I’ve been working on getting my studio all set up and organized and really wanted a cute box to keep paper next to my new printer. I’ve seen cardboard, paper covered boxes at Target and such, but we don’t have a Target near us and I didn’t feel like going on a search. I started brainstorming and decided to make it myself. It probably cost me under $5 to make with the supplies I had on hand. All in all, I think this took me about 15 to 20 minutes, so it’s not complicated or time consuming at all. I’m definitely going to be making more to use as storage in my studio!
P.S. Ignore the ugly band aid in some of the pictures. My rotary cutter attacked me, it’s not my fault.
What you’ll need:
Foam board
Mod Podge
Tape
Fabric
Step 1: Figure out the measurements of your box and cut accordingly. I wanted my box to fit a stack of computer paper so I measured out (2) 12.5″ x 9.5″, (2) 12.5″ x 2.5″ and a 9.5″ x 2.5″ for the bottom.
Step 2: Start taping your box together. The first few pieces are a little tricky, but it only took me a couple of minutes. Trim pieces if needed. I made my bottom piece too thick because I didn’t take into account the thickness of the board so I just trimmed until it fit. Once you have it all together add a few more pieces of tape to add strength. If you can, tape some of the inside corners. I had trouble with that because the tape kept getting stuck on the sides because I could stick it where I wanted.
Step 3: Get your fabric and figure out how much you’ll need to wrap around and overlap. You can calculate it using the measurements of your box, but I just kind of wrapped it. Also, make sure you have an extra 6″ or more hanging off the top and bottom of the box so you can fold that over to finish up the box.
Decide where you want the seam of the fabric to go and start gluing. I recommend only gluing a couple of inches at a time to prevent bubbles from forming. When you get to the end, trim the last piece so that it’s straight and glue it down.
Step 5: How do you wrap gifts? I just folded the bottom fabric the same as I do when I’m wrapping presents. Trim it if it’s too long. Start with the 2 shortest opposite sides, apply glue to the box where they’ll press down and then glue them. Then glue down the 2 other opposite sides.
Step 6: Gather the loose fabric at the opening of the box and trim it if needed. Mine was a bit too long, so I cut it so that there was about 4″ to fold into the inside of the box.
Then cut down the corners, this makes it easier to glue down. Doing one side at a time, add glue to the inside of the box and fold down the fabric. Do this to all sides…
And you’re done!
I think this fabric is adorable and I’m definitely excited to make a few more! If you make one, I’d love to see it 🙂
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