My Garden Retreat

My Garden Retreat
photo Gridley Graves for Country Living

My covered keepsake boxes

Hello my friends!

My how the month has flown by!


I have been so busy lately at the store...I forgot to get back and show you how I made my storage boxes that now reside on the shelves of my new closet!
Oops!


This project has been ongoing for so long, I have had plenty of time to find all of the wonderful little things you might need for organizing your closet and keeping it that way. Or so I thought. As I began to bring our stored belongings out into the light I realized they were not stored well. And I hadn't found anything else to store them in.
I was a little upset since my hubby has always used "whatever" to store things and I really wanted to keep the closet as beautiful as possible! I know it sounds weird, but when you wait so long to get something done, when it's done, you want it to stay that way.
Anyway, I couldn't find anything, and decided it would be a DIY project. This is a great thing since I was able to build boxes the exact size I really needed.

So, here we go!


Step one:
Gather your goods.You will need fabric for the outside of your box. You can use just one but I chose to use two.
I bought some suiting fabrics similar to the ones I loved in Ralph's Heiress Collection.
They are in shades of gray, taupe and a putty color.
The one on top has hints of pink and aqua running thru it (love it!)
You will also need English Bump (which is actually a good quality  white flannel), foam core board,
a glue gun, a rotary cutter or box knife and straight edge , spray adhesive, interior lining paper and a pretty trim of some sort.


Step two:
You will need to decide on what size of a box you will be making.
I needed to measure the width,length and depth of the space I was trying to create a box for.
Step Three:
Draw out the bottom of the box on the foam core board.
I got my foam core board at the dollar store. The pieces are a bit narrower than from a craft store but are alot less expensive.
Using a straight edge  and cut out your box bottom.
Step Four:
Cut out sides of box.
2 the same length as box bottom.
And 2 less the width of the foam core board (1/4 inch for each side so 1/2 inch total)
I used a rotary cutter with my paper blade but you can also use a box knife to make all of your cuts on this foam core board.

hint:
Remember, it's  thick (carefully) press hard and go over it twice to make sure you got it cut all the way through.

I
 Step five:
Once you have all 5 pieces (bottom, and 4 sides) glue them together to form your box.

Step Six:
Lay your box atop the bump (flannel).
Mark with a pencil enough to just cover the bottom and all 4 sides.
Think of it as wrapping a package.
hint:
Its a good idea to find your center and mark it with a pencil on both the box and the flannel. this makes it so much easier to work with once they are sticky!
Step Seven:
spray the outside bottom and sides with spray adhesive
Step Eight:
Lay your bump on top, matching the pencil marks you just drew.
Smooth it out lifting the bump if necessary.
You might consider a straight edge or wallpaper smoothie!

 Step Nine:
When you bring your sides up...you will have what looks like a triangle in each of the corners...
Cut them off. This makes the box less bulky in appearance


This is what my box looks like at this point!

Step Ten:
This is where I differ from any directions I have ever found.
At this point I line the inside of my box.
I knew I was going to use leftover wallpaper so this was the time to do it.

 Step Eleven:
Lay you now bump covered and interior lined box atop your outer finish fabric.
 Determine how much fabric you will need to go up each side and just over the lip of the box about an inch.

Because I have decided to sew my outer box corners...I cut my sides just for that purpose. If you decide to hot glue leave just a little extra (about 5/8") on one of the sides. You will then bring the longer side around to the shorter side and overlap with the short side piece.
Step Twelve:
Repeat steps  7 and 8 !
Step Thirteen:
After the fabric is all smooth on the bottom and sides, you are going to fold-over the inch or so into the interior of the box.

Glue it in place with your hot glue gun.
Step Fourteen:
It's time to cover that edge with something. I used rescued cream grosgrain ribbon. It was on a couple of packages I received for Christmas and since I didn't want to throw it away...Here is where I used it!

Using your glue gun run it around the entire inside of your box.

Your box bottom is now complete!

Repeat for the lid but remember to make it a 1/2" longer and wider! This way it fits the top of the box!
I decided to make the sides of my box about an inch but you can do what ever you would like!


Step Fifteen:
Okay, so now you have a box bottom and a lid to cover it!
Woo Who!
It's time to embellish if you would like!
I decided to give mine a little bit more of a masculine feel since they are for my hubby's keepsakes and make faux leather bands .
These are also pretty tied with bows!


I simply sewed the strips to give it the look of stitched leather and glued them to each side of the lids back.

Using  velcro, attach a piece to the front of your strap and to the bottom box
hint:
the sew-on works best for this, the adhesives on the other kinds don't seem to work as well for me.



I then glued the pieces to the strap and to the bottom of the box front.

It just gives it a nice finishing touch and for me...kept the look I was going for.


I also made a couple smaller ones with flat lids and covered some paper hat boxes as well!

Now we have a great way to keep things looking nice in our closet and close at hand!

So what do you think?
I hope you get a chance to make one of these! They really aren't hard todo and look so much nicer than the plastic ice cream container my hubby had some of these things stored in!  Hee, hee!

I will be back soon to show you how this project looks once it's completed!
But it will be a few weeks...still no carpet!

It you get a chance...
Stop by my other blog
You will really get a kick out of what we are doing at the store in Tipton!
I would love to hear what you think!
Until next time!

15 comments

  1. Oh my word - what patience you have! I would have given up on step 2 and run over to Home Goods! Still, it was definitely worth the time and effort - these boxes are to die for! A beautiful addition to a beautiful closet make over!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great idea! It's impossible to find containers that fit perfectly, and these ones look amazing, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a pretty job you did. Very impressive. I will have to try this technique. Thanks for sharing.
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  4. How very clever! These are beautiful while being useful. One could use recycled fabric for these too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great project!Thank you for sharing.

    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh my word...You are so very talented my friend :)!My patience would have ran out early on too!But I love the finished tailored look of them in your closet!Good Job:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. what a great idea looks great I'll take three of them

    Pattie

    ReplyDelete
  8. Soooo gorgeous Donna! And I love the fabric you chose. Thanks for the how-to.:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bonjour Donna,
    Ph my, yo are talented and very patient. Your boxes turned out beautifully. I am sure you are enjoying your new closet speace. Just read that Hortons is nearly ready!
    à bientôt,
    Mimi

    ReplyDelete
  10. WOW! You did an awesome job... I love them.

    Warm blessings,
    Spencer

    ReplyDelete
  11. I LOVE this idea, Donna. Your boxes are beautiful!

    Have a happy Friday xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks great! What a nice idea...

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great project! Love the look! Thanks for following our blog.
    Eileen & Karen
    Forget Me Not Dreams

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Donna,
    Much harder than it looks, but you make me want to get busy and make some more of my boxes :)

    Beautifully inspiring!!
    xox
    Dore

    ReplyDelete
  15. First of all Donna, can you forgive me for missing your last three posts???? For some reason your posts weren't updating on my sidebar (and I never go to my dashboard) and I started thinking that maybe you were locked in your new closet and decided to come today and see if I could find you and instead I find all these awesome updates about your new closet!!!!!
    Oh boy, I love how it looks all papered and the woodwork painted! And the mirror**sigh**
    This is such a great tutorial Donna. I know how hard tutorials are to show, and I want you to know how much I apprecaite the time it took you to do. The boxes are beautiful. Such great storage in such a great space.
    I also love the pink added to the cottage. I think my favorite colors in my decorating are the aquas and pinks and some spring green sprinkled in. Really, my decorating is a mish mash of everything I love. From the pictures I show on the blog, one would think everything is whites. you would probably be shocked by all the color I really do have in here.

    I am so sorry to hear about your fall. I haven't fallen this year, but last year I took two bad falls and they really took their toll. I hope you are healing and staying warm in the meantime.
    Tinker House is looking fine in your beautiful Winter pics!!!!
    big hugs and lots of love!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to leave me a comment!
I love reading them~they truly make my day!
~Donna Reyné