Cube Cushions

While visiting my sister over Thanksgiving Holiday she showed me a cardboard box that she had and wanted to know if we could do something with it. I know you're probably saying "what the heck?" but this is Decorating with Cents...plus I get a thrill making something out of nothing. (smile)

This was one of those strong sturdy boxes that computers are often shipped in.

My first thought was to perhaps spray paint it, but then what?  Besides who wants to waste their time painting a huge box like that?  Plus it was glossy which meant priming first, and prime is too expensive to waste...  anyways while playing around with ideas my sister just happen to stumble on another box, same height & durability, that she wanted to use.  So, now we have 2 boxes to play with, yippie.  How did she not know there was another gigantic box in her house???  

Okay, getting back on track, we now have two boxes to play with.  Oh, did I forget to mention I was on vacation and should have been getting some good ole R&R?

Well this is what I came up with...

You like???  If I had shown this to you earlier would you have known it was an old box?

It didn't cost much to complete this project.  She found the fabric on sale $8 total; fringe $6; decorative rope $8; foam $5.  She was getting so excited over purchasing items for her cubes that I had to constantly remind her it was a cardboard box, and we didn't want to spend much on it.... 

Here's what I did,

I reinforced the inside with the styro that came in the box...just to give it a little more strength, you know, just in case somebody decided to sit on it.

Styro was taped around all four sides to give additional strength

Then I used spray adhesive to glue the fabric to the box (gives it a smooth finish).  This was my first time using this and I totally fell in love with it.  It made everything go quick, quick, quick.

Measure cushion and cut out to cover.  I also used spray adhesive to glue fabric onto foam. So far, this is like super easy.

Everything was going smoothly until I got to the tucking.  I couldn't figure out how to do it so after an hour or two of mental anguish I had to go to bed and think about it (I think best when I'm either eating or sleeping) - seriously.

Now because I wasn't sure how this was going to work, and then when it did work I got so excited I was afraid to stop and take a picture because I didn't want to forget how I did it.  Let me see if I can explain...

First I measured to see where I wanted the tucks and used a pencil to mark the spot on top.   Then I cut a small piece of cardboard (1"x1") and held it at the bottom of the foam, directly beneath the spot I had marked.  This cardboard would give the support for tucking when the thread is pulled through.  I then took a threaded needle (starting from bottom of cushion) pushed the needle straight up through the cardboard that I was holding under the cushion and through the fabric into the pencil mark on fabric.  Then I brought the needle back down through the fabric & cardboard I pulled it tightly which caused it to start gathering, hey, my first tuck!

 
I did this several times in each spot just to make sure it was firmly tacked.


Once I completed the tucking I sprayed the top of the box and placed the cushion on top of it.  Then came the fringe.  I used fabric glue to adhere the fringe but when I went to put the rope on top of the fringe, I encountered a problem.  I guess the roping was to heavy and it wouldn't stick.  So after some frustration, my sister suggested hot gluing it (I hate using hot glue, because I'm always burning my fingers) but it worked like a breeze and yes I did burn my fingers! 

This is a temporary fix until she decides on purchasing something more functional, but until then this is excellent for holding platters of food, kicking your feet up while lounging, etc. While I was there she had several guests who came in and they plopped their butt right on top of it, thankfully the boxes cube cushions are still holding up strong. :-)

So tell me, what will you do the next time you get a box?  Just LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!