Burlap-Covered Storage Box Tutorial

My friend Rosa gave me the idea to make storage containers out of cardboard boxes and burlap, and I just had to try it. I made a few boxes to put into the changing table in our nursery.

It’s a SUPER-cheap way to create storage. And they look pretty cute, too.

You’ll need a cardboard box, burlap, and a hot glue gun. Then any embellishments you want to use.

So, here’s how you can make your own…

I started with two sturdy cardboard boxes. Since I’m drowning in babies right now, I have lots of diaper boxes and a baby wipes boxes, so that’s what I used. They were a little too tall, so I cut off the tops with a box cutter and made them the same height.

They were too bright and I could see the graphics through the burlap, so I covered the outside of the boxes with white paper and white masking tape, but you could use just about anything.

I then cut the burlap (which I bought at Walmart) and covered the entire box with it, using hot glue to secure the edges and corners.

Then I sewed a ruffle using a scrap of dropcloth that I had. I cut the dropcloth doubling the length I needed and sewed a straight stitch through the middle, then ruffled it by pulling one of the threads tight. I then hot-glued the ruffle onto the box.

The labels came from my scrapbooking stash that I haven’t used in years! But you could make your own labels or buy some. There are so many creative ways to make labels.

I use the boxes to hold the cloth diapers that I use for Jack and Violet. In case you are wondering, the diapers are called BumGenius and you can buy them from my friend Jen’s website here. I highly recommend them!

Overall, it’s a pretty easy project but takes some patience when wrapping and gluing the burlap. And there are a million different ways you could embellish them.