Collect paper sheets with various designs. Paper designs resembling fabric prints will give the decoupaged item a more realistic patchwork quilt appearance.

Plain coloured paper or those with metallic colours can be used to create a modern look.

At least two different paper designs should be used to give contrast.

A template in the shape of a hexagon is needed to cut out uniform paper patches. This can be cut out of cardboard using the template shown in Figure 1 or if you have a stencil with a hexagon shape then use this.

You can adjust the size of the template to suit the size of your box lid by photocopying Figure 1 larger or smaller and cutting out a cardboard template from the copy.

Now for the actual paper patchworking:

• Place your template on your chosen sheet of paper for the decoupage and trace around it with a pen. Cut out the paper hexagon patch using the outline as a guide.

• Glue this paper patch to the centre of your box lid.

• Continue to cut out paper hexagon patches and glueing them around the central patch on the box lid until it has been covered with patches. Glue each patch abutting each other.

• As you cover the sides of the box lid, glued hexagon patches that hang over the lid's edges must be folded over the edge and glued to the underside of the box lid.

Many designs used in traditional patchwork can be mimicked in paper patchwork decoupage.

Each glued paper patch can be outlined with a glitter pen, felt-tip pen, or three-dimensional fabric pen to emphasize edges and/or add texture.