Monday, August 19, 2013

Crafty DIY - Distress Ink Holder, Thickers Holder

Hi everyone!

I had a few different projects floating around in my brain this weekend.  Let me tell you, my list was WAY too long for a weekend.  But I did manage to do two of them!  And both were for my scraproom.

I've been wanting a holder/stand for my Distress Inks for some time now.  But I was not about to pay $50 or so for one.  Which is kind of crazy, when you see how many inks I have and what they cost me (more on that later).

I saw a link online on how to make a stand that would spin: Spinning Distress Ink Holder  I loved the look of it and was going to do it, but when I thought about it - it wouldn't really be practical for my scrap space.  I don't use my inks all the time, so having it take up real estate on my desk would bug me.  My scrap room is in the basement, and I have a ledge on two of the walls, which is about a foot above my desk.  Having them on that ledge would be perfect - close and at hand, but not in my way.  And then I found this one: Distress Ink Holder  Now THAT is what will work for me!

I didn't like the idea of using just plain cardstock for the little boxes, it seemed like it would be flimsy.  And in the tutorial for the *other* holder, they use chipboard.  I didn't have chipboard on hand.  But I *did* have a large pack of watercolor paper sitting in my scrap room, and that is quite a bit thicker than regular cardstock.  So I was off to the races!

I followed her directions for the little squares, then kind of went off on my own a bit.  I used part of a shoe box for a base to make the stand a little sturdier (painted with Distress Crackle Paint).  Other than that, it's just watercolor paper.  And I wrapped the box with some Lost and Found paper by My Mind's Eye.  There are still some rough edges to work out (the width was a little bit wider than 12 inches, so I may need to wrap the edges in Washi tape or something).


It is surprising how sturdy it is!  And yes, there are 31 inks there.  Sigh.  I don't want to think how much $$ is in that tiny box, LOL.

Project # 2 this weekend was to corral my Thickers.  I admit it - I'm a Thicker-holic.  I love me some Thickers!  I was going to go to an office supply store and buy a wide magazine holder - then I remembered that the last time I was in that store, I looked, and they didn't have the wide ones in stock.   Then inspiration hit me!

I had a box of cereal from Costco sitting in my pantry.  OK, they were Mini-Wheats (you were wondering, right?).  I ran downstairs, grabbed a few packages of Thickers - and they fit GREAT!  So the second bag of cereal went back in my pantry just like that (it didn't need the box), and I cut down the cereal box a bit, added some more paper from My Mind's Eye, and voila!
And no, those aren't all my Thickers.  Not even close.  I may have to stock up on cereal, LOL.

But there you have it - two of my weekend projects that I've been wanting to do for quite some time now.