Monday, November 16, 2009

Wall Display Bookshelves




So, this is wild.  I took my son to the library for the very first time a few weeks ago and he loved it.  I decided I wanted a really neat place for him to put his books.  So, I went to my "drawing board" (powerpoint) and drew up a sketch of what I wanted to make.

Here is my sketch:



So that SAME DAY, a few hours later, on Shanty2Chic's Gorilla Glue party, I saw Traci from Beneath My Heart post this!  I couldn't believe how similar the bookshelf that she created was to the one that I had sketched just hours before.

This is why I love the blogging world so much.  I had just sketched this out with plans to go to Home Depot that night and buy materials.  I saw that she used plaques from Hobby Lobby to do hers, and I thought that was Brilliant!  So I altered my boring plans to use scrapwood for the sides and splurged the extra $1.47 for the plaques.

This was a very easy and very inexpensive project that I think turned out really cute.

All you'll need is:
2 1X3's 24 inches long (or however long you want) - $0.50 from Home Depot Scrap section
1 12 inch plaque from Hobby Lobby - $1.47
1 set of wall hangers - $2.29
1 wooden dowel (mine was 7/16") - $0.99

Total Cost:  $5.26!!



Step 1.  Nail your 2 1X3s in an "L" shape



Step 2.

Cut the bottom off of your plaque so that you have a flat bottom. Then put it up against your "L" to see where you need to cut vertically so that it will be flush.





You should be able to get both sides of the shelf out of one plaque



Step 3

Nail the sides onto the "L"
I used my favorite tool for this:



Nope, not the nail gun.  The Tuba Player holding it :-)

Now you should have something that looks like this:



By the way, these pictures are taken in our garage.  We've only lived here a few months, and we haven't tackled cleaning this one out yet.  The old owner had carpet down, which is terrible, but it works out well for all my painting I do out here.

Step 4.

Cut your wooden Dowel Rod and nail this in place too.




Step 5.

Paint them and screw on your wall hanger:



I also wanted to dress them up a little bit, so I bought some letters, painted them brown and polka-dotted every other letter with my wall color and the other letters I modge-podged with my left over invitation paper.



It's all ready to hang on the wall:




The Vision:



Getting even closer to the vision:



I will be posting this on DIY day over at A Soft Place To Land

ASPTL


and Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

23 comments:

  1. I love those! The little letters are so cute! I especially liked your comment on your fav tool! My hubby is mine too!

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  2. I love these - I am making my husband make some for me !! I really want to know where you found the animal prints - I have been searching everywhere and I dont want to spend 60.00 a piece for the prints that I found!! I can't wait to see how you made those :) Thanks for the inspiration!!

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  3. I love them! Can't wait to make some for my kiddos! Thanks for sharing, they look very simple but Potterybarnish! Love it! I've bought one thing from Potterybarn and it was a set of wooden block for my oldest. And since then I never bought another thing. I just found out I do have a Potterybarn outlet 20 min from me that I'd like to check out, hopefully they knocked down some prices...

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  4. Why do you have to do this! Now I have one MORE project on my list.... hehe. Thanks TONS. I was just wanting to make some shelves in my daughters room. love your blog (and that we have the same style)
    Btw- how did you get so good at powerpoint? I do my sketches in paint and they are so bad they make me laugh :)

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  5. This is great. Love the "power tool" you use. It is so cool to see the vision come to life!

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  6. Great project my girls would LOVE these shelves!!

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  7. Just love these....great tutorial also! Your room is looking so cute :)

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  8. Those are so cute! What a great project on a small budget.

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  9. Wow...very nice and affordable! I love your graphics! It looks so much better than my crayon drawings.

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  10. What a super cute (and practical) project. I think it turned out great!! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. So cute, and so frugal! I cant believe you did it for only $5.00 and change. Amazing! Looks great!

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  12. So cute, and your vision is great. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

    Happy Thanksgiving

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  13. This is wonderful. I love that you can show us your "vision" as well. Thanks. Laura @ the mansion

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  14. I love this idea. Your vision is coming to life! Jennifer

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  15. Those are so great! I've been on the look out for one but maybe I just need to make it myself! Thanks for the great details!

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  16. How cute! I love reading nooks. Now it will be so sweetly defined.

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  17. Super cute. As soon as I saw yours I thought of Traci's. I would love to have you post to my Momday party--its so very creative.
    Cheri

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  18. THANK YOU for posting this! I have been waiting to make the fabric book slings because of the cost of them (and I wanted 3--one for each child. This is PERFECT and costs much less!

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  19. This is great!! I have been working on my own ideas for a month. They would start out great then suddenly get very complicated. You are my hero! guess who will be hitting Home Depot and Hobby Lobby in the morning?

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