Quilted Storage Boxes

In my little girl's room there is this neat built in shelf in the wall and it happens to be conveniently right underneath her changing table. I thought what a better way to make use of it than to store things in it that I need to be able to grab right then without having to leave my little girl unattended. So to make it a little more matchy matchy with the rest of her room I made "quilted storage boxes".

The boxes were just random empty boxes we had laying around that fit well on the self. I like that they are random different sizes, I think it gives it a nice "block" sort of look.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures of the process of making it, I don't always remember to take pictures until I have already finished my projects...oops! At least this one was pretty easy that I don't think you would need a ton of detail if you wanted to make some of your own.

Here is a backed-up look of the finished project:

The boxes that I used are: the middle self boxes are a child size shoe box and the other is what my  "Plaster of Paris" came packaged in. On the bottom self from left to right it is: a box that an Ice shaver came in (thanks April for getting it for me!), another child size shoe box, a square shaped box that someone shipped goodies in and lastly a bulk package box that wipes came in. The hoarder in me likes to save EVERYTHING, cuz you never know what you can make with it later on and this time I made myself some nice storage bins cuz I hung onto some random boxes a little too long :)

Here is a more close up look of how they turned out:

She loves her stuffed animals- I had to keep one close by so she can hug and squeeze it while she waits for me to finish doing her business :)

Here is the ice shaver box and child size shoe box turned into the "bibs" and "socks" boxes (she has about 40 bibs she got from different people- I hope she doesn't get messy enough to need that many! :)

The child size shoe box and Plaster of Paris box turned into the "washcloths" box and "burp rags" box

The random shipping box and bulk sized wipe box has turned into "diaper shells" and "diaper inserts" boxes for her clothe diapers

Attaching the "quilt" pieces was super simple- all I did was use the extra squares that I had from the rest of the decorating her room (they were about 5x5 squares) and hot glued them in the design and way that I wanted them. I very much like how it all turned out and it was super easy and it didn't cost me an extra dime because I had everything on hand still.

As a side note, you may be wondering how I got the labels on the boxes- I printed them on material, not paper, to add to the "quilt" look.

To do this I:

 Cut and glued wax paper to a regular sheet of paper (it was a scrap paper from my husband's previous semester in school). Make it so the waxy/shinny side is facing up

See the lovely wax paper?

Then you iron the material you want to be printed on to the wax paper, make sure the material is also cut to the same size as the paper so it can feed through the printer well. This was my first time trying this, so it didn't completely work out the way I wanted, but I am sure with more practice I will figure this thing out. The wax serves as a temporary glue to hold the material in place so that you can just put it in your printer and print away, right onto the material. I must not have ironed it on good enough because when I printed, it took the material with it but left the wax paper behind. I got lucky and it still worked fine for me, but if you try this at home, it would prob be best to make sure it is ironed on nice and snug. When it is done printing you can just peel the material right off and Wall-ah! The great thing about doing it this was is you don't have to worry about typing backwards like "iron on-printer paper" makes you do it, and it is probably lots cheaper than that expensive paper, and to top it off even more you don't have to deal with that goofy edge it can sometimes have after you iron it on to something.

Long story short- that's how I made my labels for my boxes, and that is how I made my lovely "quilted" storage boxes that are matchy matchy with the rest of my little girl's room! See:

Matchy matchy pillow in the corner

And matchy matchy glider, quilt, another pillow and curtains!

Now I just need to finish her matchy matchy crib skirting...I will talk more of this when I actually finish it. So there you have it- fun, cheap and easy storage boxes!

Until next time!...