Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tool Time Tuesday...Recycled Food Containers

By the look of this first picture, it looks more like Fat Tuesday instead of Tool Time Tuesday. When I started to collect these containers, I thought to myself...yikes !!! but I do have excuses for these. The ice cream was for Courtney when she had her wisdom teeth extracted 2 weeks ago and the little Timbits donut box is a treat we get on Sunday after church.
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We all have some kind of containers in the house or the garbage...so dig around and find some cute little treasures in the trash. I saved these because they were just so darn cute. Look how tiny they are. That mini Haagen Das is $1.00 and comes with a spoon on the inside!!! I digress...onto the tutorial.
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Due to the picture heavy tutorial, I am giving the instructions for just the donut box. I will do the rest throughout the week.
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Here are a few things you will need for the week...
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Different kinds of glue. I used the spray glue and hot glue for the donut box.
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Scraps of your favorite fabrics


trimmings...ric rac, ribbon etc. (I'll use these for the ice cream boxes later this week)



Assortment of knobs...ceramic, metal, wooden (whatever you have left over from a project) and some little buttons.



Here is the Tim Horton's donut box, any size will do. I just love Tim Horton's coffee. It has won my heart over from Dunkin Donuts!!!



The first step is de-construction. On the inside, there is a seam. Carefully tear the box apart on this seam. You can use a knife, but I just slowly separated it with my finger.



Here is the open side seam.



On the bottom, the corners are made with 2 glued pieces to form the angled corners. Do the same as the side seam and carefully pull apart. Click on the picture to see "Printed in Canada". This is a shout out to all my friends up north!!!!



Once all the seams are opened, the box should lay flat. Here's the inside.



Here's the outside.



Choose your fabric. this one is Moda, I think Mistletoe Manor.




Turn fabric over so it's right side down. Place the printed side of the box on the wrong side of fabric to check for the right size.



I used the spray adhesive to glue the fabric. Follow the instructions on the can. I sprayed the glue on the cardboard box and then turned it over onto the fabric. Smooth out all the wrinkles. You only have 15 seconds to work with the glue with this particular glue.



Here it is all glued down.



With your scissors, trim away all the fabric around the cardboard. Don't forget the little holes in the handle.



Now you need to re glue the box back together. you need to start with the bottom first. I used hot glue here for more strength. Just place the hot glue on the spots that were left from where you unglued it.



Fold over to form the corner.




Next is the side seam that you pulled apart first.




Use hot glue here too.




This is the finished seam.



and here she is in all her recycled glory.



These or any other little boxes can be recovered and used for so many things:
  • carrying your hexagons around with you
  • hand sewing supplies
  • pins
  • safety pins
  • bobbins
  • spools of thread
  • gift boxes for Christmas, birthdays etc
  • container for homemade cookies, candies or treats
The list is endless for these cute little treasure boxes and this tutorial is early enough to start making these for Christmas. Have your boxes all ready to go and all you'll have to do is do your Christmas baking and tuck the goodies inside. (I know some of you are cringing at the thought that Christmas is 4 months from today, but let this be the year that we all do things early. I know I am one of those people who is sewing something the night before!!!)
Look for the other tutorials Wednesday or Thursday. Hope you like this TTT!
Have a great Tuesday,
~Karen~

32 comments:

  1. Love that fabric! What a great idea! The possibilities are endless!

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  2. very cool - I like it.
    Karen
    http://karensquilting.com/blog/

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  3. Fabulous! Darling! Clever! I love it! So if I wanted to make, say, 10 of these, would I have to eat that many yummy goodies out of the boxes first? Hmmm, now there's a reason to make them! Mmmmm Mmmm!

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful creativity!

    MGM

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  4. That is such a clever idea, I love it!
    I'm a Timmies fan. Here in Canada, Tim's is very Canadian, and the coffee is absolutely #1. The lineups in the morning drive thru for a timmie's double double is so worth it! I'm going in a few minutes actually! I hope the Tim Horton's craze takes off in the US as it has here. You won't be disappointed!

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  5. Karen, I LOVE your TTT blog! Please read my blog today (and last Tuesdays posting as well) for a few well deserved words of praise! Keep the tools coming....love them!
    Paulette

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  6. Great idea, again. And this time you are recycling as well as being creative. How clever.

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  7. What a fabulous idea. I will have to start collecting things out of the trash. Wonder what my husband is gonna say?

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  8. Adorable! We might need to go get some timbits today! I've never seen those tiny boxes before.

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  9. Karen,

    How fun! I have no idea what timbits are but I'm now thinking of the other little containers I have around the house that would be cleverly 're-purposed' for Christmas gift giving. The only problem is that I can only handle so much 'stuff' around before I toss it out!
    A new fan,
    Joyce

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  10. Oh this is really cute... and like we need another excuse to buy donuts or ice cream haha.

    I think these little boxes would be perfect for Christmas gifts!

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  11. Adorable! How clever!!! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  12. Oh, my. I can think of lots of uses for this cute little project! Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of your stash of containers!

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  13. What a fun idea...I can't wait to see the ice cream containers!

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  14. How neat, I never thought to do that myself. Thanks a lot for the idea.

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  15. Hi Karen,
    I'm always stopping by to see what your up to. So many neat ideas and you have people from all over looking forward to Tuesday. Cute idea.
    Keep Stitchen'
    Bonnie

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  16. Great idea to reuse the containers!
    I love both Haagen Das and Ben and Jerry ice creams! Never had timbits!

    Have a great week, looking forward to see what are you gonna make with the other containers.

    Zlaty

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  17. What an amazingly adorable project!!! Great Job!

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  18. You made it look so easy! I must come back for the round containers. Paulette gave me the hint.

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  19. Love it, although the pictures made my mouth water!

    I love that there are sequels to this project!

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  20. Karen this is so great!!! It is recycling to the ultimate!! It is cute pretty and useful as well!! I can't wait to see what you do with your other trash to treasure items!

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  21. My son is seriously into recycling....I need to share your post with him! Too fun...and Brilliant!!!!

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  22. drat I just threw out a timbits box......

    Gill

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  23. I'm now on the hunt for a box like the timbit box. I've never seen them here in NC. However, we do have Dunkin doughnuts and Krsipy Creme. Thanks for sharing this!

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  24. I'm going through a storage box collection phase..and this one just got added to my to-do list.I have pinned it.Thanks!
    http://kinhussain.blogspot.com/

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  25. You're humor in blogging has made me laugh out loud so many times this morning. Sew glad I found your site, love your wit and talent. Thanks fot the giggles, I needed them...:)

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  27. Oh I like this! I have a box, similar in construction for something besides donuts. could not throw it away... NOW I can decorate it, and really get some use out of it. I thought it might be a cute idea for a guest gift box... little treats that say I'm glad you're here. Thanks for the tutorial!

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  28. Adorei essa idéia.
    Agora vou reciclar todas as caixas que eu ver.rsrrss
    bjs

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