How to Upcycle a Diaper Box into a Picnic Basket

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I love this quick tutorial on how to turn a diaper box into a picnic basket! So easy...and just what I need to cart lunches around this summer!

I’m super, super excited. I got my husband to agree to go with me and the girls on a little all-day jaunt to the zoo. And I lined-up a picnic with one of the girls’ friends for later in the week. And then, next week, we’ve got a fun day-trip planned with Granny and Pop to a picnic at their local park. But I was sad when I busted-out the picnic basket I’ve used for years…time had finally caught-up to it, so I had to make a new one. My friends, this is How to Upcycle a Diaper Box into a Picnic Basket so that you can take your lunch, snacks and daddy’s required coffee (with creamer) anywhere (even the zoo).

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It cracked me up when my husband listed his “demands” for the zoo trip–they were really easy to meet. Apparently, at work, he has like 5 cups of coffee before noon. Now, I know that seems like a lot, but I think he’s drinking those tiny medicine cups…maybe. And salty snacks. He likes to munch in the morning before lunch. Heh.

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So, really, taking coffee and creamer, salty snacks and getting one of those crushed penny souvenirs didn’t seem like such a hard set of demands to meet, so I headed to my local Walmart and found his favorite creamer brand, Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee Creamer. And, better than just finding the creamer is that I found it in singles (yeah, that’s right–singles). He’s going to be so stoked that he can take his creamer anywhere now that I found this. Heh.

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What You Need to Upcycle a Diaper Box into a Picnic Basket

  • A diaper box
  • About 2 yards of pretty fabric
  • A fastener
  • Decoupage glue (like an entire bottle)
  • About 4 feet of thick yarn for the handle

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How to Upcycle a Diaper Box into a Picnic Basket

  1. Cut off the short flaps of the diaper box. You just need the long ones.
  2. For the interior, put a coat of decoupage glue on one side of the box.
  3. Place the interior fabric on the decoupage glued side of the box, leaving an inch of fabric to overhang the edge.
  4. Put another coat of the decoupage glue on top of the fabric. Allow to dry.
  5. Repeat for each side, cutting pieces of the interior fabric to fit, if necessary.
  6. Decoupage glue the overhanging fabric to the exterior, so that all edges are covered.
  7. For the exterior, put a coat of decoupage glue on one side of the box.
  8. Place your exterior fabric on the decoupage glued side of the box.
  9. Put another coat of the decoupage glue on top of the fabric.
  10. Cover all sides.
  11. Trim the fabric to 1-inch longer than the box on each side, then fold the edge toward the inside making a flat seam at the corner (or close to).
  12. Decoupage glue all that really well. Allow to dry.
  13. Add pockets by cutting strips of the interior fabric to fit alongside one side and hot-glueing them in place.
  14. Braid your yarn into one 1 1/2 foot long strip.
  15. Hot glue each end of the yarn to the outside.
  16. Hot glue fasteners in place.
  17. Pack with awesome stuff including a thermous of coffee, a whole passel of Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee Creamer Singles, and salty snacks.
  18. Get to the zoo–or anywhere, my lovelies! LOL!

Here’s a quick video to help you see what I’m talking about–especially with the edges and pockets.

So, what do you think about this tutorial for how to upcycle a diaper box into a picnic basket? I love how mine turned out. I’d love to see yours! Drop me a line in the comments to let me know how you use your basket–or drop me a photo of yours on Facebook! I can’t wait to hear from you!

Oh, and run on over to see all the other awesome DIY projects featured along with this one on DIYCrush (my favorite place to go for ideas!).

Thank you for sharing!

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