Organizing in the studio

My one 2011 goal (and resolution) is to make my house a home again and not let it get this way ever again.  Fewer new year goals and resolutions mean a greater rate of success don't ya think?  Ok, the holidays are over and it's time to get back to accomplishing my goal.  I start back to work quilting today so the cleaning and organizing will go at a slower pace the rest of the year. 

I talked about "no junk drawers" a few days ago.  So how about a whole tower of junk drawers?  That's 10 junk drawers all together in one unit.  This thing has been bugging me for the longest time.  It's handy to have stuff close at hand but this thing is always in my way when walking to the backside of my machine.  AND, it's absolutely not organized.  Stuff gets lost in there.  It's time for me to clean it out. 

I won't bore you with 10 photos of 10 junk drawers.  I'll just show you a couple of them so you understand what I'm talking about.  This is the top drawer.  It doesn't look too awfully bad seeing it like this.

Now look at it all dumped out onto the table.  That's a lot of disorganized stuff in one junk drawer!  Hmm... maybe I need to finally learn how to use my MP3 player?  I've only had it two or three years without ever using it.  I can't figure out how to get books put onto it.

Ok, back to what I was type-talking about.  Here's the second junk drawer.  Not too bad looking either.

Look at it all dumped out on the table.  No, it's not both drawers dumped out together.  It's just one drawer.

All the drawers are out of the tower and this is what I find.  Look at all the dust and cob webs. 

I told you I had lots of spiders living in my house?  Eeeeewwww!  Here's where... uh... some of them died.  I found more in other drawers too.

I take the drawer tower completely apart to wash it really good. 

When cleaning out the drawers I found a box I've been looking for since 2007.  It contained spare parts for my quilting machine.  I knew I had these.   I simply couldn't figure out where I had stashed them.   Well cleaning out the drawer tower has saved me some money this year.  I don't have to buy these when I do a yearly tune up on my machine.

When I was cleaning and organizing the drawers; I stopped long enough to make this bobbin organizer out of cardboard and chopsticks.  Now my quilting machine bobbins are ready for me to start working.  If you want to see how I made it, look here on my cardboard blog.  It's simple, easy, and free.

Well, that's what I did yesterday.  The tower will not be going back into the corner.  I divided it in half and it will now fit under my quilting machine table along with the other 10 drawer units already there.  One down and about eleventy million more of those plastic things to go.  I have a lot of plastic drawer units around my house.

Checking in

It seems like forever since I posted on this blog.  I haven't forgotten about it.  I've been busy getting my house back in order after my daughter and grand-daughter moved out.  I did start a new piece of cardboard furniture.  It's going to be a breakfast bar in my kitchen.

I will be posting the steps along with photos as I create it.  I'll create my furniture based on my own household needs.  A breakfast bar seems to be the most current need right now.   This will NOT be a quick project for me because I have many quilt UFOs to complete.  Cardboard furniture is a hobby..... quilting is my income. 

I hope to post a new step every couple of weeks as it gets made.  Those of you interested in how cardboard furniture is created.... so you can do your own.... this will be for you.  As you follow the steps you will learn the strengths of how cardboard furniture is created.  Once you know this.... you can design and create your own custom made furniture.

Hmm.... I guess I really should finish making the changes to this blog.  TIME!  Gotta find time..........

Cardboard furniture

This is an example of the cardboard furniture I make and plan to include in my blog. This is the two sides of the bottom half of a desk.



Here you see the drawers of the units.

There are several steps to making pieces of furniture from cardboard. I can't say it's cheaper than buying something from a thrift store to paint and re purpose. At the same time, creating your own furniture means it's a one of a kind original, created just for your space, type of furniture that's lots of fun to make.

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I'm thinking I should start another blog just for the furniture instructions and examples. I can do that but..... what would I call it? Does anyone have an idea for a catchy name for a cardboard craft and furniture blog?

Studio desk - part 2

I was asked how to make the drawers slide easily in my cardboard furniture so I decided to include the instructions here as the next step of creating my desk. I had hoped to have more time for working on this and creating really good instructions but as always... quilting comes first.

In order to make the drawer area.... you need to enclose it with cardboard sides. These areas are cut separately and custom fit into the space. What you see at the back of the drawer space is the back of the desk cabinet.



Here is another drawer area. Can you see how I've measured and cut the interior pieces to fit?




The piece that was cut from the front profile to create the drawer space now becomes the front of the drawer itself. The rest of the drawer is custom cut to make a simple box. I make the box itself at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch smaller than the opening in both width, height, and depth. This give the drawer plenty of room for sliding.

All exposed connections and edges are covered with paper packaging tape. The kind that requires water to activate the glue. Can you see down inside the box (drawer) where I have covered the joints with tape? Sometimes I make my own paper tape from newspaper strips and school glue.

Can you see the tape around the opening of the drawer area and around the top edge of the drawer? This disguises the flutes and creates a smooth edge for painting later.

At this stage the drawer fronts fit exactly the opening it was cut from. To make it better; another piece of cardboard should be cut at least one half inch larger than the opening and centered then glued to the front piece of the drawer. This not only gives more strength but keeps it from sliding too far back. Of course if you don't mind the drawer being flush with the front then don't do the extra piece on the front.

I plan to make some drawer pulls from buttons or maybe paper mache ones. I could buy some drawer handles but that would take away from the whole make it all myself concept.

Instead of making drawers these openings could become open shelves or with the addition of a door could become the shelves inside a cabinet.

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I'm planning a book or a dvd or another blog.... something? It will have more complete details about creating cardboard furniture. It will include instructions about how to put decorative details like scrolls and carvings on the pieces. How to make roll top desks and sliding doors for cabinets. How to make drawer handles and door hinges from cardboard. Things of that nature. So far I've just been doing a plan. An outline of the things I want to include in the book or whatever it turns out to be.

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Once I get the plans together then I will need to decide how it will be made. Do I go with a publisher? Do I buy a camcorder and hire to be the editor? Should I hire someone to make me a pay to view website? Should I self-publish? There are lots of details to be worked out. This is where I need advice from someone who is already a published author.... or a financial advisor.... I'm not sure who to ask for advice? Anyone know who I should ask?

Cardboard studio desk

I need a new desk for my studio. I don't want to go out and buy a piece of furniture that is the wrong size, the wrong style, and the wrong price for my budget. I'm going to make it from cardboard. After all, cardboard furniture is making a comeback into my hobby life. It's something I enjoy.

So I go through my furniture pictures to choose details I like.




Just like working out the details of a quilt design; cardboard furniture always starts with a plan and lots of math.





Then start cutting out the pieces.




Still more pieces to cut.

And even more pieces to cut.

Next is the piecing it all together.

Finally, I have the base pieces sort of put together. They are side by side for the picture but will be farther apart to allow sit down space when the piece is finished.

There is still lots to do on this furniture piece. When do I have time? Well, its like this..... I spend 12 hours a day at the quilting machine. From 4 am to 4 pm. 12 hours a day is plenty of time at work. A person does need some leisure time too. At the end of the day I can do whatever I want with my free time.

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In the past I would create charity quilts (or rugs) in my free time. I will go back to doing the charity quilts eventually. For now, I want to create some things that are useful for myself. My budget is much too tight for buying organizing stuff right now.... cardboard is free. I can organize to my hearts content by creating just the right organizer, in just the right size, in just the right style, and painted in just the right color to make me happy.

Working with cardboard is different enough from working with fabric that it gives my brain a rest. It helps alleviate some of the burnout I've been feeling lately. I will post more pictures as I finish more of the work.

Re purposing again


Sometimes we tend to just purchase an item without giving it much thought. Especially if it might cost one dollar or less for what we need. These days every dollar saved might be essential to our survival until the economy gets better.

A couple of days ago I needed a small clipboard to carry with me to grocery shop. I wanted the clipboard to hold my grocery list pad and also a pencil for keeping a running tally of how much spending I had in the cart.




I could have bought a small clipboard at one of the dollar type stores for only one dollar. I thought..... why spend a dollar when I can make one for free? So that's what I did... made my own clipboard from cardboard.

It's made from triple flute cardboard which it's very sturdy. The pencil holder is just some clear packing tape with another piece of tape stuck to the sticky part in the center where the pencil goes then taped to the cardboard.

Flute is the wavy inside part of cardboard. A single flute is sturdy but a double flute is even stronger and a triple flute is almost like a piece of wood.

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I put that dollar I saved into my savings account. It might only be one dollar..... but the dollars do add up over time. You might wonder why I don't carry a calculator? Well, I used to, but the darn thing had a way of turning itself off after a few minutes. Then I'd lost my total. I found it's so much easier to just use a pencil. I also round off to the nearest dime to make the math easier.

Rotating can organizer

Please read through all the instructions before creating your boxes. It's important you understand the steps you will be taking so you don't get confused along the way. These organizer boxes can be made to fit any size cabinet or can. For heavier cans please use heavier strength cardboard or glue layers together before cutting pieces.


1. To get the height of the box measure across the can. In this case it is just over 2 inches. I added a little and make it 2 1/2 inches for easier math. Multiply this measurement times 2 and add 2 inches more. So it would be 2.5 x 2 = 5 + 2 = 7 inches in height.



2. To get the width of the box measure the height of the can. In this case it's just over 3 1/4 inches so I round it up to 3 1/2 inches to be sure there is room for the cans to roll smoothly. This might sound confusing but you have to remember the cans will be laying on their side so the height of the can actually becomes the width of the box. Like this.



3. To get the length of the box measure the distance of where you plan to store it. The depth of the cabinet I plan to use this organizer is 12 inches deep.  I want some wiggle room in front so I use a measurement of 10 inches.

Now we know we are making a box 10" deep x 7" high x 3 1/2" wide.

4. Corrugated boxes I have for this project have a tougher outside than an inside. The strength is on the outside so plan on keeping these as the outside of my new rotating organizer boxes. When you are cutting apart your cardboard be sure to gently remove any tape. The tape will interfere with glueing and painting later.

5. Cut 2 pieces 10" x 7" for the two sides. (10" depth x 7" height)

6. Now take one of the sides (with the inside up) and mark a tic mark 1" above the lower left corner.

7. Now mark a straight line from the tic mark to the opposite very bottom corner. It should be at an angle.

8. Now go to the upper corner (diagonal from the first corner) and mark a tic mark 2 1/2" down from the corner like this.

9. Now go to the opposite upper corner and make a dot that's 3 1/2" down and 2 1/2" in from the side.

10. Now draw a line from the dot to the tic mark. Like this. The marked lines are going in opposite directions. One angles up and one angles down. Imagine the rolling of the can. It should drop down and drop down again.

11. Ok, all done with that side. Now you need to do one in mirror image on the other side piece.

12. Set one of the side pieces aside for a little bit. It's time to make the shelves.

13. The shelf is the length of the box minus the height of the can. In other words 10" (length) minus 2 1/2" (height) = 7 1/2". The width of the shelf is 3 1/2" (the width of the can laying on it's side). So we need a shelf piece that is 3 1/2" X 7 1/2". WAIT! Don't cut yet. Before you cut the pieces you need to add the glueing strips to the sides. The glueing strips are 1" each. This means the shelf pieces need to be cut 5 1/2" X 7 1/2" . The picture shows you that it comes out to 7 1/2" from the side when you measure the mark. You'll see what I mean about the glueing strips in a moment.

14. For the bottom you need a piece 10" (length of the box) X 3 1/2" (width of the can on its side) plus the glueing strips of 1" each side.

15. Ok so now we cut. Cut the piece as we figured at 7 1/2 X 5 1/2". Then gently score a line 1" from each side. Be sure you don't cut all the way through. You just want to break the surface paper.

16. Now we want to make the piece for the bottom shelf. Which is also the bottom of the box. The measurement is 10" for the length of the box X 3 1/2" the width of the box plus 2". In other words 10" X 5 1/2". Score along the 1" line on both sides.

17. Gently remove the pieces that have been scored on both shelves. The wavy inner core should come off with it leaving only the outer paper. They should look like this.




18. It's time to put glue along the glueing flap and align it with the bottom line you marked earlier on the side piece. It's hard to see the line but it's really there.

19. You want your glueing strips to be up toward what will become the top of the box. This is the way that the cardboard has the greatest strength for holding heavy cans. You also want the cut edges of the shelf to be inside the glueing strips facing toward the top. This will give it more strength too. Like this.

20. Ok, go back to the top shelf you cut before. Peel off the scored glueing strips and glue it to the upper line on your side piece. When you have glued the two shelves to one side it should look like this. I found that using just enough white school glue to make it tacky works best. If you put too much glue on the side strips it takes forever to dry.

21. Ok now glue the shelves to the other side piece. You want to get these shelves done first because it's easier to get the pieces in the right place along the drawn lines. When that's done it should look like this but it's still a little wobbly at this point.

22. Set it aside for now and cut the piece for the back of your box. The size is 7" (height of the box) X 3 1/2" plus the glueing strips. So that would be 7" X 5 1/2". Score the 1" sides and peel off.

23. When you glue on the back..... you want to be sure it's glued to the correct back. (wink) If you glue it on the wrong back you won't be able to roll your cans down to the front as they should. The correct place to put the back piece is where you have a gap between the upper shelf and the "back" of the box. The gap is where the can drops from the upper shelf to the lower shelf bottom.

24. Wrap the glueing strips around the outside of the box to give it the most strength. Also use the glueing strips to pull your box into a better shape. Like this.

25. If you've glued the back on correctly it should look like this. See the gap back there? That's where the cans will drop.

26. Looks great, you've got a lot of it done. You've got the sides, shelf, bottom, and back done. Let's make a top for it now. The top is the length of the box (10") minus the can size (2 1/2") or 7 1/2". Like before the width is 3 1/2" plus 2". So it's 7 1/2" X 5 1/2". Score the two 1" sides and peel away.

27. Glue the top on the box making it even with the back.

28. When you turn it around you will see a gap at the front. This is where you load your cans into the organizer.

29. Now you need to add a "catch bar" for the front so your cans don't just roll out onto the floor. I cut this at 5 1/2" by half the can height. It's actually 1 1/2" instead of 1" like it shows in the picture. Peel the glue strips.

30. Glue this piece to the front bottom of the box. Like this.

31. Now you need to make a front for the upper shelf. Again it is 5 1/2" by the height of the can which is 2 1/2". Score on the 1" lines and peel.

32. Glue it to the upper front of the box at the place where the cans drop in.

33. The box is almost done. Now you need to cut out some side gaps to make it easier to remove a can when you want to use it for cooking. Mark a line even with the catch front going back to just a little less than 1/2 of the can size. My can size is 2 1/2" so I made this just about 2 inches. Then draw a diagonal line to the upper front. Use your utility knife and cut this piece out. Repeat for the other side. I waited until this point for cutting out the gaps to make glueing the box easier to handle.

34. The catch front piece has a weakness along where the glue strips meet the sides. To give this area more strength I glued small pieces of cardboard paper on the inside. Like this.

35. So now then.... the can organizer is finshed. The cans go into the top here. They roll to the back and drop through the gap.

36. Then roll to the bottom front like this. Easy in.... easy out!

37. It fits nicely inside the cabinet.

I could paint this right now to make it prettier but I'm going to wait and do all the painting at the same time. It will be easier to clean up one painting mess than several different ones. I'll make some glueing strips and cover the raw edges too. I don't want the little wavy cardboard showing. I'll also do some kind of labeling too.

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As I was making this box and writing this tutorial it occured to me that I need a way to do an inventory of what I have in each box before going to the grocery. Here's what I've come up with. Remove the first can.... mark it with an X.... insert it at the top.... count it as one.... remove the next can (don't mark it) and insert at the top.... two.... the next can.... three.... and so forth until the can with the X shows up at the bottom again.

Also, somewhere on the box.... maybe on the label.... I will write the number of cans the box holds. That way if it holds 10 cans and I only count 6; I know I need 4 more when I go to the grocery.

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I must also point out that your cabinets will not store as many cans this way as they would if you stacked them up. The main purpose of these organizer boxes is to make "rotating" easier. It's always difficult to put the newest bought can goods behind the older ones. If you're like me, some things don't get rotated enough and I wind up throwing it away because it has expired. I'd rather store fewer cans than waste anymore food because it expired.

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I hope you find the tutorial helpful and that your kitchen cabinets get organized! Please let me know if you use this to make your own. I really do love knowing what I put on this bog is helping someone. I'd love to see pictures of your cabinets after you get some boxes made!! If someone could teach me how to put other people's pictures in my blog I'd love to see them here too.