Craft Room Ideas and Organization: Creative Wall #1

This is step 1. There are five parts to this craft room organization wall project: Organize Your Tools; How to Make a Gift Wrap Organizer; How to Make a $20 Photo Studio; How to Add Crown Molding to a Craft Wall.

I have been a little off schedule since I last posted. I wish I could tell you that I have been hard at work on my craft room organization making the “Creative Wall” in the Studioffice, but last week’s weather was a gift and I headed outside to enjoy it. I was also away over the weekend, which doesn’t help when you have projects lined up and waiting to be completed.

But honestly, the real reason why I haven’t gotten further on the wall is my oldest who has been with the Peace Corps living in Africa the past two years – is home!  Her service is over.  Instead of doing the wall,  I have been hanging out with her – helping her get acclimated back into civilization.  She is even letting me give her lots of hugs and kisses -that won’t last too much longer though :(  She will be living at home for a while until she leaves for medical school in the fall, so I wanted to spend some time with her before she gets busy herself.

Yesterday – life settled back down and I got back to working on the wall.

Here is as far as I got – frames made and primed.  I have them leaning against the wall as they still need a coat of paint before I hang them on the wall.

I went to Lowes to pick out the molding I wanted to use for the frames. I like the detail of this casing. It is MDF.

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I also went to Walmart to pick up a few cans of my favorite caulk. The only other place I have ever found ALEX PLUS Easy Caulk with the nozzle is Home Depot. If you read my bathroom makeover post- How To Paint and Caulk Board and Batten, you may remember that I refer to this DAP ALEX PLUS Easy Caulk as the Easy Cheese caulk.  No caulk gun needed.  My hands are small and I find this can a fast and easy way to apply caulk in a perfect line, plus it is easy to store until you need it again. No waste.

How To Make Frames with Wood Molding:

I used a miter saw to cut the molding. I set it up outside on my deck where there was an electrical outlet and sunshine.  Since the Giftwrap frame needed to be 33 1/2 – inches wide to hold the giftwrap horizontally, I used that as my frame width measurement. I made the frames 40-inches high. I used the same measurement for the Photo Studio frame to keep the wall symmetrical  The center Tool frame size was determined by how much room I had left between the other two. It is a bit narrower.

When cutting molding for frames – set the saw to a 45 degree angle.  You also want to make sure that you place each piece of molding you are about to cut into the saw the same way.  I put the higher profile side of the molding to the back. I checked this placement before each cut.  After you cut one end at 45 degrees you have to move the blade to the other side of the saw at 45 degrees.  Then measure and make your cut.

Left and right 45 degree miter cuts

Once I had all the wood cut –

1. I sanded each cut edge.

2. Applied wood glue to each cut edge and laid them on a flat surface. Matched each piece up into a frame and let them dry.

3. You can use weights or clamps to hold the joints together if needed.

I used food cans as weights to hold the joints in place while they dried.

Some of the mitered cuts lined up perfectly when I glued the joints together– like the one below on the left. The one on the right would not line up – that is when I reached for the ALEX PLUS Easy Caulk and let it do its magic.

You can see my old bottle. I  have had it for a long time – that is one of the reasons I love this stuff – no waste and it is good for small projects. The nozzle is so easy to remove to clean out with hot water.  I save the cut tips from old cans in a plastic bag– each with a different size angled cut for thick or thin applications.  This way I can change the tips for different applications with the same can.  After applying the caulk all of my not-so-perfect joints look like a pro did them.

The joint Before and After the application of Alex Plus Easy Caulk.  It takes about 2 hours to dry before you can paint over it.

For easy application:  Cut the nozzle at a 45° angle with a pair of scissors.  For the frame joints I cut the opening small so only a thin bead of caulk comes out. If you have a wider joint, you can make the 45° angle cut bigger.

Like I said above – applying it is as easy as putting on Kraft Easy Cheese on a cracker.  Press the nozzle down and into the joint. It is best to push the caulk ahead of the nozzle to ensure that it gets into the joint for a proper seal.  I use a wet finger or ice cube to smooth it and press it into the joint and a damp paper towel to wipe away any excess.

If doing a large scale project – you can go with the classic caulk gun application and tube of ALEX PLUS caulk.

Once I had all the joints caulked, I placed them outside on the concrete patio in my back yard. It is the largest flattest place I could find.  While the caulk dried, I cut cardboard to fit inside the Photo Studio frame, and pegboard to fit the Tools frame. I then painted the pegboard with white spray primer.

I also covered the cardboard with quilt batting and fabric and used packaging tape to secure it on the back side  of the cardboard.

I used a staple gun and 1/2 -inch heavy duty staples to attach the fabric insert to the back of the frame. Make sure your staples are not too long so they don’t go through the front of the frame.

Once the caulk is dry, I may have to sand a few of the corners and add a bit more caulk to make them as perfect as possible.  I prefer DAP ALEX PLUS Easy Caulk, but it comes in tubes and squeeze bottles also, so whatever your caulking preference – DAP has you covered.

I first discovered ALEX PLUS Easy Caulk 10 years ago when I made-over my kitchen. I used a lot of trim and wood in that makeover and ALEX PLUS Easy Caulk made all the difference in how well the kitchen came out. I have been using it ever since. It is my go-to caulk.  It is a superior quality, all-purpose acrylic latex that can be used indoors and out. It is paintable with both latex and oil based paints, and has a waterproof seal. When used in decorative and home improvement painting projects, DAP ALEX PLUS seals around baseboards, trim and molding, filling gaps. It makes all of my wood molding projects look like a professional did them.

I plan on painting the frames today and will have an update to show you more craft room ideas and organization tips on Friday.

**Here are the completed segments: Organize Your Tools; How to Make a Gift Wrap Organizer; How to Make a $20 Photo Studio; How to Add Crown Molding to a Craft Wall.

Other places you can find me this week:

My Colortopia – Tips and Tricks & Dealing With Disasters

Mom It Forward – How to Stencil a Wall With a Royal Design Studio Stencil

Momtastic – DIY Art That Even Your Kids Can Do