Wrapping Paper Rack

I have imagined for a long time that the ideal solution of where to put an accumulation of wrapping paper is to design a system where I can see it better than carting it around in what is essentially a tall bucket. How to hang several rolls of wrapping paper where it would be accessible but not in the way? Today I finally built my "behind the craft room door wrapping paper rack"!

You will need 3 boards, 1"x4"x8' and enough dowels to cover the distance at a spacing of 2 1/4".

I built my rack to be 32" wide and 69" tall (to fit under a shelf I had already installed).  So I used 29 dowels, each 7/16" diameter and cut to about 31 1/2" long.  You will need them slightly longer than the open space between the "sides" of your box, or frame so that you can shove it into the hole closest to the corner of the room and swing it out to receive the roll of wrapping paper, but then be able to hang without falling.  My first attempt was too long but I used it to mark where the cut would have to be to just swing clear but then be able to hang in both holes by scooting it into the hole furthest from the corner of the room.

Instead of using cup hooks to hold the dowels, I just drilled holes 1/2" diameter with a drill press so they would be perpendicular to the face of the wood frame and line up with each other.  Stack the two sides, mark the hole locations on the top piece and drill through both pieces at the same time. Use double stick tape and clamps to keep them from shifting
The dowels cost about $1.00 each and the boards cost about $8.00 each.  The corner brackets were about $2.00 each.
I had intended to attach the rack to the wall with at least two brackets but it fits in my spot so tightly that I am confident that it won't fall over.  I recommend brackets unless it is wedged into place like mine is.

After drilling the holes I painted the frame pieces white to match the trim of our house.

I didn't bother painting the dowels as they would be mostly covered up by wrapping paper.

This is a great way to keep track of cellophane and kraft paper too.  I had space for some rolls of wallpaper left over from decades ago—hopefully it will work for a dollhouse.

Make sure to measure your rolls, most of mine are 30" wide so my frame is slightly bigger than that inside.

A side view to show how the dowels just slip into the holes, no cup hooks means less expense.

Extra Large Gift Box with Lid (finished size about 27"x19"x8")

Extra Large Gift Box with Lid

How to make your own extra large gift box with lid for that really big present that you want to WOW your recipient with. It takes 1 to 2 hours to make. Here are my sketchy notes:

Items you will need to complete this proect.

Buy 4 poster size sheets of foam core board.  Set one aside without changing it's size.

Cut 1/2" off two sides to create box bottom.

Create short sides of both lid and box bottom from one sheet of foam core.

Create long sides of both lid and box bottom from last sheet of foam core

Build walls of lid on top of lid piece (Upside down)
Connect everything with duct tape at all corners and edges.
Wrap finished lid with heavy duty wrapping paper of your choice,
glue all folds with Mod Podge or equal. Build the box the same way
so that the walls are sitting on top of the floor of the box, not beside it.

Finished box.  Lids fits snugly over box. Tie with wide satin ribbon.

Corner detail.  Fold paper over before finishing wrap for nice edge.
I didn't bother covering the bottom of the box, just the outer and inner walls.

Extra Large Gift Box with Lid.  Ta-Da!

Peek inside to see big gift all wrapped up pretty in layers of tissue.

Repurposing kitchen cabinetry to a shoe cabinet

Kitchen before wall came down, opening the space to the living room

Cabinetry that was in kitchen, now in bedroom.  A new place to store shoes!

Shoe cabinet made from upper kitchen cabinets, with feet added and new handles.  Stained dark walnut/espresso.

The Kitchen Junk Drawer/Phone corner

It seems that in every home we have ever lived in there has been one drawer dedicated to general "stuff" that starts out with good intentions and organization but ends up a mess over time.  We have been working on remodeling our home since May so it is a good time to re-think how we use space.

We used to have a large top drawer dedicated to spices on one side of the kitchen but the stove was on the other.  We moved the "spice drawer" over to the stove side, trading with the knives which we moved over to the cutting board side. We still really needed more room for spices.  The drawer next to the new spice drawer, (okay I actually used two small drawers for all the spices that were previously in a large drawer) was the kitchen junk drawer.  A couple of weeks ago I decided to eliminate the kitchen junk drawer to use for our new Indian spices, and other spices.
So now what to do with things like pens and pencils and tape and glue…etc.  This morning I had the great idea to covert the cupboard over the phone (which I hadn't organized yet anyway) to the cookbook and mini-offie/phone desk/junk drawer space.

The Before: unorganized kitchen cupboard—a result of remodeling and then hurrying to get ready for a Christmas party.

The After—I took what used to be in drawer compartments and put the contents into vertical mini-drawers, an organizer from the hardware section of Fred Meyer.

Kitchen cabinet over phone area.

Our new spice drawer—especially Indian spices.

Adding a sliding barn door is a fun trend in interior design

4' x 8' hickory door with arch and textured glass

Converting a hallway into a walk-in pantry

Custom built shelves, floor to 11 foot ceiling. Note the receptacle in the wall, for plugging in appliances such as a food dehydrator. :)

Eventually there will be a rolling ladder installed.

Love the door from Lowe's.

We hired a contractor to build us a pantry where there used to be a hallway.
One side kitchen, the other side is dining  room.

The mental exercise of trying to create a cubism style painting

My weekend project—cubism for fun.

Top version is revised a couple of weeks later to make it more interesting with shading and I changed some of the colors.