Here is a fun project that can be used as a prop for a party. My church uses this as one of our decorations in our yearly ‘Fall Fest’ event; this prop is always set up near the popcorn station… for obvious reasons.
To make this oversized popcorn box, I used a washing machine box. The only tricky part about it was painting the stripes.
Start with the washing machine box and lay it completely flat. If there are any top flaps, you will need to cut them off.
The next step is to paint it both sides. I like to use red paint for the base and paint on the white stripes. It sounds a little backward since white is such a light color, but for some reason, I find it easier this way. To make sure the white paint will show up over the red paint, I usually use a regular interior red paint, and an oil-based, stain blocking white paint.
Once the base coat(s) is dry, the next step is to paint the stripes. This is where the painter’s tape comes in handy. Decide how large you want the stripes. My box had 4-inch stripes. Measure the stripe width for all your stripes across the entire box. It’s okay to draw lines on the box with a pencil as it makes it easier to line up the tape and is not visible when the project is done.
Once all the tape is down, paint the white stripes. You may want to paint an additional white coat or two, so leave the tape down until you have completed all the white coats. However, pull up the tape before the last coat is completely dry to prevent it the tape from sticking to the box.
Pull up the tape carefully (the bottom flap is a little messy in the picture because I knew that part would be tucked under the bottom of the box and out of sight)
When completely dry, you can fold it back into a box shape and secure the sides. I did so by drilling holes in the side and feeding a zip tie through (I love zip ties).
All that’s left to do is display. It looks great if you add some yellow balloons to look like popcorn!