Diapers to Toys

 If your family is anything like ours, you probably have a lot of these boxes around!  I found a cute idea surfing a few blogs one day, to cover boxes and reuse them.  So, here is my take on that idea!  


I ordered canvas material from my favorite online store.  www.fabric.com  Then, I went to Wal-Mart and raided the clearance fabric section for cotton prints that would be fun for the kids.  I only purchased 1 yard of the cotton fabric, which worked perfect for this size diaper box.  I ordered a ton of the canvas because I knew I would want to do more than just this one! 

 Also at Wal-Mart, I purchased Spray Adhesive.  It works awesome for this project.  I cut the top four pieces of cardboard off with a knife and ripped off any of the cardboard that was loose.  Then set the box in the middle of the canvas and started by spraying the bottom first and then each side of the box. 

  


I cut the corners one at a time and did a slight overlap with one side or the other to make sure there was not any cardboard still showing. 

  


After I had all the sides and bottom done, I folded over the left over canvas on top, leaving about 2inches inside the box.  The canvas material is quite strong material and really seems to hold up well under my 16 month olds climbing in and out of the box.  This is why I left so much extra, I wanted the top of the box to be strong too.

I then started on the cotton fabric for the inside.  Did the same type of spraying and gluing as the outside, but left the corners for an overlapped kind of look.  You can cut the corners out if you want to do that, too.  I did, for a different basket I made and it worked great.

You really want to leave a couple inches of the material for the outside of the basket, so the glue has a little more to hold on to.  I left two inches all the way around and then ended up doing a little trimming because I wanted to add a ribbon.

 













Since I don't have a ton of sewing skills (ok, really none!!), I used a ribbon with an adhesive back.  It was so easy to stick on right where I wanted it and to make the little pull handle at the end.  I used a piece of the canvas material on the back of the pull handle to make it stronger, then glued it on with the spray adhesive as well.  But, look how well it holds up!  He is 20 lbs and inside the toy box.  He climbs, in and out and in and out all day long!  Just a fun way to reuse an old cardboard box and spice up the decoration, too!