The other day, I was browsing though a small boutique, ooing and aahing over all the exquisite, albeit unnecessary-in-life items, when I saw a stack of pretty red boxes with fur wrapped around the lid.  Oh, what a clever idea!  Needless to say, I did not buy the overly-priced models in the store, but instead decided to make my own at home.  Look at me being such a frugal shopper! McGeeky would be proud, and quite shocked, actually!

I started with a couple of white boxes I already had.  Then I wrapped the bottom of the box with red foil paper just like I would a present.  You could use any color paper here and even a Santa-themed one would look cute.  I just liked how the red looked in the store, so that’s what I used.

You need to wrap the lid separately.  This will make it so your box can be used over and over.  Again with the frugality!  Yay, me!  After I wrapped my lid, the inside was super messy.  I am not the world’s neatest wrapper, so most of my gifts end up like this.  (Sadly, that means a lot of times you can see part of your present poking through the side or there is a patchwork of paper going on.  Oh well, it’s the thought that counts!)  To make my lid look neater, I just cut a piece of paper to fit the inside of the lid and taped it in place, neatly disguising all the ugliness underneath.

Next, I took some white fur and cut it into 1″ wide strips.  This is not a magical measurement, it just happens to be how wide the lip of my box is.   I cut it with a rotary cutter and the awesome self healing 24×36 cutting mat that Chica gave me for my birthday last month.  I feel like such a real sewer now!

Once you have your strips cut, just hot glue them to the edge of your lid, lining up the top of the fur with the top of the box.

I also had a Santa box that happened to have the corner ripped.  Adding fur trim is a great way to hide those ripped or bent corners on your favorite decorative boxes.  Instead of tossing this one because I’m too embarrassed to use it, I can now give it with pride!  Could someone please tell McGeeky how hugely frugal I have been with this project?

The boxes (with presents in them) look so great under my Christmas tree.  I love how they turned out and how they cost me nothing because I had everything on hand.  I realize most normal people don’t have white faux fur lying around but I never claimed to be normal!  Of course if you get some, you can use what’s left to make Chica’s cute drawstring Santa bags as well.  This is of where my stash of white fur started.

I just had to share with you the picture of Mini Me sitting on the boxes and posing by the tree. She decided this was a good idea all on her own. Mark and Allison, I’m sorry if your presents end up a bit smushed this year, but now you will know why!