Easy $2 DIY Faux Leather Storage Basket (Surprise Material!)

Easiest DIY faux leather storage basket with $2 surprise material! Get organized with this beautiful functional home decor & 10-minute crafts.

Look at our new leather storage basket! Isn’t it so useful and stylish?

We often see beautiful leather storage bins in favorite home decor stores such as West elm, Anthropologie, and Pottery Barn, which are often $150 or more.

Our faux leather version only took $2 and 10 minutes to make! This is one of those oh-so-easy-and-satisfying DIY projects which make me wonder why it took me so long to come up with this idea?!

This faux leather basket is also flat-pack, which means it can be stored flat when not in use, great for people with limited space but love to change up their functional decor often. Now let’s make it!

Check out this quick video tutorial or skip to written tutorial below.

Materials and tools to make faux leather storage basket

Craft foam sheet: I used one 12”x18” sheet (cut to 12”x16”) to make a 6”x10” basket.

Brass fasteners and a small hole punch. Some acrylic paints to make leather color, and scissors to cut the foam.

Step 1: cut craft foam sheet 

Use a 3”x3” sticky note as a template, mark each of the 4 corners of the craft foam sheet as shown.

Cut out the little triangle shape at each corner along the lines. Your craft foam sheet will look like this. 

Step 2: paint craft foam to look like leather

Leather can come in so many shades of brown colors. I used some photos as guides, and mixed some brown, yellow ochre and white acrylic paint to a shade I liked.

If you feel unsure about the colors, you can test them on some scrap foam pieces first. 

Use a foam brush or a rag to apply the color onto the craft foam. Don’t forget to paint the edges!

Let the paint dry on one side, which only took a few minutes with acrylic paint, then paint the other side.

I painted only one coat on each side. Feel free to add more coats of paint if you need to. The painted craft foam really looks and feels like suede leather!

Step 3: assemble faux leather storage basket

Fold the craft foam sheet to overlap at one of the corners to form a corner of the basket as shown. 

Punch a hole using a small hole punch at the overlapped area. Push a Brass fastener through the hole to hold the 2 flaps together.

Repeat on all 4 corners. Now we have a beautiful faux leather storage basket! 

You can remove the brass pins and store this basket flat when not in use. No need to seal the basket, since acrylic paint is a sealer on its own. If you want a more shiny look, you can use a clear spray like this one.

You may also love: how to weave a faux leather basket from paper grocery bags!

Another favorite functional decor project: DIY vintage inspired Pallet wood crates with easy image transfer!

Happy creating! See you soon! 🙂