A Fancy New Rack

Here is another project from Ana White. I was perusing her amazing plans and came across this dress-up rack from guest Craftiness Is Not Optional and got all inspired.

After a few tweaks to personalize it, I made the trip to Lowe’s to get the materials. This project was super easy, and you could make it more simple if you didn’t have a jigsaw.

What I bought:

(1) 1x10x12 *Top Choice Pine. I had the guy at Lowes cut it into 3 equal pieces (48″).
(1) 1x8x8 *Top Choice Pine. Again, I had this one cut in half (48″)
(1) 4′ Poplar closet rod

*And let me just say, “Top Choice” lumber should be renamed “Crappiest Choice” since you have to do a fair share of sifting through the boards to find ones that aren’t riddled with giant knots or warped and twisted.

Total cost was around $25. I bought one long board since it was cheaper than a couple of smaller 1x10s and there would be less waste.

But “Top Choice” fits my budget. I’m not interested in solid oak with fifty coats of varnish. Not creating a family heirloom, just a solution to the piles of princess stuff all over the place. Ava is in her prime princess dress-up stage right now, and the volume of dresses, tiaras, and wands seem to triple overnight.

So after I stared at the wood, I decided the magic number was forty-four. Forty-four inches long and forty-four inches wide. Short enough that Ava would still be able to hang her clothes by herself, and wide enough to fit everything. I cut all the pieces to that length.

Then came the artsy part. I wanted a little whimsy in the design so I chose a Fleur de Lis pattern for the top ends of the rack; a little fancy, a little princessy, and a little fun at the same time. I rough sketched a pattern (fold a piece of paper in half, draw half the design, cut, and voila, perfect mirror image) and traced it on to the wood.

I used my jigsaw to cut it out. Another awesome gift from Santa from what I like to call the “Year of the Tools.” My husband knows me so well.

Then I lined up that board on my other end piece and traced the pattern. Two boards later and a little sanding, my rack was ready to be put together. I assembled the pieces following the plan instructions.

Using a countersink bit to make sure the screw heads along the bottom wouldn’t scratch my floors.

For the closet rod, I measured down the center the same distance on each end, marked, and pre-drilled the holes. I put a little glue on the ends of the rod to give it a little stick while I drove the first screw on the first side so it would hold still for me. For the other end, I drove my screw through the 1×10 and left a little poking out to catch the rod and hold it still while I used a level to make sure it was in place. Then I drove the final screw.

I used a little wood filler, primed, and painted. I also added three hooks on one end to hold all of the necklaces that my daughters like to tangle into one big giant ball.

Next, I used my Cricut and some patterned paper to make the word “Imagine” (I saw this on someone else’s and loved it), I also cut out a few butterflies too. Font cartridge is Cindy Loo. The last step was decoupaging the word with a little Mod Podge. *I placed the butterflies right over the screw holes that showed on the ends.

Seriously, what can’t the Cricut do?

It turned out lovely! And best of all, my kid can hang her stuff up all by herself, she has plenty of room underneath for her accessories, and the whole thing is so darn cute.

It’s a party! I linked up with these fabulous ladies: