Burlap Boxes

Thanks to our recent addition {sweet baby!}, we really have a profuse amount of boxes collecting around the house. They're such nice big, sturdy boxes that I have a hard time tossing them in the recycling! The other weekend I decided to do something with these boxes and, Bam!, the burlap boxes were born. The boxes you'll see in this tutorial are actually flat boxes I received when we were going to cancel our Dish service -- lucky for them they fixed my bill, so I kept the service - and the boxes! They fit perfectly on the shelf under our coffee table and I use them to store Elisabella's toys for now. Another fairly easy, very forgiving project.

Of course, start by gathering your materials:

• cardboard box {thicker cardboard = stronger box}
• burlap {or other fabric - amount depends on box size}
• 2" ribbon
• scissors
• box cutter or xacto knife
• hot glue gun
• LOTS of hot glue sticks

Cut the flaps off your box using the box cutters or xacto knife. This is pretty easy to do if you have a sharp blade; it might be worth your time to insert a new one if the current blade is dull. Hold the knife at an angle right at the base of the flap and slowly pull or saw it forward. If the bottom flaps are crooked, pull off the old packing tape and straighten them out before taping back up. The bottom of your box will not be covered, so if you like things nice and pretty, better take a minute for that step! Also, if your box is colorful, you may want to apply a coat of latex or spray paint to neutralize those colors - they will likely show through the burlap {or other fabrics}. My box was plain brown with some black lettering, which ended up being fine without paint.

Once the top flaps are gone, take a rough measurement of the height of your box. Cut strips of burlap with a width 1/2 inch narrower than that measurement. The strips don't have to be perfect - especially with burlap {it stretches nicely!} The number of strips you need depends on the size of your box and the length of your burlap. I ended up needing 2 strips per box and was easily able to do two boxes with 1 yard of burlap.

Attach the first strip of burlap by laying down a line of hot glue on one end. Quickly press the burlap into the glue, making sure it's secure. Also make sure that the burlap lines up fairly close with the bottom edge of the box. It's ok for there to a gap at the top edge - this will be covered with ribbon. I stood my box on a chair so it was easier for me to work with while I was getting started. Once the strips were partially glued, it worked for me to lay it flat on the table.

This is a messy  job - and if you don't have fingers of stone from burning yourself with hot glue more times than you can count, a pressing tool {say a pencil or marker??} might be handy!

Continue wrapping the burlap around your box; put down about a 6" strip of hot glue, then press the burlap to secure. Wrapping in small sections ensures your glue won't harden before you can secure the burlap.

When you get to a corner, apply glue along the entire edge and make sure to pull the burlap tight. Then continue to wrap around the entire box.

Overlap the ends so you have a nice straight finished edge. Glue it down securely.

Now for the messy{er} part. Since burlap is a loose weave fabric, it tends to "shed" quite a bit. To even out your bottom edge, and reduce the amount of burlap hair floating around your house, use your scissors to trim flush with the bottom then run your fingers back and forth over the trimmed edge to encourage any loose fibers to fall out. I even pulled a few that were barely hanging on.

What you're left with is a decent amount of mess on your work surface -- but better there than floating around the house {or waiting to be popped in the baby's mouth...}.

Your wrapped box is nearly complete! To finish the top edge, glue the ribbon all the way around the box, keeping your line straight. When I did this the 2nd (and 3rd and 4th, etc) time, I glued the center of the ribbon to the top of the box first - this gave me a little more even edge on both sides of the box {instead of just a straight edge on the outside}. If you look at the last photo, you can see the uneven inside edge - yeah, that doesn't work so well for me! Ah, live and learn...

So that's it! Your burlap box is ready to be admired! And better yet, it's ready to be used for some pretty storage of an otherwise cluttered mess!