Last weekend I decided to make the Treat Boxes from Modern Paper Crafts: A 21st-Century Guide to Folding, Cutting, Scoring, Pleating, and Recycling by Margaret Van Sicklen. I bought some pretty "Valentine" papers from the stationery store down the street from our office and, with some trepidation because I thought it might be hard, I got started. After several basic folds, I only found myself stumped once--when I reached the step where the box pops up into its 3-D form. But after an "ah-ha" moment, the walls sprung into shape and the box bottom was done. Amazingly, the whole production only took about 5 minutes. After another 5 minutes, I had the box lid done, and then I quickly folded several more. Soon enough, I didn't even need to look at the instructions anymore! I was addicted. Boxes surrounded me.

Modern Paper Crafts won't be on sale until April, but we'd love it if you would preorder. In the meantime, check out some sample pages here, and make some beautiful boxes of your own (click here for the instructions--our Valentine's Day gift to you).

One more thing: If you want to add a sweet Valentine treat, try the Soft Candy Caramels from another STC book, Baked Explorations. Melanie made a batch last fall and they're irresistible. Click here to download the recipe.