Decorating A Plastic Box for your Copics

A plain plastic box is a boring place to keep your Copic pens. For this month’s project, I decided to take care of that and decorated my basic Copic box. I used vintage papers and Tim Holtz embellishments and stamps. It was so much fun to make and took only about an hour to complete. It looks great on my shelf. Another great part of this project I used a lot of leftover items. I’ll tell you what I did and you can use this as a starting point for decorating your own plastic box.

I started with paper from the Off the Records line by Echo Park. In some cases, I wrapped strips all around the box; in others I just pasted left over strips to cover spaces. (Since the box is not a perfect rectangle strips don’t go around squarely.) I used some items from the Off the Records border page. I really loved the border the one that provided space for a list. I just kept pasting

scraps on until whole box was covered. On top, I used boxes from the Off the Record
Journaling set. Some of the scraps had edges cut using Tim Holtz Sizzix Brackets Die and some were inked with Distress Inks before gluing to box. You really can use whatever scraps you have.


I added stickers from the Off the Record Sticker Set. This allowed me to use some of the stickers that I really liked that didn’t fit on my pages. Next I pulled out a stack of stamps and stamped wherever I pleased with a variety of stamps using Black Soot and Fired Brick ink. Lots of Tim Holtz stamps seemed perfect since so many deal with art or creativity. I then glued on at least one of every Tim Holtz embellishment I could find (gears, snaps, washers, paperclips). Okay, I did not use hangars, which I adore, or the film strip ribbon. (If found this after I was done or definitely would have added this. I also added a piece of chipboard that I had embossed with Peeled Paint embossing powder.

Once it looked the way, I wanted. I covered it with Modge Podge so that it would last a little better.

For the final look, I glued ribbon around the lip of the bottom section. (Make sure it is dry before you put the lid back on.) I tied a Tim Holtz Muse (coin shaped item with a word on it) to the ribbon and glued it to the top of the box so it hangs over the side to finish the look. I used the “Unique” muse as I think the box is unique.

I really encourage you to decorate a box you have. You’ll have so much fun. If you don’t have a plastic box for your Copics, they are available at Scrapbooks Plus. If you haven’t yet dived into Copics, sign up for a class at Scrapbooks Plus. You’ll learn to use this great new tool. Next class is August 17th. Call (703) 263-9503 to sign up.