different angles to give you different shapes. Attach with glue stick. They look like patchwork quilting - pretty no matter what colors or patterns you use.

You can also cut shapes or pictures out of catalogs and magazines, like here.

Start Small

This little box held a bar of soap - it’s the perfect size to start with if you’re feeling unsure about what to put inside your Nicho. Here’s the deal: most anything will look great, and you can redo, add, and adjust as much as you want. Here you can see some pictures cut out of a catalog and attached with glue stick, and a fan on top. Add more layers to your collage, put an object inside, it’s your own little world to play with.

More Ideas

• Fill your Nicho with images and drawings of one favorite thing, like pie or the ocean.

• Choose a letter and fill your Nicho with images of things that start with that letter, and that letter cut out of catalogs and magazines.

• Fill it with something you don’t like, and close the doors. Tape closed for extra protection!

• Decorate your Nicho with pictures and souvenirs of a place you visited. Ticket stubs and shop receipts turn into fun memories when you add them to your nicho.

• Make your Nicho into a card for a friend’s birthday or other special occasion.

• Make your perfect room, a dream closet, outer space, the inside of your cat’s mind, a greenhouse… the trick is to just pick an idea to get started with. More and better ideas will happen while you work!

Thank you for reading! If you have questions, please drop me a line.