DIY Budget Craft Room

Ok, I'm so excited about this I just had to share. Last weekend my husband and I decided that I should reorganize my office. It was a bit of a mismash of old armoirs and dressers packed with all my craft tools a lone tiny table that my embroidery machine sat on and a small drawing table. Let me tell you, it was definately not functional and there was not enough space. I had things stashed throughout the house and with the addition of some new equiptment I had officially outgrown my 12'x17' office :( So, originally we planned to just move some things around, but finally decided I just didn't have a big enough work surface so we began brainstorming. My husband mentioned that he found a table online that he thought would fit my needs and add more storage at the same time, problem was it was almost $1000.00 and with our budget of, well, almost nothing, that was not feesible and I would have still had to shell out more for additional storage. Well, as soon as I saw the table that he had in mind I immediately mentioned the bookshelves at Walmart that were selling for $15 and we had just run across a 4'x8' melamine sheet in the Home Depot just a few days prior.........INSERT LIGHTBULB HERE, LOL. We thought of several different configurations, but for our room I wanted the most worksurface I could fit in the room. I also needed space for fabrics, threads, tools, and so on. Well, after furthur evaluation we found out that Walmart had the tall bookshelves for $25 and we had some old custom cabinets in our basement, ahhhhh the idea was now feesable.



I decided to spray paint the old upper cabinets and use them as fabric storage and the top for thread. They work perfect. Note- if you decide to spray paint cabinets to use as fabric storage, be sure and get some contact paper for the insides so that the spray paint doesn't rub off on your fabric ;) Not an issue if you are brush painting.


We designed the table to have 360 degrees of storage. There is even hidden storage in the center!

I love this table so much I decided to share the plans with everyone, scroll down for the plans :)

We created this entire table for under $150!

Materials needed:

6 -3 shelf bookshelves from Walmart current price $90 plus tax

1 -4'x8' melamine sheet from your local hardware store current price approx $40

1- roll melamine iron on edge finish approx price $6

1- package screws

clamps

drill

Ok, so here's how I did it.

Step one- assemble bookshelves per directions

Step two- place bookshelves where they will be staying (important step table is extremely heavy when finished you won't be able to move it without unassembling it)

Step three- clamp bookshelves together one by one and predrill and screw them together

Step four- place top where you would like it. We left more overhang on two sides so that I could move my chair around and not bang my knees but you could center it if you prefer

Step five- predrill and screw top to bookshelves (go in from bottom of top shelf)

YOUR DONE ENJOY!

DIY Pot Rack

I've been dying to have a pot rack for years now. I finally convinced my husband what a great idea it was after he saw how great the peg rack that I had him make me looked. So, off to Home Depot we went. We bought a 6 foot piece of pine for under $6.00 and we bought a package of 1 1/2" cup hooks.



To start Lay your wood on a surface to paint or stain it and get to work. It took about 20 minutes or so for the paint to dry.

Here it is all painted. I like to put a thin layer of paint on so that the wood grain still shows thru so it's more like a very dark stain.

Next comes the hard part, though it's not all that tough. Measure out where you would like to put the hooks so that they are all even.

Then all you need to do if find your studs, grab a level, and hang your rack. Voila, a DIY pot rack for under $20.00.

Got Ugly Purses?

I finally decided to take the splurge and get this yummy yarn that I saw at Michael's a while back and have been eyeing everytime I went in the store. It was finally on sale so that pushed me over the edge.

Now, that I had the yarn I had to figure out what to do with it. I decided on a purse. But, I didn't want to spend more money on fabric for lining and magnetic buttons and a handle. So, I pondered on it a bit and remembered that I had some old purses up in the top of one of our closets that someone gave me. So, I dragged them out and low and behold...... magnetic buttons and a handle that would be perfect for my purse. So here's how I did it.

First, I headed over to Raverly to get some ideas. I found a pattern that I liked and tweaked it a bit so it'd be a little more to my liking. Then, of course crocheted the outer portion of the purse. A few hours later, I was ready for the lining. I had an old shirt that I just couldn't get rid of even though it was too small because I loved the fabric, and coincidentally it happended to be a perfect match for my yarn, Jackpot! So, I layed the purse outer on the shirt and traced around the outside. Then cut leaving a half inch seam allowance on the sides and an inch or so on the top. Next, with like sides together, I sewed up the sides. You end up with something that looks like this.

Don't forget to sew any snaps or pockets onto the lining before you attatch the lining to the purse outer.

Next step, is to sew the lining in. I went just under the top row of single crochets. Being sure to leave the right sides facing in.

Last step.... Attatch your handles to your liking. I used a few layers of fabric so it would be a little stronger. Voila! You've recycled your old ugly purses and have a new boutique handmade purse that will be the envy of girls everywhere for just the cost of yarn, thread, and a needle.