DIY Rope Basket

I made this tray a few months back (you can view post here) out of a clock box and wrapping paper and it's sitting very pretty in my office.

But lately, I've been struggling with something

If you don't see it, it's the sharpener OP from the rest of the supplies :)) Either I'm that OC, or just wanted an excuse to make this DIY. I recently bought boxes of bond paper and I thought that the box cover was the perfect size to make a new tray.

I've seen this DIY in Pinterest and I wanted to give it a try. Materials you'll need are the following: kraft tape, glue gun and glue sticks, scissors, and some rope. I already had all these materials on hand, so I was able to jump into the project right away.

First is I reinforced the ripped corners by taping them down.

I also taped it up top to make it neat and to conceal the karton / cardboard edge. Below you'll see the edge with and without tape.

While doing this, I thought I was doing what's best for this tray, but later on found out that hot glue does not hold onto kraft tape, or at least the one I was using. During the wrapping process, I ended up removing most of the tape and started hoping for the best (haha). Maybe I can try to use masking or paper tape the next time.

The next step is pretty straight forward. Just hot glue the rope all around your karton box from the bottom. My tip for ends like the one on the photo below, just cut the rope right on the edge and do not hot glue it down the curve. Cutting it will create a cleaner look.

And when you've wrapped the whole thing...

I love how it looks! I always want to buy baskets like these but they're so pricey. I'm happy that the total cost of this project was only the 50 peso rope I bought from Divisoria! I also didn't add the sharpener first, for a prettier photo :))

I added a mason jar with the lid spray painted rose gold. Pencils are also from Divisoria. Those are not sharpened and strictly for display purposes :))

Here it is now in my office with all its contents. It's my favorite thing right now. I still have my old tray, but still finding a new use for it.

Aaaaand a happy before and after :)