Ningbo Textiles

Most families have at least one traditional toy box that is made of wood with a hinged lid or they may have a molded plastic one that looks like a frog or turtle. These are extremely expensive and rarely hold all the toys a child can have. What are you supposed to do with the rest of them? Hide them under the bed or put them on shelves? Maybe you can just pile them in the corner of the living room.

You can create a toy box from a storage tub that is made of plastic. These tubs come in different colors and different sizes and you can even personalize them more by adding a few things here and there. Tubs can be a very safe alternative to a wooden box. They do not have pointed corners so there is no way the child can hurt themselves. There has been an issue with wooden boxes and lids that slip and smash into the child when they are using it and this will not occur because you remove the plastic lid to get inside. Kids have a tendency to climb into toy boxes and they do sometimes get shut in. This will not happen with a tub, just make sure to get the kind without locks on the lid and your child will easily be able to push themselves out

Plastic tubs can be decorated in several easy and inexpensive ways to make them more appealing to children. Many different things can be glued on them like stickers or decals. You can make figures from craft foam or felt and glue them on or you can use paint or fabric. Kids can even help you make the toy box and they will enjoy that time you spent with them. The tubs need little care and they won’t scratch like wooden ones do when they run their toy truck across the top without the wheels.

You can paint the plastic storage tub if you like by using a spray paint however, with time the paint tends to flake off and this could be a safety hazard for young children. They come in such a variety of colors you should not have any difficulty finding one in an appealing color to match your child’s playroom. You can safely paint figures on the tub with acrylic paint. You can paint or stencil rubber duckies on a blue tub with a few waves. Paint lambs and bunnies pink or purple tub or get a black tub and paint fire engines on it. You can find tons of stencils that you can paint on to a plastic storage tub at any craft store. You can even find letters of the alphabet and stencil their name on their tub.

Go to the craft shop and purchase craft foam that comes in forms or in a sheet. Most have adhesive applied to the back and peel the protective paper off and stick the foam figure on the tub. You can cut out any figure you want and place details on with marker or fabric paint that comes with a cone like nozzle. To make ladybugs cut 2 circles, one black and one slightly smaller red one. Divide the red wings in half and situate it on top of the black one but separate the half so that a black area shows between them. Cut another black circle and just use a fourth of it as the head placing it near the top where the wings meet. You can cut small black circles from the rest and stick them to the wings and then cut two spots for eyes and place them on the head. After the ladybugs are assembled the child can help you place them on the tub.

You can do the same thing with felt. You can buy felt squares in the craft store that have adhesive backing as well. Some felt squares are floppy and soft and there are some that are rigid. The rigid ones work best because they won’t flop down if the adhesive on the back gives way. If the felt does not have adhesive just buy a can of adhesive spray to stick them on the tub. Spray the area in which you want to put the felt figure and the adhesive will dry and you won’t even notice it is there. Use cookie cutters as guides to make your felt characters. Just place the cookie cutter down on the felt and draw around it with a marker or pencil. Use a teddy bear cookie cutter and cut out several brown or beige bears. Cut out a small round circle and place it in the center of the head area, this is the bear’s muzzle. You can use fabric glue to stick this on your main felt figure. You can use a small black pompom or cut out a small black circle to glue just above the center middle of this circle for the nose. Use a marker to make a mouth. Cut out two black eyes out of felt and glue them on above and to each side of the circle.

Fabric can be used to cover the tub completely. Cut fabric to fit around all sides of the tub and make sure to push it up underneath the lip. Fabric will unravel and you can stop that from happening by using pinking shears or squirting on substance that will prevent it from unraveling called no fray. Use your spray adhesive and careful roll the fabric onto the tub. It is possible to cut the fabric in sections and stick it on. Do the lid too but never cover the edges, just the middle part. Covering the edges will not allow it to snap onto the tub.

It is always a good thing to have a good molded plastic or wooden box in which to store toys. Since they are so expensive it is hard to have two or more to store all toys away. The inexpensive storage tub toy box is a great alternative and will keep toys up off the floor.

Looking for ways that you can create a really great Toy Box? Children love Toy Boxes with bright designs and colors. Find out the easiest way that you can create great Toy Boxes for your children today.