February 2012

So if any of you have little ones then you might also have a bunch of these formula bins laying around. As much as you can try to buy only the refill pouches of formula, somehow you keep ending up with new bins.

I always swap out the bin when we get a new one...but I couldn't bring myself to toss out the old ones. They are such a perfect size for craft room storage and made out of good solid plastic. So here is a quick tutorial I came up with for how to repurpose those formula bins into cute storage.

Supplies:

empty formula bins

spray paint made for plastic

pretty paper

spray adhesive

scissors/exacto knife

First you'll need to carefully remove the lids without breaking off the little sticks that hold it on.

Once they are off, clean them up and spray with spray paint that is designed to stick to plastic. I used Krylon Fusion in black because I had it left over from another project and this project only used a tiny bit of paint. Make sure to spray the top and bottom of the lid.

Next, measure the bin and cut your paper to fit. I was using 12" scrapbook paper and had to cut two pieces to get enough to cover the entire bin.

Make sure to measure where the two notches for the lid are and cut them out of the back piece of paper.

(sorry for the blurry picture...my one handed photography could use some work!)

Using your spray adhesive, attach the paper to the bin and secure with rubber bands while it dries. I was a little slow on adding the rubber bands to my bins and that's why you can see some wrinkles in the paper.

And that's all there is to it. Using supplies you probably already have on hand you can repurpose what would be trash into useful storage.

You just have to find the time!

This project has been featured on these great blogs:

I AM LINKING TO AS MANY OF THESE PARTIES AS POSSIBLE:

SUNDAY The DIY Showoff - Under the Table and Dreaming - Mad in Crafts - I Heart Naptime MONDAY Home Savvy A to Z - 1929 Charmer - Be Colorful - TheSouthern Institute - DIY Home Sweet Home - Singing Three Little Birds - Homemakeron a Dime - Between Naps on the Porch - Cottage Instincts - It’s So Very Cheri - Keeping it Simple - Making the World Cuter - Sumo’s Sweet Stuff - The Girl Creative - Sew Can Do - Skip to my Lou - Craft o Maniac - Trendy Tree House - BlueCricut Design - TUESDAY Me and My Boys - Home Stories A 2 Z - Bowl Full of Lemons - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Coastal Charm - Confessions of a SAHM - Homework - Vintage Wannabe - Strictly Homemade - A Soft Place to Land - Hope Studios - Today's Creative Blog - CSI Weekly Challenge - Creative Itch - I’m Topsy Turvy - Sugar Bee - All things Related - Letting the Creative Juices Flow - Night Owl Crafting - Tip Junkie WEDNESDAY Momnivore'sDilemma - SouthernHospitality - YesterdayOn Tuesday - Blue Cricket Design - Someday Crafts - Domestically Speaking - Sew Much Ado - Seven Thirty-Three - My Backyard Eden - Take it from Me THURSDAY SavedBy Love - The ArtsyGirl Connection - MyCrazy Beautiful Life - DelightfulOrder - Fireflies and Jellybeans - Somewhat Simple - The Shabby Chic Cottage - It’s Fun to Craft - The Train to Crazy - Craftastical - Treasures for Tots FRIDAY SassySites - French Country Cottage - HappyHour Projects - Whipperberry - DesignerGarden - Serenity Now - Bacon Time - The Crafty Nest - delicateCONSTRUCTION- Young& amp; Crafty - Lolly Jane - Remodelaholic - 504 Main – Kojo Designs - Fingerprints on the Fridge – The Shabby Nest - Simply Designing – It’s a HodgePodge Life - J A Girl – Design it Chic – SATURDAY Tater Tots and Jell-O – Along for the Ride – Funky Junk - I Can't Stop Crafting

This tutorial is for one of my favorite projects and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

Silhouette Wall Art

I did this project in my youngest daughters room and absolutely L.O.V.E how it turned out! I've had this idea in my head forever and finally worked out the kinks to get it done.

I wanted to do some larger artwork above her crib, but wasn't comfortable hanging anything above her that was super heavy or had glass. My kids run tall and I know she'll be reaching over the side of the crib before she's a year old. What's so great about this project is the main material is foam board and weighs practically nothing. So if she manages to pull one of these little guys down it won't hurt her at all. Gotta love super easy, affordable, and safe projects, right? Every mother's dream!

So here are the steps you'll need to make this super affordable and customizable project.

Supplies:

foam board

fabric

exacto knife or box cutter

fabric glue

spray adhesive

First, you'll need to cut the shapes out of the foam board. I'm not gonna lie here ladies...this can be tricky! It took me at least 5 passes on each cut to get through all the layers in the foam board. And with some of my animals being about 2' wide/tall it took some maneuvering. But just be patient and go slow...you'll get through the foam board eventually.

Once you have your shape, lay it on the fabric and trace it out with at least 1.5" to spare all the way around.

**Note: make sure to trace your shape onto the back side of the fabric so you cut it out the right way...learned that lesson the hard way!**

Next cut out the fabric pieces.

Using the spray adhesive, attach the fabric to the front side of the shape. Make sure to get any bubbles out at this step before the adhesive dries.

Once it's dry you can start to wrap the fabric around the cut out. Slowly work your way around the cutout and glue the extra fabric down using the fabric glue. I tried to use a brush for this part...but quickly found out that nothing works better than the tools God gave you!

I found the best process was to (1) run a line of glue on the section you're working on (2) slightly stretch the fabric around the edge and over the glue (3) use your finger to smear/spread the glue as it seeps through the fabric.

When you get to the tricky areas where there are lots of curves you might need to add extra glue on the top of the fabric and smear it around to make sure it's all sticking down.

Your fingers will get really sticky...so make sure the kids are down for a nap and you've already gone potty before you start gluing! This is not an easy part of the process to hop up from!

I would also recommend lifting up the shape every once in a while to make sure everything looks good. Especially if you are using a striped fabric and you don't want the lines to get off center.

Once all the glue is dry you are ready to hang them up!

**Note: These foam board hangers work perfectly for a project like this!**

I went with a cluster/cloud shape centered over Baby Girl's crib. I also thought about a long photo shelf across the whole wall to stand all the animals on. Really, the options are unlimited!