Now, the problem with bracelets is 1) they come in a larger variety of sizes, shapes, rigidity, open and closed, and 2) I have far more of them, lol. But I started the same way -- I went to Pinterest for solutions. Unfortunately, I didn't see a lot there for what I wanted to do. Again, I wanted something I could close. And, of course, I had already bought three of the fake "books" from Michael's (one for the necklaces, one for bracelets, and one for rings). So I modified my necklace book idea to try to suit the bracelets. I made far more mistakes -- I forgot to take pictures of the actual construction, I put in too many hooks and knobs, and too many layers. Nothing disastrous, but others can learn from my mistakes.
Materials:
- 2 boards @ 1/2" thick (see below for specifications on the rest of the sizing)
- Pretty paper to cover the board and strips
- Rubber cement
- Fake book (or other type of box)
- 4+ screws to attach strips to front of the book (a smidge shorter than the book cover + the strip depth) -- we used #6's
- 6+ knobs with screws
- 10+ screw hooks
- 2 long screws (to affix to the wall)
- Scrap piece of wood (to affix to the wall)
For the supplies, you'll need 2 boards 1/2" thick, one the same approximate size as the fake book, the other will need to be long enough to cut two strips, about 1-1/2" wide, and long enough to fit into the inside of the box. I went to my local Habitat ReStore (since I work on the other side of the door from it) and picked up two leftover shelving pieces. I also picked up a variety of drawer knobs and their matching screws. I did the measuring, but it was my father-in-law that cut the strips for me.
The purpose of the book-sized board is to give the knob screws something for stability. The book back isn't thick enough. And if what you end up with is thicker or thinner than the 1/2", it's cheap enough to buy more screws that are the right length at the hardware store (or even, maybe, in the Habitat ReStore). But since the edge of this has to be presentation level, I picked up some pretty paper from Jo-Ann's Fabrics and "wrapped" the board in it. I had to do both sides since it didn't go around all the way. I picked worded paper, in blue, to give the feel of a "book", and the words were travel-oriented, matching the book's theme, but if you chose a different type of box, it may make sense to match the surrounding decor, or the box, or whatever catches your fancy. Similarly, the strips that went inside matched the inside of the books decor, hence the marbled blue paper.
To "wrap" the boards, I used pencil and ruler and a ceramic cutting tool (lightly to score instead of cut) and rubber cement, but, really, I was over-engineering and it didn't hold up to the stress of adding the knobs. In the end, I needed to electric-staple-gun some of the edges down. Obviously, I did this on the parts that were going to be buried against the wall or the book. I'm including pictures, but whatever makes sense to you may be better than these ideas:
Sigh -- this is where I run out of pictures. Sorry! And the next bit is where I suckered my Dad into helping. . .
The next step is to attach the strips to the front cover. I did three, but now I know that the 3rd is too low (the book won't close properly with bracelets on the hooks), and you can see that the bracelets overlap quite a bit. I'd recommend just the two (unless you got a bigger book), and space them further apart.
I'm using a picture from the necklace organizer blog, but the idea is the same, though I did the bracelet organizer on my Dad's picnic table and with and electric drill with a screwdriver bit. Something to note is that, as stated in a prior blog, the electric drill is a powerful creature that knows not it's own strength -- it tends to eat up the fake book. The hand-screw-in method turned out prettier, but was a lot of work. Kind of depends on personal preference.
Place the strips where you want them to go, making sure that you can close the book. Clamp in place and make two guide holes (smaller than the screws). Then, simply screw the screws in. Repeat, approximately middle of the book down for the second strip.
I had gotten gold screws, and I didn't want them too short, but my Dad did NOT like them sticking out of the strip board, so we made a trip into the hardware store to get shorter, fatter (#6) screws. Then I asked if they had them in gold, but when we got home, we found that the guy had sold us straight screws (vs. Phillips-head, or whatever) and you can't use the electric drill with straight head because the drill tends to skip off and mar the surface of what you're working on. There was a little bit of colorful language, lol. And it was ok to go to town because we stopped and picked up Dad's significant other and I think we had her in stitches as she watched us work.
I think we added the hooks next, and, another mistake -- I put them too close. Luckily, Dad asked if we could space them further apart, and I'm glad, because bracelets bow out to the sides more than my necklaces do. They need the extra space. Place the first one at least 3/4" in (from the outside edge), and at least 1-1/2" spacing across. I just made little marks (attempting and somewhat failing to keep a straight line across), then my dad used a special bit to screw them in with his electric drill, "Picked these bits up years ago, and I've never gotten to use them yet!" I was glad to oblige. Again, the picture is from the necklace blog, but gives an idea.
For the knobs on the inside, I made marks on the inside for where I wanted the screws to go. Then we lined the fake book and the board up together, then drilled the holes straight down through. Finally, we flipped the book up on it's end and Dad drilled the screw in from the backside (through the board) and I held the knob in place.
Next mistake -- I had 12 knobs, so I made them fit in the book, but they were so close together, it was hard to get the bracelets in between, and it was hard to see which bracelets were which. After all was said and done, I took every other one out in a staggered fashion. I could see, though, that maybe you could get three across the top, two staggered a bit further down, and three more on the 3rd level? Again, all of this depends on the box that you're using.
Finally, while the drill was still out, I had Dad put two guide holes in to affix to the wall.
So I leave my Dad's house and come home. Now it's Ken's turn -- he has to do the affixing. This particular book is placed right where the cabinet divides into a top and bottom section, so I used that divider (shelf? base?) to be the stabilizing force to hold the book in place (the cabinet walls are too thin, they'd eventually break down or something -- my husband tends to over-engineer, did I say that already?). Ken started the screws through book and board. Then, we simply put the book against the wall, eyeballed the guide holes in reference to the shelf, then hand-screwed the screws through. And missed the shelf, but the shelf had a stabilizing piece underneath, so that worked too. Except that the screws were longer than that, so we needed to put a scrappy piece of wood in, anyway. Sigh.
Finalized project -- It's taken me FOREVER to make this blog, because, 1) I've been busy, and 2) I didn't like the end result. I couldn't close the book, the bracelets looked messy, I didn't like how they all went in, and some of them just wouldn't fit! Finally, I realized that I was trying to make this poor project do too much. The concept was phenomenal, but I need to space it all out a bit more. So I took out half the knobs (I just unscrewed them), and I didn't use the bottom strip of hooks, or the far outside hooks, and then I took out the ones that are too big. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with the too-big's, and the left-overs, but that can be another project. Maybe another book, but with a dowel run through it (since the too-bigs are all open on one side? Or give up on the book-on-a-wall because they're too-big and get a bracelet tree? (After all, these tend to be my favorite bracelets) We'll see.
But, once I did the small modifications, I came up with something that I really like and makes sense in my life. Hope this helps inspire your creativity!
No comments:
Post a Comment