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Wire Mesh Pin Board
Pinterest is a big deal. If you haven’t explored the many different pins and quickly become addicted to looking at pretty pictures and organizing them into neat little boards, then you are definitely missing out. However, when you are a sweet little 9 year old, like my daughter, Pinterest is something for the ol’ folks, because honestly, you are just too innocent to have to experience some of the randomness that pops up on the internet. So, to give our daughter a way to collect and display her own creative and pretty photos, my husband and I created a pin board out of wire mesh (aka hardware cloth, aka square chicken wire.)
After a trip to the local hardware store to gather supplies, we quickly started putting everything together. We bought four 36″ x 2″ x 1/2″ pieces of craft board for the frame and hubby used a hand saw and miter saw box to cut the boards on a 45° angle, so the corners would meet up nicely.
Next, he cut some hardware cloth a little smaller than the outer dimensions of our frame.
Then, it was my turn. Since we couldn’t find any galvanized wire mesh at the store with reasonable dimensions (hello, we didn’t need 50 feet,) we went with the green coated stuff. I placed the cut piece on top of a drop cloth and coated it with a few layers of white spray paint to match the frame, which I also painted white.
Once everything was dry, it was time to piece it all together. We found some corner braces that reminded me of something you might see on campaign furniture, so I opted to put them on the front of the frame and give it that same type of look.
Lastly, using a staple gun, I attached the painted wire mesh to the back of the frame, stretching and pulling it, as best as I could, to get it to lay flat. (It still is a bit bumpy/wavy, but works perfectly for our needs.)
Here it is up on the wall, doing its duty. Not doody. Because that would be gross.
I grabbed a handful of paper clips to attach a few pretties to the board. I’ve seen clothes pins used in a similar manner, but probably any sort of small clips would work.
Buying a regular, old bulletin board would have probably been easier, but isn’t this one so much cooler?
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Paint Dipped Box Baskets
This project is not any sort of revolutionary new item. People have covered boxes with fabric before and the new rage of dipping baskets into paint is all over the web and in stores. But I may be 1/4 genius for combining the two together. Ok, maybe 1/16.We needed some sort of storage containers for our closet and I wanted them to have that cool dipped basket look. Since spending a ton of money on storage that will ultimately be shoved behind closed doors seemed a bit silly, I obviously chose the DIY route. (Is there any other way?!?) And these puppies needed to fit several criteria:
1. They had to be cheap. Duh.
2. They had to be easy.
3. They had to be neutral.I wanted the storage to blend in and not scream “Here I am. Look at me!” even though they were going to be locked up in the closet. Yes, for some reason, I still cared what they looked like.
Since I had several diaper boxes in the recycling, they naturally became my storage containers of choice for the fabulous price of FREE. In addition, I gathered some ivory colored burlap (super cheap) and had white paint in the garage, which I would use later.
I started by cutting off the top flaps of my box and duct taping the holes where the handles were, as well as covering the hole in the bottom. This just made wrapping everything with fabric so much easier.
Next, I measured my box, starting on one side and going around the bottom to the other side, to figure out the width of my fabric. I also repeated this for the opposite sides. For a Pampers size 4 diaper box, my fabric measurements were 30″ x 38″ after I added 3 inches to both to allow for overlap on the top of the box.
(You can see here that my box is painted white. This is because the teal color of the box and the word Pampers could be seen through my fabric. If your fabric is darker or thicker you probably won’t have this problem. Or if you don’t care, you probably won’t have this problem either. *wink* )
Next, I placed my fabric on ground and centered my box on top of it. I used scissors to cut squares out of the corners with about an inch of allowance where the corners would meet.
Then, I pulled the two longer sides up and hot glued them to the inside of the box along the edges.
This next part doesn’t have to be perfect by any means. Using scissors, I snipped in on an angle to the corner of the box, doing this for all four corners.
You can see here how wonky my angles are, but it worked out regardless. Each small edge was then folded in and glued to the ends of the box.
After that came more folding and gluing. I creased the edges of the end pieces in and lifted them up to make sure that they were lined up with the corners of the box. They were, so I glued along each folded seam and then pulled the top over and secured it to the inside of the box.
Here is the fabric box all finished.
For the paint dipped effect, I taped all the way around the box, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom.
Then, I just used a paint brush to apply paint on that lower portion. After letting it dry for about 20 minutes, it was ready to go.
This project probably took about an hour total, but that included initially painting the diaper box, cutting, folding, gluing, painting, drying and taking pictures of the process along the way. Not too bad if you ask me! And as far as cost goes, since I already had the box and paint, I think it ended up being less than $2.
I know that these still look boxy, but I like that the texture and color of the burlap help everything feel a little more like a basket. What do you think?
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Chalkboard Tins
After almost every holiday, Target’s dollar spot goes on clearance. I always try to go to the store at this time to see what deals are to be had. On November 1st, I went early and found these adorable Halloween tins marked down 50% off. At only $0.50 each, I picked up 6 of them. I love the designs on the side and by painting the lids, I could have some cute little storage chalkboard tins that could be used year round.
First, I roughed up the surface with some sandpaper, to make the paint adhere better.
Then, they got a coat of chalkboard paint.
Finally, I rubbed a piece of chalk all over the tops to prime them.
Isn’t it cute? The look of them remind me a bit of Erin’s Pet Food Canister. These will make some fun gift boxes for the up coming holidays.
What do you buy from the Target dollar section?
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Boxes into Baskets
As you all know, I am still working on my {Half Bathroom Remodel}. *Sigh* We have now added some shelving and I have been looking for some budget storage. Cheap, cute baskets can be hard to come by. So I racked my brain and came up with this wonderful substitute, turning boxes into baskets.
Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure.
This basket is made from an ordinary cardboard box, 4 ply jute, a hot glue gun, many glue sticks, and a whole lot of love.
First, using scissors, I cut the flaps off the box.
Next, I wrapped my sad, flap-less box with the jute, gluing every bit of it along the way.
Then, I continued wrapping and wrapping and wrapping.
Finally, when I reach the top, I was so excited, as if I had just climbed my way to the peak of Mt. Everest.
To finish off the basket, I quickly whipped up a custom size liner using inexpensive, white muslin fabric.
I love the look and it really didn’t take too long. Now, I just need to make a few more of these to shove on my bathroom shelves.
* Update: A tutorial on How to Make a Custom Basket Liner is now available!