The Thrifty Milk Carton DIY That Brings Convenient Flatware Storage To Any Table

It's hard to live a zero-waste lifestyle if milk is a grocery staple for you. Pretty much every kind of animal or plant milk, liquid creamers, or delicious concoctions like eggnog come in a laminated paper container. This type of packaging can be hard, if not impossible, to recycle in your area. If giving up these pleasant products is not in the cards for you, assuage any eco-guilt by upcycling them into a cute and easy-to-carry flatware holder. Picnic-friendly, durable, and adaptable for many purposes, this craft is a clever way to keep waste out of landfills and make grabbing a fork or spoon convenient.

Milk cartons are generally waterproof and sturdy, two qualities that lend themselves beautifully to upcycling. Once you see how versatile and easy milk cartons are to reuse, you can repurpose them to organize your pantry cabinets, to keep your remotes neat and organized, or even turn them into spooky haunted house Halloween decor.

Make your own flatware tote with two empty and clean milk cartons, some sheets of printer paper to cover the graphics on the carton, fabric, craft glue, and a ribbon, a thin cord, or a bit of twine to fashion into a handle. Instead of the fabric, you could also choose to decorate it with paint, washi tape, or patterned paper. As for tools, you'll need scissors, an x-acto knife, a paintbrush, and a hot glue gun. Try some variations on this project by making a flatware holder from four cartons for separate sections for knives, spoons, forks, and napkins. You could also make teeny-tiny versions for kids' cutlery with cream cartons or juice boxes.

To begin, cut off the tops of the containers. Make a 4-inch diagonal cut downward from the two corners on one side of each carton. This will create an opening with two different heights on opposite sides of the carton. Next, paint the container with craft glue. Wrap a piece of printer paper horizontally around each carton. Let the glue dry, and cut away the excess paper.

Measure two pieces of fabric that are twice as long as the tallest side of your milk cartons. Each piece should wrap around the carton horizontally with about 1 inch of overlap. Paint the carton with craft glue. Starting with a longer fabric edge at the center of the tallest side of the carton and leaving a couple of inches of excess fabric at the base, smooth the cloth over the rest of the carton. Fold and glue the excess fabric over the base like you're wrapping a gift. In the extra fabric extending past the carton's opening, make vertical cuts that align with each corner of the carton. Paint the interior sides of the carton with fabric glue and smooth these flaps down.

Once you've covered two cartons, hot glue the backs together. Cut pieces of fabric to glue on the inside of each carton for a finished look. Glue the ribbon, twine, or cord along the edges where the two cartons meet, leaving enough slack in the cord to create a handle above the piece that's easy to use. You can also add any other embellishments like a bow, faux flowers, or labels.