Diaper Box to Toy Box

Recently, my mother-in-law sent us a huge box of toys for Audrey. Most of them are too advanced for her age, but they won't be for long. Until she can play with them, I needed to think of some way to store them. Our house is a little small, and her nursery (which also serves as my crafting/sewing room) is pretty much stuffed full of baby clothes, blankets, diapers, crib sheets, fabric, scrapbook supplies, stuffed animals, etc. It also houses our file cabinet and my sewing cart. Needless to say, I didn't have a lot of options when it came to storing toys with which she can't yet play. Of course, this situation needed to be remedied.

Not safe!

I would have liked to build a toy box, but for now I opted for a cheaper solution. So I wrapped an empty diaper box with some old gift wrap - I'll switch it with some canvas later; for now I just wanted to use what I had on hand. Then I sewed up a basket liner using this tutorial and some fabric I purchased a couple years ago to make a dress (I subsequently lost interest in said dress - typical.).
Here is the finished product, filled with those awesome toys:

I'm satisfied with it for now, but I do look forward to replacing the gift wrap with canvas. Besides, when her toy collection grows, I'll need a bigger box. Or I could do a couple more diaper boxes with the same fabric. We'll see.

Today's post is a twofer, though! My friend's birthday is coming up, and I'm busily making things to give her. Here is a treat box I'm going to fill with goodies:

I followed this great tutorial. I love that she included measurements; this was a very easy project to complete. To add some strength to the lid and outside if the box, I glued the scrapbook paper (which was much lighter than card stock) to some thin cardboard before folding it up. I do have a few more details I plan to add, but they'll have to wait until my Slice die-cutting machine arrives. I'll post more pics when it's finished.

So far, almost all the crafts I've posted have been based on ideas I've seen when Stumbling, or even reproduced following online tutorials. I put my own spin on them, sure, but they're not my original ideas, and - I want to be clear - I don't take credit for them. The reason I mention this is to explain why I haven't done any step-by-step instructions. I link to the tutorials I've used, and I encourage you to visit them and try them out for yourself. I've had a lot of fun creating my own versions of these projects, and I do intend to complete projects of my own. When I do, I will include a how-to. Since I'm just starting out, I'm hoping that doing it this way will spark my own creativity. Of course, even if I do come up with my own craft ideas, that isn't to say they won't have been done before. The beauty of arts and crafts is that many people truly can think of the same idea at the same time, without any outside influences. The reason our creations are unique is because we put our own mark on them.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough. Thanks for reading!