The Tissue Box Holder

I work out of my home office everyday so its important to me that it looks good and exudes smart design. I want to be inspired, not tired. Being that I have allergies, I need tissues everywhere I go. So I thought of a way to make the tissue box look more stylish. I came up with the Tissue Box Holder.  

Now I am sure you have seen these in stores and some are quite expensive depending on the materials used. Well, my project is easy, affordable and it looks great. You can even do this with your kids for a craft project. The main reason I love this idea is because you can customize it and the options are pretty much endless. To top it off, it costs under $10!

First you need to get your materials together.  

• 2 strips of balsa wood ( I used 4 x 36 in. with a 1/8 width)
• X-acto knife
• ruler
• pencil
• crazy glue or cement glue
• craft glue or Elmer's glue
• contact paper or clear label paper
• box of tissues

Now most of these you should already have in your home.  Especially if you have kids. The balsa wood you can purchase at any craft store like Michaels or AC Moore and its usually under $2 for each strip. If you use one of their coupons you can get 40 percent off too.

As far as the glue you will need, I recommend crazy glue or cement glue for putting the balsa wood together. The craft glue will come later when you paste the paper on. If you don't have any of these in your home, you can pick them up at True Value on Foster Avenue or Walgreens on North Main Street.  Pick up a box of tissues while you're there!

You also might find contact paper at Walgreens as well. I used clear label paper that I got an office supply store but both will work just fine. If you have no luck try CVS over on Main Street. Once you have all your materials together its time to DIY.

1. Measure the tissue box you are using and cut the balsa wood accordingly.  You will probably have to use two pieces per side, which is fine.  That's what I did.  Keep in mind that you are making a box so the each end piece will have to connect properly to the other. Remember to leave room at the top for the tissues!

2. After you have everything cut start gluing the pieces together with the crazy glue.  An easy way to do this is to use the tissue box as a guide and connect the pieces around the box. Just be careful not to glue them together! Now remember that this does not have to look perfect. Thats the beauty of this part.  The balsa wood is just the base of the holder so if there are small gaps in some areas its okay. It will all be covered in the end.

3. Now that you have the box together its time for the fun part. To design the box you can use just about anything. If you have some cool wrapping paper laying around put it to some good use. Any interesting paper or fabric would work as well.  You can even design your own! Use some watercolor paper and paint up something snazzy or have your kids create an art piece and showcase it for all to see. Either way, it's going to look great! I chose to use some old accounting paper from the 1920s I bought off Etsy.  I thought since the box was going in my office it would fit right in.  Plus, I love adding that vintage appeal.

4. With the paper you are going to do the same thing. Measure it out and glue it to the sides. 

5.  The last step is to take the contact paper or in my case, the clear label paper, and lay in on each side. This is important to seal the paper underneath so it doesn't get stained or dirty. Because it already has an adhesive, this part is the easiest. Just make sure you go over the corners as well so you don't have any rough edges. All you have to do is cut it to fit and bam – you have a stylish tissue box holder that everyone will be talking about.

I hope you enjoyed this DIY project and get inspired to do more. You can use balsa wood for a number of things and its really easy to work with. Just get creative and have fun. Remember you can do it yourself if you are motivated to do so. All you need is a good idea and a little bit of time and before you know it you have created something beautiful and unique.