Ditch The Pencil Cup: An Easy Dollar Tree DIY For Clever Craft Room Storage
From scissors and knitting needles to coloring pens and quilting rulers, craft tools and supplies can become chaotic clutter on the tabletop if you don't have sufficient storage and organization. And some of the makers who manage to stash it all away might do so using a combination of cupboards, shelves, and drawers, as well as mismatched desktop containers—such as the ubiquitous pencil cup. If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you and you're ready to ditch all the pencil cups and bins, consider this incredibly easy, clever, and affordable DIY that TikTok creator the.hackshub has shared.
The beauty of this open-front tabletop storage is that it keeps your crafting essentials in one place and within reach, offers compartments to sort like with like, and can hold quite a lot within just a 9-by-12-inch footprint thanks to its tiered design. To make this yourself, pick up the following from the Dollar Tree: six Storage Essentials Shatter-Free Wine Bottle Holders and two Clear Plastic 3-Compartment Storage Trays. The only other item you'll need is a hot glue gun. Don't have one? Use other adhesives while keeping in mind that they'll take longer to dry. And make sure you're using the right glue for the material, as different types of plastic work with different glues.
How to assemble this Dollar Tree craft-room storage
You'll see that each wine holder has interlocking feet and a clip on the bottom for stacking and securing multiples. Working in pairs, hot-glue the interlocking parts of one before stacking it onto another. Once you have three stacked pairs, gather them side by side. You'll be assembling them with the trays in the next step.
At just over 12 inches wide and 4.5 inches deep, the trays are ideally sized to lay one in front of the other across the three stacks. Even better, these trays have slot-like notches on the bottom that perfectly align with the two center-top edges of the wine-holder stacks. Apply hot glue inside the notches before stacking them atop the wine holders.
@the.hackshub A Dollar Tree DIY idea for organization #dollartree #dollartreehacks #DIY #dollartreediy #dollartreefinds
Et voila! You've DIYed a clever three-tier tabletop storage system that cost you about $12. Comparable desktop organizers with similar capacities aren't super expensive but are often still higher priced on average. Take the IRIS 10.5-by-12.8-inch four-drawer desktop organizer, which currently retails at Target for $24 and up depending on the store. Then there's Luxe Acrylic's 9-inch-diameter rotating round desktop organizer, which doesn't hold as much and sells for about $40 at The Container Store.
If, in the end, you change your mind about storing supplies on the work tabletop, consider going vertical with a utilitarian staple: the pegboard. Try one of these pegboard ideas to keep you organized while also dressing up the walls so they don't look like they belong in the garage. Or, if you're ready to invest in a big-ticket item that'll turn your craft room into a maker's paradise, check out these craft tables with built-in storage.