One Morning Hour

Yesterday morning, I got an idea. It spoke to my brain. "I bet that wire garden trellis thingy you stole out of your neighbor's garbage will stand up nicely inside the puzzle cabinet." So, I took an hour and put together this:

You'll have to just deal with the dark and shadowed pictures. It's a deep cabinet, this is as good as it gets, people.

This giant cabinet has always remained closed. In our old house it was the TV palace. In this house, it has been storage. My beloved puzzle storage, to be exact. Here's how it's looked for the last 3 years:

Nice, right? I pulled each puzzle out tenderly and hugged it. Oh, and I counted up my puzzle obsession. Guess how many? 37. 37! What a joy. My goal is 100.

First off, I cleaned it out.

Because this cabinet is so dark, I wanted to lighten it up. On the cheap. So I covered the back with wrapping paper I picked up on clearance at Target.

No fancy skills needed. I just measured and cut. I didn't even care if it fit perfectly. Getting the paper onto the cabinet by myself was a little tricky, but doable. At first, I started with double sided tape. But it wasn't strong enough. So I switched to these scrapbook stickers.

It took 2 sheets to cover the wall. By the second sheet, I discovered that it was easier to put the stickers on the wall first and then lay the paper over the top and smooth it all down.

It's a simple gray and white checked pattern.
Some of the edges had a little trouble sticking, so I just put some of that sticky tak stuff that teachers use, behind those edges.

Then I dusted and decorated.
Everything I had on hand. Because I hoard all things decorating (you should see my closet!).
And yes, I stole this trellis out of my neighbor's garbage after they went to work.

I placed an old window and an empty frame that I painted in the back. The pom poms are just trim from Hobby Lobby. I made the strands of black and white circles that I just draped on the trellis.

The basket is from Goodwill (my fave store evah!) And the feather board I made off an idea I saw somewhere on Pinterest. Child #1 made the sign and I put it in a Goodwill frame. Maybe I should start hiring out to make stuff for other people's homes. Mine is getting mighty full.

One hour and some wrapping paper.

Now I just have to figure out where to store 37 puzzles!