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I hated what was happening on top of my refrigerator. Every night Wednesday through Friday I empty out lunch boxes belonging to D-Man, Big-C and myself from our day at work/daycare. As a result we get a pile of crap on top of the refrigerator. I was determined to make it stop, I had a few options.
I could find some space in one of my kitchen cabinets to store the lunch boxes, but I use that space and didn’t want to free it up. I could take the lunch boxes to the basement every night and bring them up every morning, but “no thank you” says my knees I run those stairs enough. We could finally build our new house and give me a walk-in pantry and bigger kitchen, that might not happen by this weekend. I could buy a cute box and place all the stuff in it, but my frugal self didn’t want to spend that money. I decided my only option to make my own box with materials I have already in my home (I got to use the glue gun!).
I have plenty of cardboard boxes otherwise known as diaper boxes. I have revamped a few of them into book boxes around the house, but have always used paper to cover the boxes.
I opted for material and rope. I am using the left over material I used to cover my kitchen chairs and some rope I found in the basement, where everything goes if I can’t find a place upstairs. I grabbed Mr. P’s glue gun ( I think maybe now I should just start calling it mine, we are married and what’s his is mine right?) and some fabric Mod Podge. I also grabbed some left over white paint to coat the box in a thin layer to hide the purple print. I found out that fabric adheres better to the dried paint. I wish I would have known that little tidbit prior to placing material on my recipe box (There may be a future post about removing bubbly decoupage, but that’s for another time.)
First and foremost I made sure all the crap (lunch boxes) can fit into the box and the box fits on top of the refrigerator. I trimmed off the lid flaps and put a nice coat of white paint around all the sides of the box. Next I prepped the fabric material by cutting it to the size I wanted and laid it flat along my dining room table. I protected the table with some freezer paper, and slathered the fabric with a thin layer of glue. Doing this makes the fabric more manageable and prevents fraying.
I glued down one side at a time. To assure myself that I would not have bubbles I went over each surface with a brayer.
At the corners I just cut a slit down to the top of the box and folded over the cloth. I glued it down on the inside.
Once all the sides were glued down and folded over the top, I went back with an x-acto knife and cut out the handles. This is purely your choice, I like having the handles to easily pull the box off the refrigerator, but it’s definitely not necessary. I folded in the excess material and glued that down as well.
Make sure you allow the material to dry prior to glue gunning your rope onto the box. Most likely it does not have the stay out for a full 16 days prior to applying your rope, but to each there own (sorry Mr. P). I blobbed a little glue about 5-6 times on a side and held the rope in place for about 10 seconds prior to moving on around the box. This is a tedious part of the project, I suggest binge watching a show during this part of the craft. Designate which side of the box will be your backside and end your material and rope on the that side.
Viola the box is done, the crap is secure and I am much happier when I walk into my kitchen. Added bonus when I open up the fridge door I don’t risk having an empty lunch box fall on me!
