Remote Caddy


Hand-made gifts are the best, aren't they? I'm always happier giving a handmade gift than any other. So I was super happy when I got ideas of what to get/make for my grand-mas this past Christmas.

I already shared the magnetic pin dish I made for my paternal grand-ma last week. That idea I got from blogland. But this idea I came up with it all on my own!

When my mom told me my grand-ma wanted a nice caddy to keep her remotes after seeing one at Staples for 15$, I thought uh hello, I can make that! and for less. I immediately had a flashback to the little wooden holder I saw at Dollarama that would be perfect for this and how I could spruce it up and make it look one of a kind with scrapbook paper. I was really excited to have finally gotten an idea of what to get my grand-ma for Christmas, and that it could be hand made; she's a picky one.

Of course I had a hard time finding the wooden holder, after that flash of genius, always seems like they run out of the one item I need at the time, but thankfully I didn't stress and I found it a few days before Christmas. That was a close one!



What I used:
~ Wooden holders; the big one I got from Dollarama for 2$ and the smaller one at Michaels for 1.50$
~ craft paint, Dollarama, 1$
~ scrapbook paper, Micheals, 3 sheets at 1$ each (I do not yet have a stash of scrapbook paper...)
~ Mod Podge, Michaels, 6$ with 50% off coupon (I think I got medium sized...?); I must've used like 1/10th of the bottle for this project, so let's say 50cents

Total: ~8$



I got the extra wooden holder at Michaels because I wasn't sure 1) if the remotes would be small enough to fit in the front pockets of the big one, 2) how many remotes my grand-ma had. I figured she would be able to put something else in the extra box if she had too much space, which is exatly what she did!

So my dad cut one of the handles of the smaller holder with his table saw, and I glued the 2 together:



Couple of hours later it was dry enough to move on. I mean, this was a couple of days before Christmas, and I had both my grand-mas' presents to make (actually, you can see the other one in progress in the corner of the above picture), I did not have time to wait for anything to cure completely.

Now you'll have to use your imagination for the next steps because I'm not used to taking in progress pictures... sorry :( And also I was doing it in half darkness while I watched TV (bonding time with the bro lol), so they probably wouldn't be pretty anyway.

So imagine me painting the edges and the bottom of the caddy. Then imagine me measuring every surface, outside, inside, and cutting out the pieces from the scrapbook paper.

There's a few things I wish I had done: cut the pieces slightly smaller than the surface, because they protruded too much from the edges of the box in the end, and also sand the edges, they were really not very smooth, especially once painted over. But they aren't that big of a deal.

Finally, imagine me Mod Podging (if it's not a verb then it really should be!) the paper into place. And voila! Pretty easy, right?







In action at my grand-ma's: she also puts her cordless phone in there, and keeps a notepad, a pen and a nail file.





My mom loved what I came up with so much she wanted me to make her one as well! So that's what I did, and gave it to her for her birthday early January.



2nd time around was much faster. I only bought 2 pieces of scrapbook paper, at 79cents each this time.

I also learned the proper way to applique paper with Mod Podge in the mean time: Mod Podge on the surface, on the paper, then apply paper to surface, smooth over paper with fingers if you don't have a roller, and let dry a bit before applying Mod Podge to seal, so you don't get bubbles!! I'm sure most of you are going, well yes I could've told you that, but after reading a lot of tutorials that used Mod Podge in the last few months, no one ever mentioned this piece of advice. It wasn't bad the first time around, it's just it was better the 2nd.









I also put small circle felts to the underside to prevent scratches.






I think I like the blue one better, because I really loved the pale blue paper I got.

Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments!!

Thanks for reading!



Like what you see? Consider subscribing: GFC, RSS, email and now Facebook! Just look at the topmost of the right sidebar, the birdies will show you the way :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This project was featured at:


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I party at these parties.If you would like to invite me to your linky party, please do so on my linkies page, thank you!

25 comments:

  1. Love the paper Mod Podged onto the wood. I like the colors of both...but I think that the blue one is just a little prettier :) Great Job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's so fun how you can personalize the caddy for each individual/home. Great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a really cute idea. I like that you were able to do it with stuff you found rather than having to cut the wood yourself and go thru a big hassle. I'm a new follower. I hope you'll stop by my blog some time!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for sharing another great project at Dwell on Fridays!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stumbled upon your great blog and just wanted to leave a comment to invite you to visit my blog and enter my GIVEAWAY! Hope to see you soon =)
    Just Tututiny

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those turned out great! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your caddy turned out really cute! Isn't it crazy how many remotes we have for stuff nowadays. Thanks for linking up.
    Rachel
    adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. this is so clever, I would have never thought to put the two together! I would love you to add this and any other posts you want to show off to my What We Wore and Made party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is such a great idea and super cute!! Remotes are everywhere and it seems like one is always missing! :) Thanks so much for joining us on "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." We loved having you and hope to see you back next Saturday with more great ideas! -The Sisters

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love this!! Amazed how you "married" these two pieces into perfect harmony. And your dad & my dad are soooo alike...I've seen those clamps before! Thank you bunches for linking up with Mop It Up Mondays at ishouldbemoppingthefloor. So happy you could stop by!

    {HUGS},
    kristi

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great idea! I need to make one of these for office supplies!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Featuring this, too. :) Thank you so much for sharing at {wow me} wednesday!

    Ginger @ gingersnapcrafts.com

    http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/2012/02/take-look-at-you-my-favorites_16.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. so nice! Thanks so much for linking up to our Naturally-Nifty Linky Party!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I need to make myself one of these. They're beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  15. They look great - how clever of you!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello!! I totally love this! My husband is a remote whore. Stealing this idea!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi there neighbor, I live in Lachine. Not to many scrapbooking stores around here. Never been to Michael's, gotta get myself down there and get me some good deals. Anyway getting back to the remote caddies, they are both so beautiful, but my favorite is the blue one. TFS.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is such a great idea!! Thanks so much for linking up!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love this idea and made one myself. It's posted on my blog if you'd like to check it out. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Has to be a weirdo in every group and I guess it's me. I LOVE the red one!! Those cute lady bugs!!

    ReplyDelete

I'm so happy you're taking the time to leave me a message! Just make sure you're not a No-Reply Blogger (if you want to check, there's a link to instructions at the bottom of the blog), and if you're entering your Name/URL make sure I have a way of finding an email somewhere on your website, or just include it in your comment :)