No Sew Cardboard Box Cover

I have so much yarn that I'm slowing running out of places to put it all. All my little plastic storage drawers are full....not that they hold much anyways. But the top shelf of my closet holds most of the leftovers. Fairly frequently, as I'm digging around for something up there, they all come crashing down. So in an effort to begin decluttering my home, I opted to find a place for all my yarn. This is nothing more than just an old paper box! Pretty cute huh?

I would say this project took me a solid 2 hours to do. For 3 reasons. #1 I started at 1:00am, which was a bad idea. #2. I didn't have a sewing machine. #3. I was using a pattern that required sewing, a lot of it so I had to figure out a way to make it all work. I probably spent a total of 15 minutes just staring and thinking with a baffled look on my face.

Here's what I used:

Paper box (a diaper box can be used too! or really any box of your choosing)
1 yard of utility fabric (it feels like canvas)
1 yard of "fun" fabric
Liquid Stitch
Spray Adhesive
Tape measure
Scissors

This is the box that I chose to use. I think later I'll cover the lid too.

The first thing you need to do (especially if you have a large box), is to measure the box. Height, width, & length. This was a little challenging at 1:00am for some reason...

Once you have all your measurements, you need to cut your utility fabric accordingly.
Center your box in the middle of your fabric, making sure that each edge of the fabric will be flush to the top of the box (or about) when pulled up. Mark where the corners were at on the fabric. (Honestly I didn't do that part here, but it would have made it a lot easier on me!) Measure and mark out 2 inches from each corner of the box to the corner of the fabric. Using that point, you'll cut out your corner squares. 

Cut slits from your corners out to your box markings.

Using the adhesive spray, which I didn't realize was so awesome, spray the long side of the box and pull the fabric up. Press and smooth. FYI: It sprays clear so don't go overboard! Repeat on the other side.

Spray a little adhesive on the short end of the box to glue down the extra fabric on the ends.

Using the liquid stitch, fold over the fabric so the edge is even with the box and glue together.

Spray the short side of the box, pull the fabric up and smooth it out. Repeat on the other side.

 

Here is the covered box. If your fabric hangs over the top, you can trim the edges down. I had to on one side. I wasn't worried about the very top of my box showing as I was going to create a liner to cover it.

For the liner I purchased a yard of "fun" fabric. I did the same thing I did with the outside of the box, with only a couple modifications.

I measured and cut my fabric into the rectangle.
Centered and marked corner points.
Cut out corner squares.
Cut diagonal slits from corners to corner of the box.

Because I don't have a sewing machine, I wasn't able to hem the edges that show on the out side of the box. Instead I used liquid stitch and hemmed them by folding and gluing the outside edges. The hem I created was about 3/4 inch. Once the glue was dry, I used my iron to press the seams.

Just like with the ends of the outside of the box, I folded the edges in and glued so the new folded edge was inline with the edge of the box. Repeat for all 8 edges.

Place the liner in the box, matching the corners together and flattening out the edges.

If you had a sewing machine, you could sew up the sides, which in time I might do. As for now though, this is it. If you wanted you could use the adhesive spray to glue it to the inside of the box. But I ran out of time. And patience. For now I have a removable liner, which is fine for the top of my closet.