That's a Wrap! How to Build a Gift Wrap & Ribbon Work Station! :-)

I have to admit I have wanted a gift wrapping station for a LONG time, but will also admit I have been using a tote to hide away all my gift wrapping goodies.  I had put my desire for a wrapping station on the back burner when I happened to be back reading some older posts and found this post from Kate @ Centsational Girl.  She is such a crafty lady!  She said she had looked and looked for a organizational center for her wrapping stuff when she realized how talented she was and decided she could build her own... OK, she didn't say the part about her being talented, I added that part because I think she is, but she did come up with a great plan! :-)  I took her idea and added to it a bit.  Hope you like it Kate! :-)

I started out with the same material list: (I got it all at Lowes)
You'll need the following to build the one above.
2' x 4' x 5mm piece of birch plywood $7.94  this is for the back of the organizer
1" x 3" x 8' pine (Kate used poplar, the pine was a bit cheaper so I went with it) You need two. $5.94 (for 2)  This will be used to frame the sides and bottom of the organizer
1/2" x 4" x 2' poplar (1 piece) this is for the middle shelf with the holes $2.94
cup hooks (free for me, I already had them)
9 dowel rods 3/8" x 48"  (Kate used 36"....I'll explain why I got longer ones later) $9.92
2" nails (I had those too)
D rings to hang it up $2.50
primer & paint (I already had these)
Grand Total  $29.24 (much cheaper than the ones I've seen online, plus this one is bigger and built out of real wood)

Ok, I started with this:

First I measured the sides of the plywood and cut my 1" x 3" x 8' pine that length x 2. (one for each side) I pre-drilled the holes for the nails with a drill bit a little smaller than the diameter of the nail. You do this so the wood doesn't split. (nothing worse than starting a project and having the wood split! Yikes!)  After you get the sides nailed on, you measure for the bottom....the space inbetween the two sides. Don't nail that piece in just yet, you'll need to drill some holes partially through it that your dowel rods will rest in.  You should now have a back and two sides all nailed together and your bottom piece loose to drill. Next take a roll of wrapping paper and lay it down inside so you'll know where to install the middle shelf, mark where it will go. (you'll want to make sure it's level before you attach it later) You want it to be a bit higher than the length of the paper. Like this.......

Next I determined where I wanted to place my dowel rods that the paper will slide onto.  The middle shelf is wider than the bottom shelf, so you'll want to make the two pieces of wood flush in the back and hold them together with a couple of clamps so they don't move while you're drilling for your dowel rods. (the wide piece goes on top) You could cut the middle shelf to the same depth as the bottom piece if you want, but I just left it wider so it gave me a little room to put my tape etc on.  You want the holes in the wider piece to go all the way through, but not the holes in the bottom piece.I wanted 7 rolls of paper in my organizer (that's why I got more dowel rods than Kate), so I am drilling seven holes. :-)  Just mark them out on your top (wider) piece, but make sure you're putting them where they'll be centered on the bottom piece too.  See that long line I marked on the wood....it's showing me where the bottom piece of wood is so I'll know where to center the holes on the top piece.

I used a 1/2" drill bit so the 3/8" dowel rod would slide through the holes with ease.  Since I didn't want the drill bit to go all the way through the bottom piece of wood, I held it up against the side and marked where I wanted the drill to stop with masking tape. Once you get to the masking tape, stop drilling and you won't go all the way through the bottom piece of wood.

This is what your wood should look like when you're done.  The wide piece should have the holes all the way through and the narrow, bottom piece, should only be drilled about halfway through. (so your dowels don't fall to the floor!) lol  See the bottom shelf in the background, it only has divets in it, not complete holes. :)

Here's a picture of it after I installed the bottom and middle pieces of wood. (I pre-drilled before installing those too)  The dowels go through the paper and rests in those holes in the bottom piece we didn't drill all the way through.  I put cup hooks on the side pieces of wood and put dowel rods through them to hold all my lovely rolls of colorful ribbon!  The next thing I did differs a little from the original design.  Kate bought shorter dowel rods so hers come a little above the middle shelf, but I bought longer ones (48") because I wanted to be able to stick gift bags behind them.  This works fine as long as you keep your ribbon inbetween the dowel rods.

Here I've primed and painted the whole thing out in white.  Are you all as anxious when you're doing something like this as I am? It's not even on the wall yet and I'm already trying it out! LOL 

I installed D rings on the top corners on the back to be able to hang it.  I made sure I screwed into the side pieces of wood so it would be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the organizer.  I used anchors in my drywall too.

I put all my pretty ribbon on the dowel rods and secured the ends of the ribbons with corsage pins...holds the ribbon in place and makes for a much neater looking organizer. :-)

Here are pictures of the finished product.  After I got it all built and put up on the wall, I decided to add a row of cup hooks on the bottom edge too, I have loads of gift bags!!  I hung it behind my utility room door...totally useless space........until NOW! :)

So this is the finished product....hope you like it! (Kate, how'd I do?! LOL) Oh, I have since moved my curly ribbon bows down into one of my gift bags, I just stuck those there and forgot to move them for the picture. :0)

Blessings & Hugs

Melissa
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