I like to have a sturdy case for toting paintbrushes around, and the pencil bag that bent the bristles just wasn't cutting it. However, we had a few of these very boring school watercolor sets hanging around. The paints were horribly mixed up thanks to my four year old brother who likes to paint "dragons and knights" that look like (very messy) splotches of brown.

I decided to recycle them into something cute and useful! I made a tutorial for you!

-an old plastic watercolor box

-scrapbook paper

-stickers or other decorations

-mod podge or other decopauge/waterproof glue

Start by tracing the shape of the raised parts of the plastic box. The top oval shape is raised, so I placed the scrapbook paper ontop of it and pressed down with a knitting needle to get the shape. Then I cut it out.

The bottom of the box is easier, just set the paper ontop of it and rub your finger along the raised lines to trace your shape.

Modpodge the paper onto the box! Use a medium layer of glue and let it dry. While it's drying, attach any stickers or other decoration to the paper. If you use too much glue, bubbles will form under the paper.

Once the inital layer is dry, paint over the paper with a new layer of glue. Make sure that it is thin enough that it doesn't bubble. Wait 10 minutes and apply another coat. If you plan on having your paintbrushes around water (and who doesn't?) you want the paper to be waterproofed.

I made the first box months ago, and you can see that it has served as an emergency mixing palatte a few times. :)

The boxes hold all my paintbrushes except for the three big thick ones.

Here's a sneak peek at my painting tools. The left box has my old brushes that I got when I was 10-14 or so. I've worn them to death and most of them are pretty much useless. But good paintbrushes are so expensive that I keep using them anyway. :P The right box has my new fancy brushes. They're gifts from my parents and art teacher and they are my go-to for nice paintings.