I cut open and flattened out an aluminium beer can and taped it down to a cork-backed mat. I decided to try making this box without removing the paint from the can. I think this will make it difficiult, but let's see...

To make it easier to mark out the net of the box, I designed it on paper, then pressed through the paper at all the nodes/corners - creating clearly visible dimples at the key points in the design.

I joined up the dots with straight lines - this is actually a really quick way to mark out the box - this method would probably speed up the process of making even the ordinary square boxes.

Embossing the pattern on the panels really was quite a lot harder with the paint still on the metal surface - even though this is a fairly plain colour, it was just a bit difficult to see where I was going.

I managed it in the end, though.

As usual, I embossed the pattern once from the painted side of the metal, then flipped it over impressed a line around the inner and outer edges of all the embossed shapes.

After outlining the shapes, I turned the metal over again and re-traced the originsl pattern.

It's surprising what a difference this makes to the relief of the final design.

I cut off all the waste pieces.

This was a bit fiddliy, as it requires cutting internal corners in places - fine, sharp scissors are essential. I use a pair of first aid scissors intended for cutting bandages and adhesive plasters.

From the side of the metal with the raised embossing, I inscribed radial lines into each of the six corner pieces.

Inscribing them this way - from the front surface - ensures they will naturally fold inside the box.

Then I started to fold it into shape - the corners push in as the sides fold into place - the corners can then be pinched together inside the box and bent flat against the side wall, then secured by folding the tab over them..

This is definitely a bit harder to make than the original square boxes - the folding is quite fiddly.

And that's it. Here's the finished box (It still needs cleaning up to remove the blue ink from the ballpoint pen, but if you use a black pen, the residual ink sometimes adds a sort of antique effect:

Here's a video detailing the techniques and methods. This video documents the construction of a square box, but the procedure is the same for other shapes. A downloadable template is available if you want to try this for yourself - see the side column for details.