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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

How to make a mailbox for Valentine's Day!

This project was on my other blog that I lost, Art Spectrum. I thought now would be a good time to repost it since Valentine's Day is approaching.
My son challenged me to make a mailbox out of an oj carton. No, he didn't want to help. He just wanted to watch mommy work!:) But this project would be fun to do with a willing child!

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Material:
1. One cleaned out oj or milk carton.
2. One exacto knife
3. Acrylic craft paints, brushes
4. One sheet of primed canvas (from one of those canvas pad you buy at the craft store.)
5. Craft glue
6. Hot glue gun
7. Decorative applique (whatever you have around the house. I used butterfly salt dough ornaments that I made for another project)
8. One paper towel roll
9. One styrofoam bowl.

Process:
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1. Clean carton well
2. Cut three sides of the bottom with exacto knife.
3. Cut one piece of canvas so that it fits around the whole carton. I started with one 16"x20" sheet. Wrap sheet around carton to make creases.
4. Paint a different color for each panel.
5. Don't forget to cut a piece of canvas for the top of the carton and cut a hole for the lid. Paint that piece too.
6.Once the paint has dried, apply craft glue to the back and wrap around the carton.
7. Cut one more piece of canvas for the door of the mailbox. Paint and monogram. Glue to door!
8.To make the base; Wrap paper towel roll with canvas allowing extra canvas to hang off one end. Cut slits around the canvas that is hanging over the edge. (this will be use to glue roll to bottom of carton. Paint. Paint bowl matching color. Cut a hole into the bottom of the bowl big enough to stick the roll through. If it doesn't fit snugly reinforce with hot glue. Glue canvas on the other end of the roll, to the bottom of the carton.
9.Apply decorative elements with craft glue or hot glue gun. Done!

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Display proudly in your home and fill with love notes to your family members!

I'm participating in Amy's Round Robin!
Please stop by and see more wonderful Valentine Day projects and ideas!


Go to Today's Creative blog (one of the best blogs ever!) to see more great crafts!




And My Romantic Home

14 comments:

Kim -today's creative blog said...

Thank you for linking. Great idea. I'll have to check out your chalk boards.

Teddy Started It said...

What a great thing to do with the OJ carton I just emptied! Thanks:)

elvira pajarola said...

Cindy....this BOX is absolutely super-lovely .......
COMPLIMENTS........a real fantastic IDEA!!!!!!
have a happy day!!!!
ciao ciao elvira

Melissa aka Equidae said...

wow what a nice project...I can never think of susch simple beauty :) passed by from SITS

Anonymous said...

That is super cute, I love it!
Droppin' in from SITS!

Unknown said...

Ooo.. That's fantastic!! :D

Tania @ Larger Family Life said...

Lol! That's excellent! The box made me smile and feel happy! Great job!

Sonia said...

Whoa! Thats awesome. Yours turned out too pretty and beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hi there - visiting from Round Robin. Your V-Day mailbox is hands down the best mailbox I've seen. Bravo!

Anonymous said...

How creative. What an awesome idea. Stopping by from the Round Robin...Happy Valentine's Day :)

Amy said...

So cute! Speaking of chalk boards I am in the market for an unframed 10 " x 29" for a cabinet end. Know where I might find one?

Amy said...

What an amazing Idea.. I so love this. How do you make the pictures like that? I know you have told me before but I am not sure what I did with that. Thanks for playing along. It was great having you stop by.. Happy Valentine's Day..

Love this craft idea..

Michelle said...

What a cute mailbox.
BTW, I love the name of your blog.

*Round Robin*

Diane Schmidt said...

Too cute, I'm following and can't wait to see what you blog next :)