Cardboard Toy Box Tutorial

So last month the boy needed to have a cardboard box vehicle for the Kindy 500, which is a "tour" of some of America's monuments at the elementary school. I made him this fun red car. He had a blast!

His sister really likes to play in it, but it doesn't make a good storage box for her toys, so I knew I needed to figure something out.

I had just picked up a case of paper from Costco, and it was the perfect size for a toy box. And it had a lid!!

I've been playing with vinyl on my Silhouette Cameo, so I was itching to do something with vinyl and paint!

I bought a few motifs from the Silhouette store and played around with them in the software until I got the look I wanted.

Then I cut the shapes out on the vinyl and set them aside. It was now time to get the box ready.

I did one coat of primer on the box, laying the spray paint thicker on the printed areas. When that was dry I painted all the areas that would have vinyl applied pink. I used Rustoleum brand. It sprayed really evenly. Tip: it takes a little longer, but spray each side flat, not standing up. That way the paint won't drip and run.

I actually used two coats of pink paint, to make sure it was dark enough. Then I applied the vinyl. After you adhere the vinyl you will want to make sure that the edges are all pressed down firmly. Then I painted over the vinyl in pink to set the edges.

Let that dry, then paint over everything in your top color. I used kind of an aqua blue color. Depending on the color you use, you may needier than one coat for coverage. If you are doing a lighter color on top of a dark, I recommend using a primer in between layers. Since the aqua was darker than the pink I only needed one coat.

Let the paint dry. Then, using tweezers and a hook tool, remove the vinyl pieces. When you peel them off it will reveal the color underneath! It looks really cool.

If you want, you can use a clear coat to finish it off. :)

And there you have it! A personalized toy box for pretty cheap! If you don't have a box from a case of paper, any old box would do. You could cut the flaps off the top of an amazon or other shipping box, too if you want. I'd love to see what you come up with when you do this tutorial! Head on over to my Facebook page and post a photo of your finished personalized toy box!