The paint and clay room got a good makeover last week and still looks pretty spiffy a week later! (This may be a world record for keeping it tidy!)
Wow, it practically looks worthy of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios magazine! But the sewing studio, not so much. See what I mean:
Scary, right? Actually I've begun to tackle this monster and it's already looking better. I can't wait to have it done because I bought some textile candy at the Fabric Depot today and I'm itching to make some new dolls and journal bags!
In all this reorganization frenzy, I also reorganized my dresser upstairs and found that I needed more space for my growing collection of uber-cool patterned tights, so I nabbed the cute tiny dresser from the sewing studio that formerly housed all my thread spools. Uh oh. Now I needed a new place to stash my thread. I looked online but didn't like the usual options, so I thought about going to Goodwill to find a spice rack. Then I remembered that I already had a spiffy box that might fit the bill. On to the tutorial!
This is the box I used. If you are very observant you will notice that this photo is upside down. That is because this is the way the box was originally used, as a grandfather clock.
This is how I have chosen to use the box, just because I like it better. The door opens from the right-hand side this way, which works better for where I'll be hanging it.
As you can see, the backing of the box is a bit battered. The nail holes from the old clockworks go right through. Time to get to work. For the shelves I decided to use balsa wood because a) It's easy to cut and doesn't require a saw, and b) thread spools are lightweight and don't need heavy duty wood. It you are woodworker, though, I'm sure you would rather use some nice wood. This is available right next to the balsa wood at Michael's. I bought some 3 inch wide balsa for the shelves and a half inch square balsa rod for the shelf supports.
First I measured the depth inside the box to determine how long to cut the shelf supports.
Next I measured the width inside the box to determine the length of my shelves. I used my fabric cutting mat to protect the table and a utility knife to cut the balsa pieces to size. I checked the pieces inside the box and trimmed or sanded as needed so that they would be flush with the edge of the box.
Time to paint the balsa. I used gesso to paint a base coat on all the pieces. I chose not to paint the side of the shelf support that would be glued to the box. In other words, leave one of the four long sides unpainted, and one of the square ends unpainted. When the gesso was dry, I used Van Dyck brown acrylic paint on all the shelf pieces to match the inside of the box. Let the paint dry well.
While the shelves were drying, I lined the back of the box with some decorative paper. Remember those nail holes? They were about to disappear! Some of you know me as the bright color lady, and I almost went for the pizazzy paper, but then I remembered the purpose of this project and decided it would be easier to see the color of my threads if I picked a more neutral paper. I used Golden regular gel medium to adhere the paper to the wood. Mod Podge would also work well.
Once the inside of the box was papered, I attached a picture hanger to the back of the box. (There was a hanger at the other end, but now that I was using the box upside down I needed a new hanger.) This was a screw in type of hanger with a short screw that didn't poke through the other side. Handy dandy!
Time to attach the shelf supports. First I measured from the bottom inside the box and with white pencil I marked a line every three inches along the sides. I then positioned the supports directly below the lines and checked the length one more time. I sanded the back ends as necessary. I used the gel medium as my glue again, dabbing it on the unpainted side of the support then pressed the support into place.
I let the gel medium set, then I inserted the shelves. It turned out that the wooden box, being old, was a bit warped and my shelves needed some extra sanding to be able to slide in all the way. You do what you gotta do! I didn't glue the shelves in, but you could if you wanted to. Now it's ready for the spools!
Ta dah! Two rows of spools fit on each shelf, which works for me.
Here's how my new thread box looks closed. Kewl!
And there it is in its cozy, colorful corner. Voila!
If you have a cool, not the usual storage solution for some supply, let me know about it! Cheerio!
xoxo lulu
p.s. One of my Fridas has gone off to live in a new home with her new friend Jennifer in Missouri. I miss her, but she sends word that she has arrived safely and is very happy. Yay!
