Make your own fluted home decor with supplies from the Dollar Store. This easy dollar store DIY fluted box is an easy project you can make in an afternoon!
I love having decorative pieces for my shelf styling. When I saw these boxes I knew that they were the right size and shape for my styling. They just needed some character. Since the fluted look in home decor has started to gain in popularity, I decided to make a fluted box.
This Dollar Store DIY involves these little cardboard boxes that you can find at Dollar Tree or Dollarama and some of these small wooden dowels that I picked up from the Dollar Tree.
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How to Make a Fluted Box
Supplies
- Cardboard craft box from Dollar Tree
- Craftwood Dowels
- Glue
- Sandpaper
- Side cutters or you can use a miter saw
- Spray paint in the color of your choice (I used gloss white)
Step-by-step Tutorial
My plan was to have the dowels wrap all the way around the box. I wanted the bottom and the top of the dowels on the box around the same level and for it to look very intentional.
Cut your dowels to the size you need using side cutters. You want them to sit just under the lid of the box so that the lid will still go all the way on the box.
This is totally doable and I wanted to show you that you could do this project without using power tools. You can use a miter saw for this instead if you’re comfortable with one, so that you get straighter cuts on the dowels and save time on sanding later.
Glue the dowels to the box using 3 in 1 glue. Line them up the best you can and wrap them all the way around the box. I left the lid on the box and turned it upside down so that the top of the dowels would be lined up evenly against the lid all the way around.
Every time I glued a dowel on, I glued the cut side down so that everything stayed as even as possible.
You can see that the dowels aren’t all even at the bottom of the box. Leaving them like that would’ve driven me absolutely crazy. The next time I will definitely use my miter saw so the dowels are all cut evenly, but if you don’t have one, you can sand them down after like I did.
Sand the dowels so that they are even and don’t extend past the bottom of your box. If you don’t, your box won’t sit level.
Finishing the Fluted Box
Spray paint in the color of your choice. I used glossy white. The spray paint will hide any imperfections from your cutting and sanding.
Be sure to hold your can 6 inches from your project and spray in long steady passes to avoid drips and to avoid saturating the cardboard. The cardboard will absorb the paint so you may have to use more than one coat to cover it completely.
That’s it! You now have your very own piece of fluted home decor.
I was really happy with how this piece turned out. The texture that the dowels add was exactly the look I wanted. I think it all came together really nicely and it’s functional, which was a bonus!
It still functions as a box and as you can see I have some office supplies in mine.
Video Tutorial for a Dollar Store Fluted Box (and 4 more dollar store DIYs!)
Whenever I share my dollar store DIYs on YouTube, I tend to share 4 or 5 projects at the same time. In June I shared 5 dollar store projects, including a vase, a pedestal, a sculpture, a pedestal bowl, and this dollar store fluted box.
Watch the video below for more dollar store DIY inspiration!
If you’re looking for more affordable DIY home decor, check out these 10 Modern DIY Home Decor ideas that are both beautiful AND budget-friendly!
