Two It Yourself: Turn boxes into pretty storage for pennies

With the master bedroom makeover nearly complete I've now turned my attention to the guest room which will soon be the guest room/craft room. If ever there was a room in need of a do-over....I'll let the picture speak for itself.

I've never had a designated craft room so I'm super excited. I've got big plans for this room and I'm sooooo anxious to start revealing them to you. The big project is the office desk which I'm turning into a craft table by taking off the hutch and using the parts to create shelving for the room.

The shelves will be a big part of my storage space so, of course, I need storage boxes. But do you think this thrifty sister is spending my money on boxes to store paint - ain't no way! Next best thing - make boxes.

I've been ~~collecting~~ stealing shoe boxes from my kids' closets for like oh, a day or two...haha...and today I got to work on turning them into cute storage for my craft supplies. My boxes are all various sizes, but I'm going to make them look like a uniform set by covering them all in left over canvas drop cloth material. Did you really think I could go two weeks without using a drop cloth for something other than painting? Plus, I had some scrap pieces just sitting around from the upholstered headboard, bed skirt, and tool belt projects so why not?

I started with a shoe box and another heavy cardboard box. You can use pretty much any box of any shape or size, lid or sans lid - just make sure it's thick cardboard and not the flimsy stuff.

So here goes the tutorial for my DIY craft storage boxes:

Lay out the drop cloth (you can iron it if it makes you feel better or you can just pull it really tight to get out the wrinkles.)
Using a foam brush, paint the entire bottom of the box with a thick layer of Mod Podge.
Place the box in the center of the drop cloth, leaving enough room on each of the four sides of the box that here is plenty of drop cloth to cover the sides.
Place a brick or a heavy book on the bottom of the box to help adhere the drop cloth to the box.

Wait for it to dry before moving onto the sides of the box...or do the 2IY way and don't be as patient as you should be because you're trying to do this before your kids' small naptime window is donezo.
Working on one side at a time, cover the first side of the box with Mod Podge. Pull the drop cloth up to cover the side of the box pressing down to smooth out any wrinkles and pull the material tight.
Fold the drop cloth over the top of the box (but don't glue down) and use a clip to keep it in place.
Continue working your way around the box on the other three sides. DO NOT fold the corners at this point. Just pull each side straight up over the top of the box leaving the corners unattached.

After all the sides are covered with the drop cloth, crease the material left on the corners into a neat triangle.

Fold like a present onto the side of the box.

Fold the edge of the corner material over the top of the box and use a glue gun to adhere it to the inside of the box. Place several clips on the area to keep it in place until it's dry.

I also used a small dot of glue under the folded material on the side of the box to keep it in place.
If you have a lid for your box, repeat the same steps.

I added ribbon to the outside of the boxes to dress them up a little bit.

But I also added a ribbon to the inside of the box to cover the edge of the drop cloth. This serves two purposes: it makes the boxes that much cuter, but it also stops the edge of the drop cloth material from unraveling.

While mine will soon be holding craft supplies, the fabric covered boxes can be used for pretty much anything. I am actually kicking myself right about now because I spent about $40 on baskets for this linen closet several months ago, when look...these would have been perfect.