If you have not noticed I love scrapbook paper. You can find such
beautiful papers and they only cost about $1 a sheet or less. What I
also love is storage boxes, but I do not love how much they cost. It is
hard to find a really pretty storage box for under $5.
While working on another project I was sidetracked by the white photo
storage boxes that I had on my book shelf. They needed something extra.
At first I thought about painting them, but than had a brilliant idea!
Why not cover the top of the box with scrapbook paper.
I pulled out my scrapbook paper and found some papers that coordinated
with the decor, pulled out my scissors and trusty glue stick.
At first I thought I could just wrap the top of the box like a present,
but that was not going to work, since the boxes are 11.5 inches on the
top and the paper is 12x12. Ok Idea #2.
What you will need is a photo box, and about 1 1/2 sheets of 12x12
scrapbook paper. I used a lighter weight paper, as I think card stock
would add to much bulk to the lid and make it hard to close.Also you
will need a glue stick and scissors. By the way, I purchased these photo
boxes at Michael's for $2.50.
I decided that I would cut out a piece of paper that covered just the top of the box and then wrap the sides separately.
First place the lid on the backside of your 12x12 scrap book paper and
mark where you are going to cut. You only need about 1/4 inch of
overhang on each side of the box lid to cover the top and you are going
to use what is remaining from this sheet to cover part of the sides.
Cut out the paper and apply glue to the back of the paper. Be liberal when applying the glue and be sure to get the edges.
Apply the paper to the top of the box smoothing out the paper, being sure to have about 1/4 inch of overhang on all side.
Cut a slit into all 4 corners, directly from the corner of the paper to
the corner of the box. Be careful not to cut to far, just to the corner
of the box.
Take the long side of the paper that is overhanging the box and apply
it to the box, wrapping the little triangle piece that you have left
over to wrap around. I hope you can understand from the picture above.
Than do the same to the short side of the box until it is all wrapping
the sides like in the picture above.
This is what you will have now. The top is covered and you need to tackle the sides with the paper that you have remaining.
Take the piece of paper that you had remaining from when you cut the
piece for the top, and cut it in half lengthwise. If you had not used to
much paper for the top, you should have enough to cover the 2 long side
of the box.
Apply glue liberally to the back of the strip of paper and affix to the box, just a little bit down from the edge.
Wrap the paper around the sides of the box and then fold like you were
wrapping a present. Then fold over the remaining edge and affix to the
inside of the box. If you work quickly the glue will still stick, but if
the glue is starting to dry, and a bit more glue to the flap before you
fold it down. Do the same to the other side of the box so that both
long sides of the box and paper affixed to the sides.
Next measure and cut a piece of paper for the short sides of the box,
just like you did for the long sides, leaving a little bit extra to wrap
around the edge to the inside. This piece should go from edge to edge
of the short side of the box, without having an extra to wrap around the
sides. You just want extra to wrap to the inside of the box.
Glue to the paper to the side of the box, and wrap the overhang to the inside. Do the same to the other side.
And that's it. You are done. It's not that hard to do, and really only takes about 10 to 15 minutes per box.
You can see that with using a patterned paper, you can not even really
see that the edges are put on separately. It just blends together. If
you use a paper like a stripe, you will notice that the sides are from a
separate piece but again that will just give it a different look.
Here is what the top of the box looks like when it is done. Now all you
have to do is create a label and your box is ready to be displayed.
I love how these turned out. The ones in this picture are from a
different paper, but the same colours. They coordinate very nicely
together. The paper adds colour and texture to these plain white boxes
for very little time and money. What could be better.