I have a spontaneous DIY post today (so spontaneous, I only have iPhone photos!)! This one is interesting for anyone who sews :) I took home this small empty cardboard box from work today (it held the rolls of receipt paper for the card reader thingy) and noticed it was the perfect height to store spools of thread!

Just a few days ago I bought a "spool box" at the fabric store that holds 12 spools of thread in a nice small plastic box with a lid. And because it cost me 7.50 Swiss Francs I immediately tried to figure out how I could make something myself, because I definitely have more than 12 spools!

But only tonight when I was at the office and I was thinking of going out and buying little wooden rods and figuring out how I could best attach them, it hit me - nails. Well of course they didn't actually hit me (fortunately), but you know what I mean. So I found some nails in the "toolbox closet" at the office I share with my dad and his business partner, and got started!

Using the spool box I bought, I measured the distance between the rods (for me it was 2.3 cm), and divided the measurements of my box by that number to figure out how many rows and columns I would have. I ended up with 40 (8 rows, 5 columns)!! I mapped out the placement of the nails at the bottom of the box and then pushed the nails through. The nails I had on hand were just long enough, but I might go out and buy longer ones just to make sure everything stays in place. I didn't use glue, my cardboard was thick enough (2 layers) but it definitely wouldn't hurt if you want to try it!

So I ended up with the box above and thought "how can I make this look pretty?". My new answer to that question is now always: chalboard contact paper. Seriously, I'm a little obsessed. Sarai from Colette Patterns posted about this amazing craft supply when she made boxes for her sewing needles, something I totally copied from her after I found chalboard contact paper at my hardware & craft store (I couldn't believe they had it! In Switzerland!). I now want to put this stuff on everything. I mean, how amazing is this stuff? It turns anything into a chalboard (well, kind of)!! A plain old box becomes a box and a chalkboard. A boring notebook becomes a notebook and a chalkboard. A table becomes a table and a chalkboard. A lamp shade becomes a lampshade and a chalkboard. Ok, I think you get the point so I'll stop before I go to far (bed frames? cans? telephones? laptops?). Maybe we should just stick to boxes for now:

I used a chalk marker to write and draw on my box, I'm not sure how well actual chalk would work. I know I went a little crazy just now about chalkpaper, but in all seriousness, I think it can really help create a uniform look when it comes to DIY storage options: more appealing than different shades of brown and grey cardboard, and you can re-label the boxes if needed!