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Book Boxes

CRAFTS· OUR 2nd HOUSE

This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape for Bower Power’s Frog Tape Fridays. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

Ho’s gotta go. 

You heard me.

I got these three hanging wooden “boxes” at a discount store in PA for $5 way back in 2010.  I blogged about it here.  I think they were considered ‘Christmas decor’….but I think they were just calling people dirty names. 

So they sat in our basement waiting for a transformation.  You might say that I sat on them ho’s.  Quote me on that.

Finally it came time to get rid of the ho’s (can you tell I like saying ho’s?!) and transform the boxes into something more useful than three pieces of basement clutter contributor.  All I did was use my sander to remove the existing paint job.  First I started off with high grit paint stripping sandpaper and moved to 110 grit and then 220 grit.    

After they were smooth and wiped down, I taped them up with stripes.  My trick with the Frog Tape on the wood was to apply the tape and then use a damp paper towel to rub it all down and make it’s special PaintBlock stuff work perfectly.  The water makes it activate and combined with pressure, it makes it foolproof.  

The stain and paint I already had on hand.  I just used foam brushes for little projects like this.  I get them for REALLY cheap when they have them on sale at Michaels.  Every once in a while they do a ten for a buck sale or even less and then I get a bunch. 

okay…back to my boxes…I just did a couple thin coats of the gray paint on the exposed areas and then peeled the tape off.

They were already so much cuter than before, right?!

Then came time for stain.  I just wiped it on and then used a few paper towels to remove the excess.  I also stained the bottom and the lip…but not the inside.

I hung them up to dry for a few days before using some spray sealant to put a thin coat of poly on it.

When they were finally dry, I hung them with some chunky nails in the reading room.  I thought since they were in here, that it was only appropriate to have a few books tucked in each one.

I like that they are different than just another set of framed art.  It makes it different and unique.

I still need curtains in there so ignore that…instead just think about how a few stripes can spruce up an entire space.

Have y’all been hanging anything weird on your walls lately?  I wanna hear what the new hot item is to adorn your walls!  Just tell me it doesn’t have dirty names all over it…or does it!? 🙂

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Comments

  3. Those boxes are really cute and with the books tucked inside they are perfect wall decorations in your reading room.

    Such an improvement over Ho Ho Ho! I love your creativity.

  6. Wow this is one of the more interesting things I’ve seen for wall art/ storage! Very creative!

  9. I love these boxes! So much better than the HO’s!! But I’m really leaving a comment to say: AHHH, NEW TABLE!!!

  13. How Cute! I have to say, as I was reading the post, I couldn’t really figure out what these little boxes could be used for, but they are adorable on the wall filled with books. How creative you are.

  16. I love this! Quite possibly my favorite craft you’ve ever posted. Dark wood + gray + stripes are my favorite.

  17. Wow, love these! The stain really made the stripes come alive.

    I also love thinking of non-framed art to put on the walls. We have a porthole in a collage in our hallway. Definitely was tricky figuring out how to hang that one.

    And did I miss your post about your dining table?? Or are ya just giving us a sneak peek?

  18. Clever use of paint/stain. Good job.

    I can’t wait to read about your dining room table. It looks awesome.

  19. I’ve been struggling how to have a “bookshelf” in our nursery because we did paneled walls and we’d have to staddle some panels in making something. These would be absolutely perfect for a few book slots. Thanks for the idea! Now too bad you didn’t have a tutorial on making these from scratch.

  21. Those are really, really cute! Did you paint the trim and walls in the reading room?

  24. I did not know about rubbing the frog tape down with something damp. I was annoyed by my non crisp line the first time I used it, so I will have to try your trick. Thanks for that! (also, the boxes are adorable. much better than having a bunch of ho’s hanging out in your house). 😉

  27. Love how you repurposed these…great idea! I’m such a fan of the paint and wood stain look, too! They totally reminded me of the herb boxes that I have seen for sale, too! Way cute!!! 😉 Jesse @ Scout & Nimble

  28. Those boxes are really cool! My favorite thing on my walls in our house are the antique-ish gold mirrors. I started collecting gold mirrors in college and am up to about 20, which are hung gallery style in our living room. I absolutely LOVE them and just added new ones last week! They’re almost filling up the wall in this house and I can’t wait to keep adding!

  31. I LOVE this little update! I always pass right by super seasonal decorations but this just goes to show that with a little elbow grease the decor items can take on a whole new life! GREAT update and worth the 3 year wait!

  34. These are perfection. I didn’t know where you were going with these at first. Can you come visit me and assist with all of the thrifted shiz that I haven’t yet tackled?

  36. Very cute! You could also put some seasonal decor in each box. The possibilities are endless…

  40. Love it! What wall color is on the same wall as the book boxes? We are trying to move from a golden yellow to a more “sea inspired” blue as a main color for our common areas. Thanks!

  43. They look great! I love wood tones, especially dark ones, against a grey wall. And I spy with my little eye…. a new dining room table. Can’t wait to read all about that update.

    On a totally separate, non-related and completely random note…. I’m 8 1/2 months pregnant with my second (another boy!!) and sciatica is setting in. I remember reading about some debilitating sciatica you had with Weston. Any tricks to cure what ails me??

  45. So cute! I agree, too. Something other than framed art is really nice sometimes.

  46. WOW! Seriously, the best project I have seen in a while! I love love love these….and I was leary of the paint job at first but they turned out amazing! When will I learn to never doubt Ms. Bower 🙂

  47. Love them! Buuuut… I see a beautiful new dining table peeking out, stealing the spotlight… 😉

  49. When I saw the first picture, I was like “why would she even buy something that nasty?” and then when I saw the last picture, I was like “I want that.” Such a great transformation; I never would have thought of doing that!

  50. That looks awesome. We just moved from a tiny 2 bedroom apartment to a big (for us, not compared to you, haha) house with all these blank walls. I love this idea because it’s not the standard art + frame but it provides a nice structure for the eye to rest on.

  52. Super cute. I used Velcro tabs to hang a starfish and a sanddollar from my brothers wedding on our wall next to their wedding photo. It felt more fun than using a shadow box. plus, those suckers aren’t moving until I want them to.

  53. Those look awesome! My next project is actually adding book storage to my 22 month old’s new big girl room and I found the idea on a blog to go the cheap/easy route and buy $4 spice racks at Ikea and then just paint them. Only, apparently everyone in the US came on to the same idea at the same time and the guy at my local IKEA told me they are globally out of stock. They can’t even be ordered online, but I stalked the item on Ikea’s website and found stock in the College Park , MD store last week and drove the almost an hour from my house on Saturday to go buy 6. Yay! I don’t know if they can still be called $4 a piece if I technically paid $6.00 in tolls to go get them, but I’m going to ignore that fact. I still need to paint, assemble and put them up this week but I’m pretty excited to get going on it.

  54. lol…”you can quote me on that”. That’s the best.
    These turned out b-e-a-u-tiful. I never thought to buy potentially ugly painted items….hmm..ohhh the possibilities!

  56. I really like how you set up the distance of the stripes continuously in their pattern across all three (as in the middle box bottom line is equal to the amount cut off on the top stripe of the lowest box, etc.) I think that’s the detail that makes it look the most finished. I’d use them for organizing mail!

  58. Me2! Me2!
    The table looks amazing from this little tease of a view- cant wait to see it in all its glory! ;D

  59. This is so jaw dropping! You have a gift to see past the typical and create something so beautiful! I love love love this project, and am feeling inspired to go pop some thrift store tags.

    xoxoxo,
    Jen

  60. I was so curious to see how you were going to transform these, and I LOVE them. I want some 🙂 I especially love the way you hung them and displayed the books. So creative and unique.

  61. Wow, these look great! I wasn’t sure at the beginning of the post what you were going to do with them, but they look cool on the wall!

  62. Ooooh, I spy your new dining table! Can’t wait to see it up close in you dining room. The boxes are super cute. You’re so creative!

  63. What a cool look! They would even look awesome if you put numbers on them! I hung up some flat wicker baskets (trays?) and some vintage ceiling fan cages. It’s my favorite thing I’ve hung so far!

  66. I agree with everyone that the boxes look amazing, but why did you postdate this post? You have it as the 14th but it didn’t go up until today, the 17th. If you’re late with a Friday post, you’re late, no big deal, life gets in the way, but why be dishonest about it?

  67. Very cute! They remind me of the wooden spice boxes Layla (TLC) has. Would you mind telling me the color of the walls they’re hanging on because I LOVE it!! Thank you! 🙂

  70. How did you keep the stain from “dirtying” the painted strips? Or, did it just not absorb into the painted part at all and you wiped it off?

  72. Those came out really cool! I wouldn’t have thought you could stain right over the painted section, but it totally worked out. Nice!

  73. These turned out super cool! I have actually been coveting similar wall-boxes I’ve seen around blogland with the names of herbs. Like basil, etc. Maybe the Lettered Cottage had them?

    Regardless, love these. Good work.

  76. Hey Katie…random question!

    I really want another baby but my husband doesn’t. We have a 2 year old son and we love being the three of us but I have always wanted two or more kids. I’m hurt that my husband doesn’t want another since we always discussed having more and he suddenly doesn’t want to (i think from the stress of tantrums)

    Any tips? Did you and Jer go through this?

    I need some advice!

  77. Obviously it’s hard and scary to think about having another kid while in front of the firing squad. The trantrums are TERRIBLE aren’t they?! It feels like the most overwhelming and stressful thing in the world at times. We did have that fear that it would just be too much for us to handle…but we also knew that it’s like plucking your eyebrows…the first hair hurts like a motha and then you kinda get used to the pain…still cringeworthy but hardly brings you to tears. Jer always says…one is hard…two is hard…it’s all hard…but in the end it’s worth it because it is the best gift you can give your family. I would suggest waiting a little longer and just keep teaching your son how to handle the ‘newness of life’ in a fun way. I taught Will to say “silly mommy!” when he’s upset and it’s funny how much it helps keep ME sane and shows me how truly sweet he is 🙂
    xo – kb

  78. It does dirty it up a little but when you wipe them down, the excess comes off so it doesn’t show up as much as you would think.
    xo – kb

  80. It actually was scheduled to go up on Friday but then for some reason it changed because I guess I modified something. When I double checked it this morning, I saw it didn’t go up and I went to hit the publish button and it said schedule…which post dated it…and I am too lazy to go back and change it. Not trying to be dishonest or anything…just was too busy to go back and change a negligible detail on something that doesn’t matter.
    xo – kb

  85. Oh man…so sorry to hear that! I did a lot of googling…and watching you tube videos about sciatica…it’s awful. It helped me to keep my hips together as much as possible…so not rotating from the pelvic region when walking, sitting or climbing stairs. I actually would walk with my hands on my hips to make sure they stayed directly straight forward most of the time. And I did some stretches that involved pulling my knees up and letting them fall out to the sides…but really nothing helped much.
    xo – kb

  88. I don’t know for sure but the color looks a lot like Restoration Hardware’s “Light Silver Sage.” It’s one of my favorite colors, I don’t know if this is it but it’s close. 🙂

  89. But, but, but how could you lie to us?!?!?!?! Why Katie, why? I thought we were friends!

    Just kiddin. That chick’s cray.

  90. I bought an Ikea Tarva dresser with the intentions of making it look like worn pallet wood by mixing grey stain (which looks like runny grey paint to me) with a warm walnut color. It didn’t work at all since the walnut stain wipe clean off of the grey stain!

  93. Love these! What a sweet/unique little set of items to use in decorating. I need to get out more to look for this kind stuff. 🙂

  94. Shouldn’t it be hoes or hos? Definitely not ho’s. That’s possessive, not plural. Silly mommy. 😉
    Show us the table, please?!

  95. My bar was giving away some of the stuff they had up on their walls so I grabbed a 3′ aluminum beer bottle decoration. Hung it in the kitchen. Totally normal.

  99. I’d finally found the post about the reading room & realized that it was already there…trust me to pick out the one room you hadn’t painted! Thanks anyway…& I still love it even if it wasn’t done by your expert hand! 😉

  102. My absolute favorite posts on your blog are your crafting projects. They are always affordable, fun, and purposeful. I would love to start crafting, but always feel intimidated. You show how easy and fun it can be, so thank you Katie!

  103. oooo love those boxes on your wall! P.s. more sitting room photos please (my fave room of your house!) we haven’t seen it in awhile!

  104. Those are too cute! I’m not feelin the love from my local Goodwills lately, thrift is in… I’m going to have to branch out to some garage sales…Thanks for the inspiration! I could see them in a kitchen as spice holders too. What do you think their original use/purpose was? How old would you guess they were?

  106. That is so cute! I didn’t realize how big the boxes were until you showed them on the wall. What a great find! I really love how the new design makes them stand out on the wall.

    Question: Did you have to tape over the gray stripes before adding the stain? Just wondering because the lines still look very straight.

    I added a wire basket that we use to display our photo albums in our living room. I love that it is a non-typical piece of wall art and it’s interchangeable as well, like your book display. http://623designs.tumblr.com/post/51726026062/hanging-photo-album-display

  112. Awww yay! I cannot wait to hug your neck in about a month, Katie! So excited for Haven 2.0!! I think you’re pretty awesome, too, and those book boxes look GREAT!!

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