This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosures here.
Paper flatware box — a quick note to anchor this piece for readers.
Paper flatware box: Quick notes
Use decoupage tissue paper to update old flatware boxes! Completely change them up and use them for so many things!
Hello sweet friends!
It’s Trashy Tuesday and I’m sharing some trash!! lol One that almost ended up in the trash anyway. Haha! It gave me a fit. But I persevered, and here we are.
You know those ole flatware boxes that you can find everywhere, anytime, when thrifting. Well, I’ve made over a bunch of them, and those darn innards never get easier to remove, I tell ya! They really do make great little boxes when you do, though.
Here’s a few I’ve made over if you want to take a look at these first:
Told ya I had a few! I have a hard time passing them up when I see them because, other than ripping the insides out, they are super fun to make over.
Here is how this one began.
Nice box, right?!
REMOVE THE INSIDES
The insides weren’t as hard to remove as some I’ve had.
But still pretty tedious.
I wet the cardboard to help it come off more easily. Probably a mistake because I think it activated that icky, sticky brown glue.
Ugh, send help. lol
And done. Ish.
CHOOSE EXTERIOR DESIGN
I decided to go with this decoupage tissue paper. This one comes with three designs. I used just the one, so I still have two left to make other pretty things with.
I had already ironed it when I took the above photo. You should iron these to get the fold creases out before using.
This is another one in the pack. See the folds?
PAINT THE INSIDE OF THE FLATWARE BOX
I chose Chestler because it matched the color blue on the decoupage tissue paper perfectly.
So yeah, I painted it and left it for a day or two. Came back to this.
It was scratching off because of that gummy glue underneath. It was embedded into the inside of the flatware box, but I scraped as much as I could. Then I used Ultra Grip before repainting. That seemed to do the trick.
Still…I didn’t love the pattern of the material used inside the box. At this point, I am pretty deep in, and I need to get this one done for our Tuesday post. So I didn’t have the time to change course and add fabric/etc to cover it up. I’ll show you what I did a bit later to take the attention away from it, though.
MATERIALS PRODUCT SOURCE LIST
DECOUPAGE TISSUE PAPER TO THE EXTERIOR
OH! Apparently, I didn’t take a picture of the outside, but I painted it white so the tissue paper and pattern would show up nicely.
For this part, I used our Decoupage and Transfer Gel and an old chip brush.
Next, I laid the tissue paper (by the way, this “tissue paper” isn’t like tissue paper in the normal sense; it’s more like fibrous paper) over the flatware box.
I secured the top first. (and then dried it with a hair dryer)
Then I did each side one by one, repeating that pattern. Once a side was done and dry, I sanded off the excess from the bottom.
Once I had all sides done, I worked on the corners.
With all the sides attached and dried, I’m left with this.
I simply sanded each side individually.
And it leaves perfectly connected pieces at the corners. (you’ll see in the finish photos below)
After that, I used a box cutter to cut through the tissue paper at the box opening.
DECORATE THE INSIDE
“Decorate the inside,” aka, give us something to distract us from the texture inside the box.
This is sort of the plan. I added to it as you’ll see below.
As you can see above, I ended up taking the gold lettering all the way up one side.
And I decided to add some roses along with the butterflies.
Something like this.
Adding a little stem so it doesn’t look like that one rose is just hanging out there in la-la land.
Better.
Everything will get a coat of Toughcoat Topcoat in Matte.
HARDWARE
I almost didn’t add this, but then decided to.
It’s an oldie from my stash and was bronze. I actually used “Bronze” Gilder’s Paste, which looks like a beautiful, rich gold, to change the color.
Funny, huh?
REVEAL
I love the rich blue color with the white roses in this paper.
Oh, I use my hot glue gun to attach the handle.
Here’s how I handled the hinge issue…I used my box cutter and cut them out.
Inside…
Another flatware box saved from the landfill! Ready to be used and loved.
PIN it to save it!
Don’t forget to check out my friends’ treasures today, too!
- Salvaged Inspirations
- Confessions of a Serial DIYer
- Me! You are here!
I also thought I’d update you on the new room (screened porch turned into living space). I shared this one the other day…
We are actually further along than this now! Yippee!
But I did use a little AI to see what this room would look like with a stained-wood ceiling and a white-plank ceiling. It really helped me visualize and make a decision.
I threw them up on my Facebook page to see what everyone thought. I know which way we are going, but I thought it’d be fun to see what you all think here??
Now, keep in mind that AI is not perfect, so the upper wall (in both photos) above the windows and door will be painted in whatever color we choose. (I’m thinking Oyster Bay right now, always subject to change,lol) Oh, and the ceiling is not fully accurate either. Haha!Got to love AI.
Hope you have a wonderful week, friends!
xoxo
Paper flatware box comes up here to connect ideas for clarity.
A short mention of Paper flatware box helps readers follow the flow.
The box worn thin, a canvas of old, tissue whispers pressed between the folds. Fingers smudged with ink, a comb through lace, each sheet a memory, each smear a trace. Glue as the thread, binding worn to new, colors bleeding slow, like skies in June. The handles blur—once cold, now cradling light, a kitchen shrine, once drab, now deep gold. Somewhere, a laugh lingers in the grain, a face on the flap where the fork has lain.
You’d think a box of spoons and sporks, mundane as daylight, could hold a secret only you’d uncover— folding tissue-paper skies into its seams, letting colors bloom like forgotten flowers where your hands once brushed. Now it waits, a vessel of small miracles, clamoring to outlast the rule of wear, a honeycomb of residue and want becomes a map of hands that dared to stay.