Can also be used as an envelope for carrying items securely.
It's disposable, recyclable, sustainable, environmentally friendly plus widely and freely available.
Step 1: Making a paper square from a rectangular sheet
You are going to use basic paper folding techniques to crop it square.
Use your finger/thumb nails to form sharp, straight creases. If your nails are too short, use the edge of something like a credit card or a plastic ruler.
Step 2: First corner fold
If you have made a paper aeroplane, or tried some basic Origami, this move should be famliar to you. Or you may be lucky enough to have some square paper already.
Step 3: Folding the waste piece
Turn up the bottom short edge to make a horizontal fold. This should be parallel to the top edge of the paper. A square will be created when this horizontal fold intersects the bottom right end of the first diagonal crease.
Step 4: Tear off a strip
(If you were making a paper aeroplane, the piece you are now discarding would form its tail).
Step 6: Triangle
Crease the centre fold sharply.
Step 7: Left side
Step 8: Right side
Make all the creases sharp, to keep the flaps in place as much as they will. Thinner papers will behave better than thick ones at this stage.
Step 9: Front top flap
The top front flap locks things down.
Step 10: Rear flap
The container is flat at tis stage and you are going to open it out, gently, and squeeze it into a cup shape, or a truncated cone, rather like the ones used in some office drinking water dispensers.
Step 11: Dent the base
Step 12: Squeeze into shape
The conainer is not free-standing but will lean quite happily against something else.
It's now ready to store those pesky little parts that would otherwise roll off the bench onto the carpet and get lost. You can write notes on it to help you re-assemble things.
Step 13: Envelope
You can stick the flap down for greater security in transit.
This container has many uses. With the right paper, it will even hold water long enough for you to drink from.
You might also try making some of these from larger sheets of paper, such as newsprint. With the appropriate choice of materials, you can easily fashion silly hats, or create temporary plant pots for example.