Adventures in Organization (& Power Tools)

     I am the poster child for disorganization. I’m messy. I have always been messy. You know why the url is craftsfromthefloor.blogspot.com? The floor is the only space in the apartment that can contain my mess. 

     That being said, I occasionally crave some organization in my life. Last week was one of those occasions. It was also the week that we were visiting Ohio, which meant that I had access to power tools and plenty of space to spray paint, so I decided to try an idea I'd been kicking around for awhile.

     The result:

     Originally these guys were supposed to be made of toilet paper rolls, but PVC pipe just seemed like a sturdier option. There's probably nothing more heartbreaking than having a craft disintegrate in your hands, so I decide to err on the side of caution.

     I used 2 inch pipe for the shortest section, and 3 inch pipe for the other two. I planned on having it cut at the store, but that didn't work out. The woman who worked there told me that she could only cut the 2 inch pipe, and even then she wouldn't be able to cut it straight since they didn't have a saw.(Apparently I hallucinated the guy slicing up 2x4s in the lumber department.) Then, as if to prove how little she actually wanted to help me, she took the pipe I was holding and hacked a piece off of it. When she finished, both pieces looked like they had been manufactured during an earthquake, so I decided to take my chances at home. Now, your local home improvement store might be more cooperative - this store is notorious for doing whatever the hell they want and making up store policy as they go - but you can also use your own saw. We stuck with a miter saw, and had pretty solid results. Fair warning, it's a messy job. Plastic flies everywhere and you'll definitely want to wear eye protection, but at least your pieces won't look like props from San Andreas.

Love is risking your fingers to help your wife organize her desk.

     No matter where the cutting happens, make sure to sand down the edges. The last thing you want is blood on your office supplies. Make the pipe whatever size you want. I had Chris make mine a little taller than they needed to be and stuffed cardboard slices in the bottom because I like the aesthetic.

We left a lot of room for error. We're pretty aware of our capabilities. 

     Once I had the size I wanted, I used silver spray paint on the top third of each section. After it was dry, I sprayed the bottom with purple. I let it dry and then added a layer of clear coat to keep the sparkles off my desk.

     I wasn't very precise while I painted these pieces, but you could always use painter's tape if you wanted nice lines.

     I also added a magnetic strip around the rim of the shortest section to help me get to paper clips. The strip already had some adhesive on it, but I decided to use super glue to help it out. I have been known to get pretty violent with office supplies when inconvenienced, and I thought the support might help.

Like I said, I need a lot of help with organization.

     When I had all of my pieces ready to go, I arranged them on a round piece of wood from Michael's that I had also spray painted silver. (Have I mentioned that I love spray paint?) When I had the arrangement that I liked, I traced the inside of the pipes with pencil so I knew where to glue everything. 

Using pencil on silver was not my best idea. Feel free to use a writing tool that actually shows up on the surface you pick.

     A few websites that I looked at said to use Liquid Nails to glue the pipes down, but I didn't feel like making two trips to the store (maybe laziness is the root of my disorganization) so I went with hot glue. Honestly, I don't anticipate moving this thing around too much so the hot glue should be ok. If it doesn't work out, I'm sure you'll all be able to hear my rage-filled screams and adjust your crafting accordingly. 

     And normally that would be it. But this time we let the summer carry us away, and decided that we could make this a lot more interesting. So stay tuned for Adventures in Organization Round 2 - Complete with more spray paint, a terrifying bird attack, and a hefty dose of side-scrolling nostalgia.

     Till then. stay clever!