Friday, May 20, 2011

Picket Fence Tutorial

What's up my homies?!?! Happy Friday to you all! I just got back from my morning run/walk and feel GREAT! I am training to run a 5K using Couch to 5k (http://www.c25k.org/) but that's another posting in itself :)

In between crafting, exercising, keeping house, and shuttling the kids I am trying to prepare for my first ever craft fair! I am so excited! I am on a budget and spent most of it on my 10 x 10 pop up tent (which I found a killer deal on http://www.amazon.com/ by the way) so I am trying to be creative with the displays :) I want my booth to be fun and unique not the normal, boring jewelry holder displays. What can I say...I have high expectations and standards! lol  So, I started hitting the thrift stores picking up cool cups and old shelves to refurbish.  While in Ace, I walked by garden stakes and the light bulb went on. How cool would it be to make a little picket fence holder for some of my necklaces?  I ended up having to go to Home Depot also to get the cross arms but its all good :) Now I know I can get all my items at Home Depot and plan to make a few more in different colors to sell at the craft fair!

Here's what I used to make mine:
{5} 1" x 2" x 18" garden stakes (Feel free to choose your own size stake)
{1} 1/4 x 2" x 3" piece of wood (cut into 3 12" pieces - 1 will not be used for this project and don't worry if you don't have wood cutting tools because the guys at Home Depot will be glad to cut it for you free of charge. Note: If you choose to use larger or smaller stakes you will have to size these cross arms accordingly to fit across nicely)
{10} 1" Wire Nails (If you modify your number of stakes you may need more/less of these)
{5} 1-1/2" Masonry Nails (Again if you modify the number of stakes you may need more/less of these - Also, you can use whatever type of nail you would like to use for haning. I chose these for looks but trust me they are HARD to hammer in...I plan to have Big Daddy do this part for me next time!)
{1} Hammer

Optional - Paint, paintbrushes, wire hanger or ribbon for back.

Let's begin!
Organize your stakes and cross arms to your liking.
Use the 1" nails to attach the cross arms to your stakes.
Hammer in the masonry (hanging) nails to your liking.




Paint!



Finished! I will tell you this took me about 1 hour to make ONLY because the masonry nails were HARD to hammer in (kudos to construction guys for doing this on a regulary basis - dang). Also, this project cost me around $10. I bought a box of masonry nails which was $5! Everything else was around $5! I noticed at Home Depot I could get a pack of stakes for what I paid for these 5 at Ace...FYI.  I had paint and brushes on hand so I'm not including that!

Not only can you use this for necklaces but possibly a key ring...really whatever your heart desires! :) This fence does not stand on its own so if you want it to you will have to make an attachable easel or something like that...I am leaning mine so I didn't attach anything.

Hope you have as much fun as I did making this!  More to come on making your craft booth awesome with low funds :)  Have any ideas you would like to share? Please comment or email me below! I would love to hear from you!

6 comments:

  1. That is soooo cute :-) .. 2 questions for you..

    1) .. what makes it stand on it's own?
    2) .. Could you nail your cross arm higher or would it affect the sturdiness? I would like to do something like this but have the cross arm really high and use little screw in hooks on the cross arm so I could hang a dozen or so pendants on it.

    Great Great idea!!!!!

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  2. Coach me through a craft fair, eh??
    i've got one coming up in september.

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  3. LOVE THIS!! It is so cute, I want it just to hang necklaces on on top of my dresser! I think you'll do great. I always stop in booths that are different and not the normal old black velvet jewelry holders. If the seller took the time and creativity to set up her booth well, her items are probably great too!

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  4. @Flutterby Kisses - Great questions! I revised my tutorial a little to reflect your questions but here goes:
    1- Mine has to lean to stand up but I wanted it that way. You will have to make an easel to attach or something along the lines of a picture frame...make sense? I hope so :)
    2- Sure! You can arrange it any way you want. You can add more hanging nails for more products or buy longer stakes too. They have a ton of options!

    Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions!

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  5. @Megan - Sure! I am willing to share what I learn so others may avoid mistakes I have/will make :)

    @Kelli- Thanks! It was so easy! I know you can whip one us! And thanks for the vote of confidence! Jewelry is highly competitive at fairs and the main reason I have avoided doing them but I think the booth will give me an advantage. :) I hope!

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  6. I ADORE this! Seriousness...this is AMAZING. I am going to make one! I might hang it on my wall and put my necklaces on it...I LOVE it that much :)

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