Monthly DIY: Tissue Box Photo Cube Baby Shakers

I wasn't quite sure what to call this little craft, so I just went with "Tissue Box Photo Cube Baby Shakers." I think that covers all the bases. :-)



I got the idea for this craft from one of Leila's old daycare teachers who made a similar one for her when she was still a babe. All it is is a cube tissue box with some rice and/or dried beans inside covered with photos and clear packaging tape. But, I decided to up the ante of this project by incorporating our names and some quotes and taping off the edges with colorful electrical tape.



Cute, huh?

Best part about these? Landon loves them! And it doesn't hurt that they make a cute decoration, too.



Supplies needed:

• Empty square tissue box
• Dried rice or beans
• Six 4x6 photos and/or printed out quotes and/or scrap paper/post cards, etc. (whatever you fancy)
• Clear packaging tape
• Colored electrical tape (or you could try it with some fun washi tape or decorative paper tape that is all the rage right now)

What ya do:

1. Poor some rice and/or beans into your tissue box. Just enough to make a nice sound when you shake it. If you are using cheap dollar store tissue boxes (like I did), you may want to tape off the sides of your tissue box first so that no rice spills out the cracks (I learned this the hard way).
2. Tape off the hole on top of the box.  Yes, some rice/beans will stick to the sticky tape when turned upside down, but I added enough rice/beans inside that I figured this wouldn't be an issue.
3. Stick one photo or paper image (quote/post card/scrapbook paper) on each side of the tissue box and cut the edges that hang over. Make sure you center your photo as much as possible before chopping any off. I used double sided tape to sick my images down, but you can use whatever you would like - even just rolled up tape.
4. Once each side has something on it, cover the edges of the box with your choice of decorative tape. I used electrical tape that I found at Target (like this) and it worked GREAT! It has a nice stretch to it and was very easy to work with. But, I know that craft tapes are all the rage right now and it might be fun to use a cool design (check this site out if interested).
5. Your box/shaker should be a thing of beauty now!  If you just want to use this for decoration, you could probably leave it as is. But, if this will be a toy for your baby, you need to make it durable against sticky fingers and drool by wrapping it in clear packaging tape. It took me 3 wraps around each side to get it covered.

Put dried beans/rice in the tissue box and seal the hole with tape.


Stick photos on tissue box & cut edges OR cut edges & then stick on.


What it looks like before adding colored tape to the exposed tissue box edges...


Add pretty tape to edges of box.


If this will be a toy for your baby, wrap it in clear packaging tape.


Ta Da!


I made three of these shakers: one all about Landon (filled with beans), one all about Leila (filled with rice), and one with pics of our family (filled with a rice/bean mix). They each make a different sound when shaken and look great together. Leila loves stacking them up and Landon loves shaking them. :-)

And finally, a little video for your viewing pleasure.



Linking this post up with: Katie's Nesting Spot, Beyond The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, The Artsy Girl Collection, Days of Chalk & Chocolate, The Little Giggler