Thursday, March 3, 2011

Quick Craft: Box It Up

If you're like me, you're probably guilty of buying more decorative wooden boxes and pretty trays than you know what to do with. A few years ago at Ross I found a lidless box in a leaf pattern that went perfectly with my India-themed bedroom - but I had no place to put it.

(This is a larger size of the same box.)


So, naturally, I had John cut it in half and hang it on the wall.

The space inside is perfect for perfumes and body sprays - and you get two shelves for the price of one box! (Mine was $4. Not too shabby.)


For extra usability, add cup-hooks to the bottom of one or both shelves:

Now it's a place to hang favorite (or extra-long) necklaces.


To do this yourself, just find a small wooden box or high-sided tray. Cut the box in half using a miter or jigsaw (or even a hacksaw, if you don't like power tools), and then attach heavy-duty picture-hanging hardware to the edges, like this:

Fill with your favorite bottles, and enjoy!

Plus, talk about instant gratification: you can be done in under 30 minutes. This would also be a great way to organize toiletries in the bathroom, not to mention help get them all off the counter and toilet tank. (Or is that just me?)


I hope this helps inspire some crafty ideas out there!


[UPDATE: Katphoti in the comments just mentioned another great idea: flip the shelf over so the bottom becomes the top! This would make a perfect display shelf when the sides would otherwise be in the way. Brilliant!]

33 comments:

  1. Love this! Thanks Jen.

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  2. ACK! Now I have plans for this weekend! Love the idea, never thought of doing that. You are Awesome! I am going to put these in my daughters bathroom to get all their stuff off the counter! Thanks so much!

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  3. Sigh...your craftiness, both disgusts and intrigues me. I'm still pouting for my hubby to make me the penny desk. *grin*

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  4. Gen-i-ous! Why have I never thought of doing this?!? Off to Ross I go!! Yippie!!!

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  5. hahaha I have sooo many of these things - this inspired a total "duuhhhh" facepalm from me. Brilliant!

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  6. Wow Jen, what a great idea! Even a fumble fingers like me could probably attempt this one!

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  7. Wow, that's a great idea! I'll definitely be looking out for pretty boxes now, as I could definitely use more shelves in my bedroom...I have so much stuff that I have nowhere to put!

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  8. Great tip! Now I want to see the rest of your bedroom & find out how you did the paint. Looks almost like a very subtle woodgrain?

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  9. GENIUS! I too have way too many cute boxes. Now I know what to do with them. Thanks!

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  10. So pretty!! Looking at all your BEAUTIFUL crafty things, I can't wait until I have my own home that I can drill things into the wall and paint whatever color I like. ;D Someday! And when I do, I know where to come for ideas.

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  11. I love this! I am so doing this.

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  12. This is Genius!! How do you come up with these things?

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  13. @ Libby - Our bedroom is so dark (by design), it's really hard to photograph! But, someday, I'll drag a bunch of construction lights in there and go to town. ;)

    As for the wall treatment, it's a striƩ, or drag - which does give it a wood-grain feel. It's one of my favorite finishes to do, though, and helps hide a lot of wall imperfections. From a distance it can also look like fabric, which was sort of what I was going for; the ceiling is tented in *real* fabric.

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  14. OMGOMGOMG THANK YOU! I am going to be redoing my office and I want some interesting shelves to put my McFarlane dragons on. THIS IS THE SOLUTION! I LOVE IT!

    The Burton Inspiration

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  15. P.S. I would flip them over, obviously, so the bottom is the top of the shelf. Again...BRILLIANT!

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  16. That is a great idea! I think I have to find some fun boxes now.

    I don't think I could hang necklaces up, however. My cats like to play with anything that hangs down and looks fun. I learned this the hard way with some broken jewelry!

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  17. Ooh! I'm SOOO going to have to try this in my bathroom (which is SUPER tiny)!! Thanks for the tip! :D

    WV: sheacke - Hey, my house may be small, but it's at least *one* step up from a sheacke!

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  18. Oh, clearly you are brilliant.

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  19. Every time you show us your creative genius in your home and new ways of personalizing your space I get inspired.
    It is well past time for me to make changes in our dark and boring home.
    Thank you!

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  20. Genius! Isn't he so handy? Love that you can also see what you have - I'm totally guilty of "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to toiletries and makeup. Thanks for sharing!

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  21. You make me feel really stupid. What a great, simple idea and yes, I have two boys here and junk on the sink. When the girlfriend visits, you can't find the sink.

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  22. What a great idea! I think I need to find a wooden box now...

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  23. Brilliant! I love it! Reading this and then Katphoti's idea made me start thinking about what else could be done with boxes like this. I have no idea if it would be possible or, you know, not a fire hazard...but if you found a taller, narrower box could you make a wall sconce? My thought was that you could just cut one side off (instead of cutting it in half--so it sticks out further from the wall) and maybe cut the bottom off too, and line it with vellum or something, and mount a sconce base behind it. Just a thought.

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  24. I'm gonna do this I think, and then I may post pictures in my blarg, because it should be pretty humorous, as I imagine it going terribly wrong. .. but it should ease my husband's ire with me at requesting he fish things out of the sink drain when they fall in off the sink edge, because we have no other suitable horizontal surfaces in the bathroom, and have an open drain hole.

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  25. Jen,

    Check out the blurb on Gaslight on page 30 of the Calendar today. Steampunk !!!

    waving from almost Osceola county

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  26. Uh oh. I just know that my mom is going to read this and my bathroom is going to get a makeover. This weekend is going to get morecrafty than I first thought.

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  27. OMG I love you! I have been looking all over for simple wall shelves for my daughter's room (for her rubber ducky collection, so the Indian motif isn't what I'm looking for, but the idea is brilliant!)

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  28. Brilliant! Thanks Jen...I'll show this to my fiance later, maybe we can make use of it when we move later this year. :o)

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  29. You and John are Frakin' BRILLIANT! You should seriously think about a "how to" book. I would buy it in a heartbeat!

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  30. I have a feeling Ross stores around the country will be selling out of wood boxes due to this post! ;) Brilliant!

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  31. I love this idea! I have so many baskets and no place to sit them. This is the perfect solution. I think for your india theme it would look really cute to put a little gold toned paint on it, maybe just in the veins of the leaves or something for some cool contrast.

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  32. I've seen this done with cut in half then stacked side tables. Im going to do a few for diapers and other baby stuff when I out what I'm having

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