Ambitiously,
we (little sis and I) vowed to do at least one craft every two or three days
over the span of 2 weeks! I know. What was I thinking? That if I
tried hard enough, I could magically find more time in
my day! Suffice it to say, we did about a total of about 3
crafts, 3 and a half maybe. But hey, quality over quantity!
We chose to tackle a DIY desk organizer, which was a
great idea for the new school year! Hers is the super fun pink accented one. Mine
is the teal and yellow one! After her visit, I sent both home with her, so that
she could give mine to my niece, Jayla, who wished so badly to stay with us for
2 weeks.
Make Your Own!
There are several different ways of doing this. We
made ours simple, but you can add ribbon, flowers, and anything else you’d
like!
Gather these materials:
1.
Paper
towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, or any other rolls. (I had a lot of ribbon and
tulle fabric spools left over from my online tutu dress shop. The more variety
in sizes the better)
2.
Cereal
box side (for base) OR wooden plaque from any craft store or dollar store
3.
Mod
Podge Satin Finish
4.
Acrylic
Paint (preferred colors)
5.
Sponge
Brush (Get a Pack of 4 for a $1 at dollar store or Walmart)
6.
Scrap
book paper to cover rolls and boxes.
7.
Scissors
(or craft or X-Acto knife)
8.
Coordinating
ribbon (Optional)
9.
Pen or
pencil
10. Craft glue or hot glue gun
11. Ruler (Optional)
How to make your organizer:
1.
Choose Your Structure
Grab
your rolls and spools and arrange them any way
you’d like. Make the structure by trimming
your rolls into different heights with your scissors or knife. Set
aside in this order or take a picture to remember how you structured it.
2.
Paint Insides (optional)
With
your preferred color (coordinates with scrap book paper) of acrylic paint, paint the insides (as
deep inside the roll as possible) of your rolls
with your sponge brush. This
provides a more finished look, but if you don’t mind the brown color of the
rolls in the inside of your tubes showing, then you can skip this step.
3.
Paint Base (IF USING WOODEN
PLAQUE AS BASE, SEE THIS STEP. IF USING CEREAL BOX BASE, SKIP THIS STEP)
Choose
an acrylic color that coordinates well
with your scrap book paper, and paint the wooden
plaque with your sponge brush. Set aside to dry.
4.
Measure & Trace Rolls
One at
a time, put each tube on your scrap book
paper of choice, and mark the height of the tube. You may wrap the paper
around it to figure out how much (length wise) you’ll need. Mark the length on
the paper with your pen or pencil.
If they’re all the same width, then you only have to do this once. With your ruler, trace a line from the edge of the
paper to the marked length, and down to the other edge for the height.
Do this
for all compartments.
5.
Cut Out Paper
Cut out
all of your scrap book paper pieces
with scissors or craft knife.
6.
Mod Podge & Stick
With
your sponge brush, brush Mod Podge onto the back of your scrap book paper piece, and
proceed to stick to your roll. Hold everything down and smooth out your paper
to avoid wrinkles. Do this for each compartment. Let dry 15-20 minutes. Then
give each piece a top coat of Mod
Podge.
FOR WOODEN PLAQUE
BASE (SKIP IF USING CEREAL BOX) add a coat of
Mod Podge to your wooden plaque to seal it. Set aside to dry.
7.
Add Ribbon
Glue a strip of ribbon to the top of each
compartment with craft glue or hot glue gun. Or (like I did) add a strip of coordinating
scrap book paper.
8.
Glue to Base
Arrange
each compartment on the cereal box board piece (base) by adding a ring of glue to the bottom rim of the roll and
attaching it to the base. If using craft glue, you’ll see white around the edges, but
it will dry clear.
FOR WOODEN PLAQUE
BASE, the same step applies: Arrange
each compartment on the wooden plaque (base) by adding a ring of glue to the bottom rim of the roll and
attaching it to the base. If using craft
glue, you’ll see white around the edges, but it will dry clear.
9.
FOR CEREAL BOX BASE: Trim base
After each
compartment is glued onto the CEREAL BOX base in the structured form you
created earlier, you can trim the excess board around the bottom of the rolls
with your X-Acto knife, craft knife, or scissors.
Cut as close to the rolls as possible.
Here's an organizer made by Amy, at modpodgerocksblog.com! She integrates the wooden plaque base and boxes for compartments! Doesn't it look amazing?
Well,
what do you think? Is this an easy enough project? Are you up for making your
own? Maybe for you little one? I think it’s a great craft for this new school
year! I think it’s a great way to get your little one to embrace organization!
What craft would
you do with paper towel and toilet paper rolls? I have so many! I need some new ideas. Comment
or share below (:
Thanks for visiting Frou Frou Frugal!
