DIY Temporary Shelves

A storm was happening outside when I woke up yesterday - rain pounded against my window and I could hear thunder. The weather simply can't make up its mind in the winter here, it seems. Snowing one day, icing the next, and then a random thunderstorm comes through!

My room is now clean (daylight pictures to follow!) and mostly organized. In the midst of my frantic tossing of yarn over one shoulder and a half-finished project over the other, I realized I need shelves rather badly to help me organize at least part of my craft supplies. Having determined not to spend any money on my room project, I scoured my room and saw two shoeboxes that were perfect! They are both larger than the average shoebox, they are made of thicker cardboard, and, once decoupaged, would make a fantastic set of shelves for some lightweight storage.

This project is perfect for those of you out there who are in the same boat as me: thrifty, living in a rental or apartment, and looking for some cheap, temporary storage that doesn't look too bad (and could bring out the crafty side in you!). Here's how to make them.

You'll need: 
1., 2 shoe boxes, 2., White glue OR matte Mod Podge, 3., Paintbrush, 4., Water, and the decoupage paper of your choice (I used a mixture of newspaper and white construction paper)

How to do it:

Lay out your boxes on your newspaper and get everything ready to go!

Tear up your paper into different-sized pieces.

Coat one side of a shoe box with your glue using the paintbrush. Feel free to dilute the glue with a little bit of water to thin it out.

Start placing bits of paper on the shoe box in random order. Don't feel like you have to cover up all of the box for this first layer - you'll be filling in the blanks and layering as the project goes on.

Keep layering the bits of paper with more glue until the entire side of the box is covered. Repeat this technique for all four sides of the box, making sure to wrap some pieces inside the front to cover up whatever color the shoe box originally was (in this case lilac purple and navy blue)

Let the 'shelves' dry completely and admire!

Now you can hang them wherever you want. I used clear thumbtacks, one in each upper inner corner, to fasten my shelves to the wall. 

Now fill your shelves! Quick tip for ya: these shelves are NOT for heavy items! They are perfect for skeins of yarn, light, decorative knick-knacks and the like, but definitely not for books, glassware, etc. I chose to store my skeins of mercerized cotton in my shelves to add a pop of color to my walls (and free up much-needed storage space elsewhere). 

Cute, huh? I was really happy with the way these turned out. They added even more of a handmade flair to my room, and they were easy to make. Try decoupaging these with colorful magazine scraps, bits of tissue paper, scrapbook paper - whatever! These shelves are great for temporary spaces because they're exactly that: temporary! Meaning you can just toss them whenever you move out. Enjoy!