Thread Rack - Office Organization Part 1 - AS SEEN ON STUDIO 5

Free Templates Below

After several years of being in a cramped bedroom office, shared with the treadmill and no room to spare, I was so excited to have more space of my own so that I didn't have to take over the dinning room table every time I was working on a project.

Since I had been used to limited space, all my supplies were stored away in bins and containers in the closet, and my thread bin was bursting at the seams. With all the threads jumbling around in the box together, the threads became a heap of tangles and I had to hack my way through with scissors every time I needed a different color. I wanted better organization and quicker access with out cluttering up my office.

I searched every where I could think of online and in-store for a nice looking thread rack and came up empty handed.  I wanted a statement piece that was also functional, but at the same time I really wasn't interested in investing much time or money in to the project so I made it as simple as possible.

What  you need:

Supplies:
- Balloon Sticks
- Foam Core
- Free Template (or Wrapping Paper/Fabric or other decorative covering)
- Picture Frame (Mine came from Hobby Lobby, 50% off $30, so it was a steal at $15 and already painted)

Tools:
- Hot Glue Gun
- Craft Knife
- Craft Spear (piercing tool)
- Mechanical Pencil
- ATG Tape or other adhesive

(I will let you in on a secret, ATG Tape Gun, typically used for Picture Matting and Framing....works amazingly well for so many craft projects, and you don't have all the fumes and mess from spray adhesive.)


Directions:

1. Cut the foam core to size to fit your frame. The Hobby Lobby frame shown in the picture has a picture size of 16"x20"

(Quick tip, when cutting foam core make sure you have a good ruler. I prefer my thick plastic quilting ruler. Also it is best to use a new or sharp blade. Cut the foam core through a series of passes. The first pass is just to score the top layer of paper. The second pass with be guided by the track the initial score created. Continue passing over the cut line a total of 3 or 4 times or more if needed to make sure you cut all the way through.)

2. Cover with paper of your choice. If you use your own paper, use the blank template below. If you want one of the chevron designed papers there are multiple colors to choose from.
2A. If you use the printable chevron simply trim off white perimeter border. The pages tile left to right, top to bottom with Page 1 starting in the upper left corner. When tiled together it will be just short of 16x12 as long as your printers white margins are 1/4" or less.

3. Mark Grid using blank grid template or choose from an assortment of colors with the free printable patterned template. (The grid is lightly marked on the patterned templates.)

4. If you are using the balloon sticks cut to size, about 3"

5.Use Craft Spear to punch initial hole, and then use mechanical pencil tip to widen the hole just enough to fit craft stick inside.

6. Squirt dot of hot glue into hole.

7. Place stick in hole and make sure it is straight. Hold in place till glue is set.

8. Repeat #'s 5-7 till all the craft sticks have been placed

9. Put completed rack into frame and hang.

Template Downloads:
Gray
Turquoise
Yellow
Red
Navy
Pink