Spring Cleaning Containers

What a beautiful time of year!  Having grown up in Oklahoma, I never understood “Spring Fever” until we moved to Montana.  Now this time of year I have an undeniable urge to clean and reorganize.  Please note that I said urge.  My best intentions many times due not come to fruition.   I have found that cute storage containers do the trick and further entice me to clean and organize.  Here are some inexpensive ways to DIY your containers.

I regularly browse the home décor clearance isle of Hobby Lobby and last month found quite a treasure.  I loved the shape of this wooden box but I did not care for the color or the decoration on the bottom.  For $5 I decided I could make it work.

Using Snow White milk paint, I applied a couple of coats of paint over the green.  I love milk paint and have used it in a few projects featured here.  The paint is very forgiving and has a great antique finish.  This is what the box looked like after a few coats of paint.

The wood on the box was a very rough texture and so the paint was very uneven and quite unattractive.  To remedy this, I just used sand paper to smooth out any imperfections.  Another reason why I love milk paint.

To cover the middle decoration, I cut a piece of fabric one inch more than the middle of the box (ex.  the middle of the box is 9x9 so I cut a 10x10 square of fabric).   Using my trusty iron, I ironed down half an inch of fabric on each side.

Next, I applied a generous layer of Mod Podge to the middle of the box and smoothed the fabric over it.  I finished the project with a thin layer of Mod Podge brushed over the fabric to seal it in place.

Not bad for $5!

If you want to take thrifty to a whole new level, cover cardboard boxes with fabric!  Jen at I Heart Organizing gives a great step-by-step so you can create your own super cute boxes.

A great spring cleaning chore is to clean out the pantry.  I was really impressed with my pantry after I used Rubbermaid storage containers and labels.  Check out my blog here for some simple tips that worked for me.

What are your spring cleaning  and organizing tips?  Also, how do you get motivated to clean and organize?