Upcycling: diaper boxes and wipes containers

Upcycling. I must confess that I absolutely hate that word. It sounds so pretentious.
While I hate the word, I love what it means. Clearly, it's an invented word, but in today's world where costs are increasing and salaries are not, finding new uses for old items is a must.

I love organizing, but buying storage items can be so expensive. If you're like me and you have champagne taste on a tap-water budget, you probably have to get a little creative. I have to get creative quite often.

I'm a mother of a two year old. She is potty trained (mostly), but still wears Pull-ups at night. You know what we have at our house? Diaper boxes. Lots of them. I hoard them, because they are such good boxes for storing/creating things. All you need is some spray adhesive, Modge Podge, a pretty fabric, bookplates (optional), and something for handles (still optional), and you can make some pretty nice storage bins. All of the bins in my daughter's closet were made by me. This picture was taken before I lined the boxes with white fabric and added the handles.




                              

Finished product:

Here are two examples of diaper boxes turned fabric bins from Pinterest:
                                          
                                                       [Source: designsbymke.blogspot.com]

                                                     
                                                          [Source: lizziemerin.blogspot.com]

Working in a school also gives me unlimited access to a plethora of boxes. I've utilized a few of those for storage purposes as well.

Shoe boxes are another box for creating great "fabric boxes." I am going to add metal book plates to the front of these and use them in my craft cabinet. These boxes were made using Modge Podge, $1 fat quarters from Wal-Mart and left over material from when I made the mail bins in our command center.

                                   

While we are on the subject of upcycling baby items, let's talk about baby wipes containers. Did you know that they make great drawer organizers? This is my kiddo's dresser drawer. Two wipes containers are used here to stash her socks. I separated them- one container holds white socks and the other holds colored socks.

                                 

 In addition to using them as a small storage box, you can use them to make a travel Lego bin, or use them to stash an emergency kit for your car.

                                                
                                                                     [Source: .kv barn.]
                                                         
                                                          [Source: aunnajames.blogspot.com]