Burlap Covered Boxes

I hate having teensy weensy toys all over the house. I hate having to store them in clear plastic containers or laundry baskets (which is what I have been doing). Instead I have a buttload of diaper boxes (pun intended!), and I knew I could put them to good use.

My father-in-law built us a pair of sturdy, beautiful bookcases. The Huggies boxes fit perfectly on the shelves, they are just very ugly.

So, I grabbed a couple yards of plain burlap and a pretty muted green burlap at Joanne's and covered them. I still need to get some trim for the edges, but you get the idea. I wanted to personalize them, and I loooove the numbers craze, so I added some special dates to our boxes.

I know you can see the Huggies logo in the background, but I swear, it is only because of the flash! With normal light, you have to get reaaallly close and squint to see them. Nonetheless, I would do 2 layers of burlap on the side that will face out on future boxes.

Here is how to do the letters. Find a font you like, and set the page layout to landscape. I used a 180 point font size for it to be big enough. Print it out, and make a stencil by cutting the letters out. I used cardstock for a sturdier stencil and put cardboard under my cardstock while I was razor cutting.

This is what the stencil looks like:

Just tape it to the box, and fill in with a Sharpie.
Take the stencil off and fill in any gaps, and voila!, you have some custom made burlap covered boxes. For less than a dollar each.
Sorry for the blurry picture, but I wanted to show it to you with no flash. I can't wait to add my trim, I am thinking braided jute, just got to get to the craft store first :)

For another cutie patootie covered diaper box project, go visit Beth at The Stories of A to Z.
http://bethcrabtreehunter.blogspot.com/2009/09/from-diaper-box-to-cute-basket.html

I am linking up to Kimba's A Soft Place to Land for DIY Day. Have fun checking the projects out, I love looking at all the ideas! There are so many talented and creative people out there!

http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/2009/10/diy-day-and-giveaway.html