Hi friends! It’s M.J. here from Pars Caeli, back with an easy and gorgeous DIY for you! When my three children were all bundles of energy and under 7, they spend a ton of time with buckets of crayons, sitting at our kid-sized table. Hours and hours of construction paper projects and cardboard tubes came to life thanks to those buckets of supplies and open surface.

Now I have three children 12 and under, and they need a bigger table and more containers for their sophisticated supplies. Our kid-sized table has been moved aside for a rolling craft table with drop leaf sides so that we can have a giant surface for poster boards and canvases and even the occasional jigsaw puzzle.

Since we’ve added size to the art table, it resides in my office studio (the only place it fits). I’m making it over with some handy white paint and these gorgeous knobs (and they’re on sale) from The Land of Nod. I also decided to use them some storage boxes to dress them up!

For this simple project, you’ll need:

• Lightweight boxes made of balsa wood or paper mache/kraft paper
• Knobs, like these hidden gems from The Land of Nod
• Craft paint
• Foam Brush

The ones that I purchased have a cord that goes over a button closure, and they’re great for carrying around bunches of markers and a combination of emergency scissors/glue/erasers to keep handy.

Directions

1. Paint the boxes your desired colors. I kept one of my boxes the unfinished light wood because I really like the contrast with the gem knobs. I painted another with two coats of white and the other in a peony pink.

2. Using the screw provided with your knob, press into the center of the box lid in a back and forth motion. Push and twist to create a hole in the top of the lid. From the interior of the box, push the screw up through to the outer surface and screw on the knob.

3. Follow this same process for all of the boxes. If you’re having trouble puncturing the lid, use the end of a scissor blade to make a small hole and then push the screw through.

>Now we have the grown-up version of our crayon buckets that can be carried outside or to another room in style. And when the kids leave the space, these jewel stone boxes look pretty amazing as accessories in my space, too!

Can’t wait to show you the finished art table next month! We found a 100-yr+ beauty free on the side of the road (as you do), and I’m giving it Nod style.

Until then! Xoxo, MJ

MJ is a graphic and product designer, wife, and proud momma to three. She founded Pars Caeli (meaning a piece of heaven), a delightful blog and shop, to add more creative to the everyday. MJ worked with our team to bring her lunchbox jokes to life in our product Lunchtime LOL Notes, now available at The Land of Nod to bring on a case of the giggles!