Instead of buying a cheesy plastic container, I picked out some fun fabric and got to work!
These boxes are made from empty wipes and diapers cases. Yay! All you need: empty box, 1-1.5 yards fabric and decoupage glue.
How much fabric do you need? Measure all the way around the outside of the box. This is the width you need. Measure across the bottom, up one side, down the inside and across the inside bottom plus an inch or two for overlap. This is the height of the piece you need. Pay attention to the direction of your pattern!! My piece was 43" wide and 32" tall.
So, grab a box that is your preferred size and cut off the flaps. Save one of the short flaps.
Pause: This box was a very bright color and my fabric was a bit thin. To help block out the colors, I found some white fabric in a local remnants section. I cut out a strip long enough to wrap around the sides of the box. Use a sponge brush to add a good layer of decoupage to the box 1 side at a time. Smooth the fabric over the sides, making a full circuit. Use decoupage to overlap a half inch at the end.
Don't worry about the fabric overhang for now, just set it aside to dry.
Now for the math, my favorite! You need 3 measurements: the height of the box, the width of the short side and the width of the long side of the box. Take those 3 numbers and plug them into this diagram. It looks complicated, but it's not!! Here it is step-by-step. The highlighted lines are to be cut; the rest remain attached.
Whew! You have the pattern, now draw it onto the back of your fabric using a pencil and rulers. 2 rulers is very helpful for getting straight lines and square corners. Don't fuss too much about perfection. But pay attention to the direction of your pattern!
Cut out your pattern.
Alright back to the box. If you used a base fabric, trim the edges with scissors. Don't worry too much about perfect evenness because your fabric will cover it. You can still see through the white fabric but it should be enough to keep the colors from showing through the final fabric.
Wrap the dry fabric around the box just to make sure it looks right. See, it's going to look great. Almost done!
Begin applying decoupage to one side at a time. Smooth, smooth, smooth the fabric as you go. You do not want any bumps or creases. You'll find that most fabric has a little stretch so if your pattern is slightly askew, no worries. Keep your scissors handy in case you need to trim.
To finish off the bottom, decoupage and wrap the excess fabric from the 3 short sides. Then decoupage the larger piece. To make the edges look nicer you can fold them in slightly making a hem. It's the bottom, so it's up to you how pretty you want it to look.
Pull out the box flap you saved and fit it into the bottom of the box where the gap is. Use it to fill in space on the bottom so that the finished product will have a smooth bottom. You can see I wrote all over mine. Oh well, no one will see.
Decoupage the final inside piece. You can fold under the edges to make a nice hem as shown.
I did not add a layer of decoupage over the entire box. I think it makes a rough texture. You can do that and then buff out the texture with very fine sandpaper, but I don't think it's necessary.
Add any embellishments to the outside that you like. Or none at all!
Craft time: 4 hours
Cost: $9 on fabric - but there's a lot of leeway here.
