DIY Tuesdays: 2 in 1 Rolodex
Why 2 in 1, you ask?
Using the same material (mini wooden drawers) you can make two different wedding related projects. The first one I am going to show you today is a rolodex, that can be used as escort cards, guest book “advice”, … you name it, you can use it. Since there are 9 drawers, you can use this “rolodex” for all the mentioned above.
What you’ll need (this will cover two different projects):
– Ikea Fira wooden boxes
– spray paint or varnish
– color cardstock
– alphabet stickers
– paper cutter
– x acto knife
– round corner paper punch
– 1 sheet of foam board
– spray adhesive
– scrap fabric
– silk flower
– glue gun
– wire (any type of wire that’s not too stiff to work with)
– needle and thread
Before starting on this project, you’ll need to mount the box. That way you can measure, trace on the foam board and check your progress.
Step 1: Print sheets of cardstock with fun patterns such as lined and graph printable paper (can be downloaded for free here. I printed each sheet of cardstock with a different pattern (music paper, isometric graph paper, octagon paper, etc). I also printed faux antique maps from here (I specially liked the Atlantis and 1600’s Greenland maps). I also used fun dingbats and swirls from Dafont.com and free printables from Martha Stewart website.
Step 2: Each rolodex card is 3.75″ x 2″. So each 8.5″x11″ sheet makes 10 cards. Cut it with a paper cutter, then use round paper punch to cut the corners ( the letter tabbed cards can’t be paper punched though). Each rolodex letter tab is 3.75″ with a tab 2.5″ tall (the actual tab is 1/2″x1/2″). Use a x acto knife to cut out the tabs.
Step 3: Place the letter stickers on the tabs.
Tip:you can take the quick route and order blank business cards (it’s the perfect size for these drawers) or get paint chips from Home Depot (or use both: colorful paint chips for the letter tabs and the blank cards to use as escort cards).
Step 4: Send them to your calligrapher to write your guests’ names. If you’re having a big wedding, divide the rolodex in two or more drawers (there are 9 total). You can also get creative and use the remaining drawers as a guest book wish bowl or as a bridal shower “recipe and advice” file drawer. It’ll make a great memento box!
Next week I will show you another project using the remaining material from the mini drawers – nothing went to waste on this project!