Little Boxes

What is the deal with little boxes? I have accumulated so many of them over the course of time. All of them have stories, but very little function in my daily life. I recently gathered up some, not all, of my little boxes. I realized that I have not purchased a single one of these little boxes for myself, they have all been gifts.

I wonder what makes me seem like a little box type-o-gal. I do enjoy a little box, but it is pretty strange how often I have received them. Does everyone get little boxes as gifts? I think it would be safe for me to say that I have literally received hundreds of little boxes throughout the course of my life. Some have stayed with me and others have mysteriously disappeared. Others were too weird and have found their way to thrift stores, where I am sure some small child was overjoyed with their discovery of a Precious Moments box, featuring a big eyed child praying with a lamb.

So, these small boxes are generally lovely, but functionless. Below I have shown you a small portion of my little boxes.



Here I have opened them up so you can see that I have at least attempted to give many of the boxes a function. Really the contents of these little boxes are pretty ridiculous. I have generally put things in little boxes that seem like tiny treasures: an old key, a ring, pieces of paper with wishes (yeah I know its creepy), a flower, old film that has yet to be developed, a rosary (I am not Catholic), a dried pomegranate, etc.

So, I guess if you are going to give someone a tiny box, why not put a tiny treasure in it? If form follows function, then these bad boys never had a function intended for them.

Who makes these little boxes and why do we want them so badly?