Skip to main content

My Favorite Storage Solution

Today is our last Christmas celebration and my boys can't wait to open more toys. But this poses a problem - they (the toys) will all need a home. Which is why I thought I'd share my favorite craft discovery of 2011 - taking old boxes and turning them in to pretty, storage containers. I found this brilliant idea on my friend Katie's blog.


Katie has a wonderful, and more calculated, tutorial (check it out here) on how to make these with hot glue.  However, calculations and hot glue have never been my friends, so I guesstimate and use mod podge.

supplies: diaper box with flaps removed (i put a coat of white paint
on my box so the logo wouldn't be visible under the burlap) fabric,
scissors,  mod podge, foam brush, & brayer (not neccessary but helpful)
I don't use exact measurements for the fabric but instead lay the box on top of the fabric and cut out a rough cross shape making sure there is a least an extra inch of fabric on each side. I trim up any extra fabric as I go. There are several ways to adhere the fabric but I prefer to mod podge the bottom first and then the two long sides. It's important to pull the fabric tight and to make sure all the wrinkles are smoothed before starting a new side. I've also discovered that cutting a square out of the flap corners makes it easier to fold the excess over the top edge.


After adhering fabric to the bottom and long sides, I begin on the short sides. I apply a layer of mod podge to the edges and fold over any excess fabric from the long sides. I then cover that fabric and the rest of the short side with modge podge. Once covered I fold the short side's fabric over the top - think wrapping a present. It is here that I use the brayer to smooth down the fabric. The last step is to adhere any extra fabric at the top (there should be at least an inch) to the inside of the box.



At this point I could call the box finished but I like to add labels.

stencils, foam brush, acrylic pain

finished box (not sure how it started but we call hero figurines "guys")

another optional step: i use an exacto to cut out handle holes
We've fallen in love with these boxes - seriously, I think I'm a little obsessed. They are inexpensive and easy to make. They are also surprisingly sturdy, which is a good thing since a trampoline was not among Mini Man's Christmas presents.

Comments

  1. Now that is a grand and great idea!!! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw, what a great DIY! I definitely need to get more organized in 2012...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yours look great!!! The mod podge is a great idea, too, but I detest the smell of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I knew there was a reason I have been saving diaper boxes. Such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment - you make me smile :)

Popular posts from this blog

A Little Red Cardboard Barn

We've finished our farm unit and are moving on to a new theme tomorrow - but before we do I wanted share the barn we made. The wooden farm animals came with a beautiful handmade ark that we gave Big Buddy for Christmas a couple years ago.  I would someday love to have a wood barn but it's currently not in the budget. So in the mean time we decided to improvise and make our own.  I stumbled upon this perfectly sized milk box (4 gallons per box) while subbing and thought it would be sturdy enough to handle play. Hubandie and the boys used an x-acto knife and wood glue to build a barn shape. to get the doors to fold out hubandie used an x-acto knife and scored the inside of the cardboard We then painted with a basic primer and outlined a window and a door with painters tape. cardboard is very porous so priming is a must if you want decent coverage Big Buddy however insisted that we add more windows so it looked like the barn in our book The Big

Preschool Syllabus: Dr. Seuss

Normally I'd do a Dr. Seuss unit in March around his birthday. We had to do one now though because on Saturday Big Buddy and I going on a date to a  Dr. Seuss exhibit . The exhibit is only at the museum until January and I'm afraid if we don't go now we might not get the chance. We are of course reading lots of Dr. Seuss's books. A great advatage to studying Dr. Seuss in November rather than March is that all his books were available at the library. I also found a great children's biography which is perfect for preschoolers. Pebble First Biographies: Dr. Seuss  We've read it a couple times and Big Buddy loves reciting all the facts he's learned WRITING CENTER ADDITIONS big buddy's name in sand paper letters, coloring pages  & mazes from seussville.com skills practiced: fine motor, letter recognition, creativity,  reading comprehension LEARNING "TRAYS" -   I rotate these, setting out about four a day from which the boy&#

Jack-O-Lanterns on the Fridge

Last fall I saw the idea for refrigerator pumpkins with face pieces in FamilyFun Magazine  and have been anxious to recreate them ever since. It was pretty quick and easy and since the only thing we didn't have on hand was magnetic sheets ($1.50 with coupon at Joann's) it was also very cheap. my supplies: magnetic sheets, orange & black construction paper, white pen, tacky glue *i know they have self adhesive sheets but my Joann's didn't carry them   glued (very messily) and ready to cut Both the boys were quite enthused when they discovered them after rest time :) Hopefully it will keep them entertained until we carve real pumpkins.