Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Me and My Space - Thrifty Boxes made pretty?

HI! Today I want to show you how I have been thrifty in my love of decorative boxes on my shelves.

I love these pretty boxes, and have quite a few around my room to hide my junk.. ahem very valuable crafting goodies.

Here are some I have showed you before -
I have these on top of my shelves - they hide all the less used crafting items - you can see my post about these boxes HERE for a look inside.

There is a serous obsession of these pretty boxes, I always go that section of the stores to see what is new and on sale. I just love them. But they can get pricey... real pricey sometimes. I have left stores pouting before cuz I fell in love with boxes and just couldn't justify the $!

This is one set of boxes I had seen and left behind - they were just out of my budget ------- and then a few weeks ago I went back for something I really needed. New Scissors. Hubby needed a pair at work, mine were getting older, and well he didn't need a perfect pair... so I gave him mine and then went off to get me a new pair. While there... I went to say hello to the boxes. They were on sale 50% off... uh... well.... you now see a donkey on top of them right? YEP... they came home with me.
I totally Love them and don't regret buying them at all, cuz they just make me smile. But then I looked down in the corner of the room and saw some boxes that I saved from the trash... I had such good intentions of saving them, re-using them, and well creating my own pretty storage from them - My Boot Boxes from Christmas -

They are not pretty at the start... but do have great size to them for storage.
But after a little time, they are cute! I was at Tuesday Morning last week and found a package of 25 sheets of Making Memories Slice Adhesive paper. Reminds me of shelf liner paper.. LOL but in 12 x 12 size of course. It was really cheap for the 25 sheets. I think like $5 bucks.... that paper is really high in the stores - I loved the pink polk-a-dot pattern, and then I thought about those boxes again... so for $5 I figured I could cover all three of my boxes - and still have paper left over maybe.
I covered all of the hinge top with the paper, just peel and stick. Then I found some older ribbon in my stash of ribbons, loved the blue and pink together - matches my room. So I used double sided tape and stuck down two bands, and then used my Bow Maker to create two bows for the front. Once I get them all done, I think I will clean off one shelf of not so pretty items, put them all in the boxes and then create fancy labels for the front of them. That is the plan at this point.

So this box cost me maybe $1.75 - $2.00? Well other than the boots Hubby bought me that were in the box.. LOL But I was thinking. Last time I was at the boot store they had a bin full of empty boot boxes to pitch out. Uh... we have gone and asked for coasters, and drink holders and other items to alter... so why not ask for a boot box? LOL Shoe boxes would be cute to do up and sit on top of the larger boxes for embellishments and ribbons and all match- hmm.. may need to get a new pair of shoes now? LOL or just find an empty box to save from the land fill. RECYCLE!

Hope this gives you an idea for a decorative storage item too! Link up yours for me to see!

Thanks so much for visiting me :0)
HUGS

5 comments:

Helen said...

Your new boxes are gorgeous and the donkey on top of it is too cute. Love your idea of decorating the boot box. Unfortunately I do not have that much space in my craft room to store such boxes. Hugs Helen

Carol Dee said...

Great IDEA! I love what you did to the boot boxes. And the 50% off boxes, such a steal and SO PRETTY> hugs...

Kirsten Alicia said...

I love boxes too & these are so pretty.

Nancy said...

The new boxes are gorgeous. The donkey is really cute and the box you covered yourself is every bit as lovely as the one you purchased. Bravo!

Annie said...

love your recycled boxes Michelle, and the new ones too. I've some clear plastic containers begging to be altered .. .. I want to still see inside but cover up the labels (they seem to be printed into the plastic) .. .. I need inspiration!
hugs, annie x