Think Outside the Boxes

I have them. Those big covered boxes so wonderful for stashing the strange collections that clutter my home.

And they were a very good price too. Just not so attractive any longer. So before they reclaimed space on my shelf, they were going through an asthetic and practical makeover.

Yep, break out the aqua spray paint. This actually took 5 light coats, and it looked sueded when I was done.

Now, a little wide aqua grosgrain ribbon if you please. We're going to hotglue this around the lid, not only as a decorative accent, but to hide those dogeared corners.

Work in small sections to get the best adhesion.

Now, once that's done...

...take another length of ribbon and loosely knot it in the center.

Tie a bow and snip the tails short.

Snag a tag and scrawl what the contents of the box will be.

Hot glue the bow to the box, tugging it so that the snipped end pulls inside the front and center knot, out of sight. Now thread some thinner ribbon through the front.

Loop it through your tag and tie it in a knot. Trim the ends of that very close.

Tuck the knot into the front of the bow, out of sight.

Repeat several times until all of your mismatched, outdated storage is clearly labeled, coordinated and organized. You didn't need new stuff. You needed a free afternoon.

Obtaining one of those? I can't help you there.

Convincing your spouse he doesn't need a Simpsons action figure collection? You're on your own there too.