Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a memorable new year! I had a fun time at a friends house with the family and was in bed and asleep by 10:30. Oops. This mama was tired. But I am so excited that it is 2016! I can’t wait to see what this new year has in store.

After all the hubbub and gifts and parties of the holiday season I have taken the last week or so to begin to organize the house, namely my office/craft room (more on that tomorrow). One of the things that I love to use for organizing all of my craft supplies, while still maintaining a colorful space, are storage boxes. I have so many that I am not going to even try counting them. Today I wanted to share with you the details on my storage boxes, where to find your own, and even a few ideas on DIY-ing a few yourself.

First up lets start with the DIY storage boxes. These DIY abstract lid storage boxes are so colorful and pretty that you will love keeping them displayed on your shelves.

• Acrylic craft paint in a variety of colors
• Small paint brush 
• Plain white storage box (the small one is from Ikea and for the large one I covered the lid of a box in white wrapping paper)
• Water, disposable plate, paper towel
• Gold leaf pen

You will begin by squirting a small amount of all your paints onto your paper plate (I like to go with a mix of colors and throw in a few dark colors like navy or black to balance out the pale colors and give the painting dimension). Begin my thinning down your paint a bit with the water on the paintbrush and then just paint the box lid with small or large strokes in any manner you like. It is abstract after all.

Don’t forget to paint the sides of the lid too! Once your masterpiece is finished, let it dry. Once it is dry, come back with your gold leaf pen and trace all the edges of the box lid (and box base if you want) to give the box a finished out and polished look.

That’s all there is to it! Now you have some pretty and original works of art to hold all your craft supplies, photos, cookie cutters, or what have you. I think I need to take a trip to Ikea to pick up a few more of these plain white storage boxes to paint. At only $1.99, they are quite the deal, especially when you can make them look like this!

Don’t think you have what it takes to paint an abstract storage box? Then you should try out this tutorial from The Crafted Life for decoupaging pretty floral paper onto your box instead. It is a simple and easy DIY and all you need to be able to do is use a pair of scissors and paint on some decoupage medium.

Now, if DIY just isn’t your thing, or you just don’t have time for that, there are still plenty of affordable and adorable storage boxes just waiting to be filled. My favorite place to find storage boxes is Home Goods. I have purchased at least 7 or 8 boxes from there. These two are my latest, and they were only $6 and $7 dollars!

I have also found several colorful storage boxes at Hobby Lobby in various sizes. These were $5 and $7 originally, but I got them when they were on sale for 50% off. Score!

Finally, think outside the (storage) box and try other boxes like these gift boxes by Sugar Paper LA for Target. They make perfect and very pretty storage boxes. I managed to grab a few for 50% off during the post Christmas sale. If you hurry you may be able to get a few too!

Obviously I might have a problem with storage boxes and have too many, but I love them so much and the fact that they can hide all my craft supplies and business receipts and make my office look clean and tidy is the best. Tomorrow I will show you the changes that I have made to my office/craft room, so check back in then to see all these boxes in action.