DIY Burlap Box / Drawer

Do any of you have a spot in your house that you would love a basket or a nice box to hide stuff but you just can't find one that fits just right...or perhaps the one you found is ridiculously expensive and you just can't justify it?  Well, I was in the same boat with our mud room.  My husband and I made a lovely bench for the mudroom (out of an Ikea shelf...I will post this later) but I could not find any boxes to fit in the spaces.  I was using stumpy baskets that were a little too long and didn't hide anything! Please do not look at the crafting mess :)

I have seen on a few blogs, people custom making boxes out of larger ones and I thought this might be my only option. That was until I bought those cardboard style mini pizzas at Costco. I will admit I love the things..just don't tell my husband, he thinks they are for the kids.  So, after I bought these pizzas and I noticed the box they came in fits almost perfectly into the slots in the bench.

 

 So this is how I transformed it to work perfectly.

Materials needed:
Cardboard box
Duct tape
Paint
ModgePodge
Burlap or fabric
Twine or ribbon

Method:
I cut the box to the height I wanted it (remember the fabric will make it higher so cut a little extra off).

 Duct tape the corners of the top flaps, both the inside and the outside, to make them secure.

 

I was going to use burlap to cover this, so I knew the bright colors of the box would show through. I personally love to spray paint but I just found this paint at Home Depot in Heirloom white and through I would give it a try.  I have used this paint in black before and love it but this is the first time I have seen it in other colors.

Put two coats of paint over the entire box. When I was finished painting, I could still see a little of the tape and print through but it didn't matter as the burlap covered it.

  

I started to cover the box on the small sides first. I did this because these sides would not been seen.

I covered one side at a time with ModgePodge and then stuck the fabric down. I put a piece of duct tape on the inside just to hold it while the glue dried.

I did cover the side seams with ModgePodge to ensure they stuck down well.

 I took three pieces of twine and braided them to make a pull.

 

I punched two small holes in the box and inserted the braided twine pull. (You can see the wet Modge Podge on the inside of the box)

And here it is FINISHED!  One down....three more to go.  Let me tell you we will be eating a lot of mini pizzas over the next few weeks :)

 Once I clean up the mudroom and finish a few more of these I will post revised pictures.

What do you think?
Stephanie