What's more comforting than a steaming cup of tea at the start of autumn? With the air refreshing as the days go by, this season is conducive to warm moments shared around a hot drink. For this new article, I wanted to teach you how to customize a cylindrical tea box with Japanese paper. This DIY is much simpler than it seems and actually requires very little equipment!

Tea (and more particularly green tea, ryokucha in Japanese) is an integral part of Japanese culture. It is particularly linked to the way of tea ( sado in Japanese) thought by the monk Sen no Rikyu in the 16th century. This ceremonial practice corresponds to a sequence of codified gestures, carried out by a master of ceremonies, for the preparation and tasting of matcha (a finely ground green tea) for his guests.

This DIY essentially comes down to two steps: cutting and gluing. The explanations that I will give you below can easily be applied to other models of cylindrical boxes such as view boxes for example.

In order to personalize a Japanese paper tea box, you will need:

• a metal tea box to decorate, cylindrical ,
• a quarter sheet of Japanese paper (in the colors and patterns of your choice),
  Using 1 quarter of a leaf , you can decorate 2 cylindrical tea boxes of medium size and 2 cylindrical tea boxes small size
  - To decorate 1 medium-sized cylindrical tea box, you will need to cut : 2 strips, one 27cm wide by 3.2cm high and the other 27cm wide by 7.8cm high as well as a circle approximately 10cm in diameter.
  - To decorate 1 cylindrical tea box small size , you will need to cut : 2 strips, one 21cm wide by 2.3cm high and the other 21cm wide by 8.6cm high as well as a circle of approximately 7.4cm in diameter.
• A cutter or a pair of precision scissors,
• a cutting rule ,
• white vinyl glue ,
• A brush brush ,
• a pencil,
• a few sheets of white paper which will serve as a support for the collage.

NB: Depending on the paper chosen, make sure to cut your strips of paper in the right direction so that the pattern is placed correctly on the tea box.

Here are some examples of our Japanese papers that you can combine to create a pretty colorful range!

TIP: To optimize bonding, do not hesitate to have a small wet towel on hand to wipe your hands regularly.

1. First, equip yourself with a pencil, a square of Japanese paper with a minimum side of 10cm and your bare tea box. We will see how to cut the piece of Japanese paper that will cover the top of the lid.
2. Draw a circle using the base of your tea box (lid side - approximately 8.3cm in diameter) on your paper using a pencil.
3. Then cut around your circle, leaving a margin of around 1cm apart (i.e. around 10cm in diameter).
   
   
   
   
4. Hatch the 1cm border of your circle using a pair of scissors.
5. You get this.
6. Cut out the 2 strips of Japanese paper which will cover the base of the lid (27cm wide by 3.2cm high) and the body of the tea box (27cm wide by 7.8cm high).
   
   PRECAUTION - Depending on the pattern chosen, some papers have a cutting and gluing direction!
   
   Now equip yourself with your circle of Japanese paper, your 2 strips of Japanese paper, your bare tea box, a brush and a little glue.
   
   
   
   
   
7. To begin, we will take care of gluing the top of the tea box lid. Prepare a few sheets of paper that will serve as a support for applying the glue.
8. Apply glue evenly using your paintbrush, stretching it outwards from your paper circle.
9. Place your box, head down, on the circle of glued paper, making sure to center everything well.
   
   
   
   
10. Once the lid has set the glue, carefully lift the tea box and its circle of Japanese paper.
11. You get this.
12. Fold all the little “fringes” of your paper circle over the sides of your tea box lid.
    
    
    
    
13. You get this. Make sure that all the little “fringes” are folded down correctly and that they adhere well to the support.
14. Apply glue evenly to your narrowest strip of paper.
15. Gently peel your strip of paper from your collage support.
    
    
    
    
16. Place your glued strip of paper on the base of the tea box lid...
17. ...and gently wrap it all around the lid. Pay attention to the direction of the collage, depending on the pattern of the paper!
18. Using your finger, smooth the top of your strip of paper tape as shown in the photo.
    
    
    
    
19. Apply glue evenly to your widest strip of paper, stretching it outward.
20. Place your glued strip of paper on the body of the tea box at the steel joint and gently wrap it around the body.
21. You get this. Replace the lid and body of the box so that the pattern is correctly aligned.

TADA! Your tea box, decorated with Japanese paper, is finished!

You can now store your tea in your new personalized tea box!

If you want to customize small sight boxes with Japanese paper, you will need:

• a small view box or medium size view box
• half a sheet of Japanese paper (in the colors and patterns of your choice)
  To decorate a small viewing box, you will need to cut: 2 strips, one 21cm wide by 0.8cm high and the other 21cm wide by 1cm high.
  To decorate a medium-sized viewing box, you will need to cut: 2 strips, one 24.5cm wide by 0.9cm high and the other 24.5cm wide by 4.6cm high.
• a cutter
• a cutting rule
• white vinyl glue
• a brush brush
• a pencil

1. Depending on the size of the viewing box you wish to customize, refer to the measurement instructions above. Trace your two strips on your sheet of Japanese paper, cut them out and glue them.
2. Wrap the thinner strip around the lid and the wider one around the body of the box. Let dry.