DIY Hexagon Shelf

I've been wanting to hot glue gun something for some time now and after seeing this from YouTube, I wanted to try it out for myself. I started this project not knowing where I and if I would use it, but glad that I did try. I couldn't go out to buy large popsicle sticks for this project because we had a looooong holiday, so I rummaged my mom's classroom for some. Haha.

First is glue together 3 sticks that will make half of your hexagon.

I tried different techniques but the best one I got, to make a symmetrical shape, is layer your 2nd half on top of the first one you made. Not gluing them together, but just using it as a guide so that when you lay the 2 halves side by side, they are perfectly pantay.

And then glue the 2 parts together.

Glue sticks alternately so that it will be level once you're done. Continue adding sticks until it's the thickness / depth you like.

I used 10 sticks on each side, for a total of 60 sticks per hexagon shelf. You can of course do this with bigger sticks so that the space inside will be bigger too. Or you can paint your sticks to your color of choice as well. I wanted the raw wood look so I stayed with this one.

I squealed a little when I tried to make it stand on its own and it did :)) At this point, I still had no idea what I want to do with these until...

I already had 5. Haha. I could improve more on the shape, I know :)) I looked around my room hoping to find a place for these babies and thought of putting it up with my current photo display.

I'm someone who DIY's without planning too much and just goes where a certain project will lead me. Hence the photo below :))

I texted this photo to the boyfriend and he was like, hmmm it's not right :))) I then thought of using a black & white fabric I recently purchased from ukay-ukay. I grabbed the thickest paperbag I have (relative to the other bags in my stash) and thought of covering it with the said fabric.

I cut them into hexagon shapes too.

I actually ended up with three pieces, I used another paper bag for the third one. And covered it with this fabric using hot glue.

And it ended up looking like this!

Ha! Too many hexagons but I like the difference it made in my room. I just recently placed the chest drawer against that wall and I thought that it deserved to be upgraded even in a simple way. I just used sticky tack to attach each hexagon shelf to the wall. I love how sturdy it turned out to be. As of posting, and it's been a week now, none of the shelves fell down. Whew.

I know there's a lot to tidy up in the construction part but it was fun to make these and get this kind of result so I didn't care anymore :)) So this is now my new morning view...

And a fun before and after!

DIY Frames

We recently finished our school cafeteria and I wanted to make something for the blank walls. I didn’t want to spend for artworks so I asked my hobbyist boyfriend if I could use some of his film photos, and he of course agreed (thanks, babe!).

I wanted 3 A3 size portrait prints and 6 square (instagram-ish) prints. I researched for ways to layout a gallery wall but I didn’t want anything too fancy or I was scared that I won’t be able to pull it off. Therefore, after choosing my favorite photos, I decided on a simple layout and made a sample of it in Photoshop.

I also canvassed for frames but I couldn’t bear the thought of spending Php300.00 or more for each frame, or having to spend close to Php3,000.00 for all 9 frames.

Although I didn’t really know if I could do it, I highly considered the option to do it myself. Without giving myself some time to think twice, I jumped in our van and asked our driver to bring me to our local hardware. I bought a couple of wood pieces (I have no idea what I was doing! Hahaha) and I think they were 1x1/2x12’s or something. I promise to take note of these details for future projects. There’s always a first for everything. And there’s always some sort of  booboo on your first (haha!).

On a separate trip to the mall for a work errand, I dropped by Ace Hardware to find liquid nails. I found this on another blog who did a little project for her cabinets and I thought that’s perfect for me who has no experience whatsoever with tools or constructions materials.

On a trip to MC Home Depot with my mom and sister to buy light bulbs for our cafeteria, I was secretly searching for tools I saw on engineeryourspace’s YouTube tutorials. I knew there was no turning back with my plans when I found them. I asked my mom if she could buy me the tools and she easily agreed. I was surprised she did and I asked why. She said, “Okay lang yan, mukhang masaya ka naman.” (It’s okay, you look happy anyway). Ha! I am thankful for a mom who supports my ventures even if she finds them weird. I know she’s probably thinking I’ll ask help along the way and she just wants me to experience it. But the real point, I could finally get started!

I printed the photos on our Epson T1100 printer. (So sorry for the messy work table)

Starting with the A3 prints, I made some sort of template using white folder which I thought may also serve as matting for the photos. I tried using illustration board at first but the cut wouldn’t be clean and neat so I didn’t want that. I glued the corners of the cut pieces together and had this:

I’ll use this template later on for building the frame itself but I made 3 of these already so I don’t have to go back to this step when I need the matting. I then proceeded to building the frames. Or at least trying to build them hehe.

I used the template to determine how long every piece of wood needs to be. Essentially, it should be longer than your template if you want some matting. I used the miter box to guide me cut straight lines and perfect angles.

After cutting a few pieces, it got me really tired having to hold the miter box and wood in place, at the same time cutting through it. I again headed to Ace Hardware to buy a clamp. Best decision of this project so far. After a few hours, I finally finished cutting all the pieces I needed!

I then sanded everything. I love the instant gratification sanding gives. Haha.

I proceeded with gluing all the sides together. After gluing, I also stapled all the corners just to add strength.

And then following the same process, I made square frames as well. 6 of them. (I apologize for the blurry iPhone photos)

I let these dry overnight and I’m pleased with how sturdy they turned out to be. The frames aren’t perfect. Some were not even, some had glue sticking out (haha, I did have a short lecture from my father what I should have and should not have done) but bottom line is, I did everything by. My. Self. And I’m pretty proud of that!

It was then time to stain them. I bought wood stain in American Walnut and paintbrush from Ace Hardware (I obviously love this store), laid out all the frames, and stained away.

These completely dried for a few days because I hid them inside our stock room. It’s a good thing anyway because real work got in the way. But I love how it all turned out! And then it’s finally time to install the pictures. To stick the photo onto the template, I used a double sided tape and placed it all around the inner edge of the matting. I did this to ensure that all sides of the photo are securely in place.

Here are the square prints all with matting:

And for the final step of installing it onto the frame, I just used paper tape and secured the back.

And the finished product! Can you spot which one is crooked/uneven?

I did the square frames a bit small so the matting didn’t turn out to be as wide as I imagined them to be. But at this point, any booboo wouldn’t, in any way, compare to the happiness I have from building all these frames from scratch. For a first time, I think these aren’t bad at all.

I’m so excited to hang these and brag about them for a few months. Haha! Here are the A3 prints on their assigned wall, temporarily resting on the bar table. I'm so happy!