I bought the box for cards for my wedding. It is a nice size, and it is sturdy. All of the edges are even, and the the sides are smooth. The box stained very well as you can see in the pictures. It is glued together though, and you can see that especially with the stain because the glue that squeezed out the sides was not cleaned up. The hinges are also glued on. I think it is nice overall, the only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is because of the price. I would expect it to be slightly better made for the price I paid ($22), which I notice the price has dropped since, so maybe it is more worth it now. I would buy it again though because it is a family owned company and made in the US.

While this box looks okay from a distance it has several flaws. The hinges are crooked which means the box doesn't close straight, nor all the way. Straightening the lid and placing a book on top didn't help. The edges are not held together well. I'm assuming from visual that they're just glued lightly. It's a fairly easy fix with wood glue, but who wants to have to glue it back together? So, if you're looking for a kids project where a few flaws don't matter that much then it's fine, but I can't recommend this if you're expecting it to look or hold up like a jewelry box for adults.

This box certainly did not live up to expectations. I had been planning on using it as a gift, but after putting two coats of white paint on it, the seams cracked in the lid and bottom box, and now it won't close. I'm already on a deadline, and now I need to see if I can find another box to use for my project. Very disappointed.

I started wood carving about six months ago and I really wanted to do a Norse box with old Norse symbols on it. The box showed up in perfect condition so I started transferring my symbols into the basswood. The Valknut is on top surrounded by a runic incantation. On the sided of the box is the helm of awe and on the front of the box is the horns of Odin, Mjolnir and the solar cross. I inlaid all the symbols with crushed turquoise. I really wanted the turquoise to jump off the wood so I decided to hand stain it to look more like mesquite. I used two different Minwax stains as well as a red/orange powder dye. To complete the box I covered the entire thing with epoxy resin. I'm thrilled with how my box turned out.

PROS:

(1) UNIQUE SIZE: The dimensions on this box are rather unique. I looked for some time for a box of this size, and wasn't really able to find these exact size specifications. Specifically, the exterior dimensions of the box is 12 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 3.75 inches deep. The interior dimensions of the box is 11 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 2.75 inches deep.
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CONS:

(1) PLYWOOD: In the product photos (and from the seller's description), this box from the photos appears to be higher quality or at least a non-plywood construction. However, its simply textured plywood (i.e., walnut plywood). Since this box is plywood, it has unsightly blemishes in the wood. These blemishes appear more pronounced when the box is stained. (Please see the photos below to see the blemish that I am describing).

(2) SPLITTING CORNERS: When I stained the box, the corners of the box split because they were only glued together. Generally boxes are held together using corner joints. I have never seen a professionally sold box that was simply glued together on all sides. Because of this unprofessional construction, the box split on the corners once it was stained. Also, glue doesn't stain--so the edges of the box appear white.

(3) UNEVEN HINGING: The box, likely as a result of the splitting corners, does not close evenly. Essentially, the hinges appear to be off by about 1/4 of an inch.

(3) WEIGHT: The box is extremely light weight because its made of plywood. Since I was hoping for a sturdy box that I could store a game in, the boxes weight posed a real issue.
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OVERALL: This box may be great if your intent is to paint it because the paint may provide re-enforcement to the glued together corners. However, if you intend to stain the wood or leave it untreated, I suggest you look elsewhere. The box is cheap plywood and I am sure you can find something better suited for your needs.