Questions Answered about the Ribbon Holder

Sorry about the lack of posts this week.  I just returned from a vacation with my family to Island Park in Idaho.  What a fun time! 

I was pleasantly surprised to come back to find that I had been featured on several blogs, that I had gained 11 new followers, AND that my blog has reached over 10,000 views!!!!  Holy Moly!!!  I am honored, really.

In my inbox, I had several people ask me questions about my ribbon holder and I will try to answer them as best as I can, but if I don't answer them entirely, pa-lease just let me know and I would be happy to help you out.

The most commonly asked question is what I used for the thread pegs, and the second most asked question is how does it all function.  I am now sorry that I didn't take step by step pics, but I will try my best to expain (without having to make another one.)

*To make this, I bought three of these from IKEA, but you could do the same thing with a 1X8 piece of wood (It would probably cost less.)
*Buy some wood dowels.  I purchased mine from Lowe's for a dollar I think.  They come in all sorts of sizes.  I think I ended up buying either 1/4" or 1/2" diameter.  Just look at the diameter of the dowel and think about how big it could be and still go through the thread or ribbon.

*I bought a couple of pieces of lathe for 50 cents a piece.  (I used it to go around the top and bottom of the box to make it look nicer)

*Lastly, I bought a package of bead board from Lowe's.  It has a bunch of pieces of bead board in the package for about $11.00 total. 

First of all, I cut one of the shelves exactly in half.  The two halves will be used as the sides and the other two shelves will be used for the top and bottom.

Second, I cut the one of the dowels into three inch pieces for the thread to go on.  If you space them 2 inches apart like I did, then you will need 14 of these.

Before you assemble the IKEA shelves into a box, drill holes in the bottom shelf that are the same size as the dowels you bought.  IMPORTANT**** the holes should NOT go all the way through.  Just drill half way through the board.  I put the holes towards the front part of the board so that I would still have room to put the ribbon behind the thread.  

Third, make a box out of the four pieces by screwing them together.  (I like to use screws just so that it will stay together a little better.  Just be careful not to split the wood.  If it sounds or feels like it is cracking, back the screw out and try again.  It also helps to make sure that you are pushing down with the drill.)  After the box is made, add the thread dowels by putting a drop of wood glue into the hole and then putting the dowel in.  It should be a tight squeeze.

Fourth, I drilled holes in the sides for the dowels that would hold my ribbon.  Drill competely through the board for this part.  This is how the whole thing works.  This way, the dowel goes all the way through both sides.  When you want to add more ribbon or take one off, just slide it through one side and easy peasy, it works!  When you cut the dowel for the ribbon, add two inches to the length of the shelf so that the dowel will hang out the sides.  You don't want the dowel to slide out on its own.  There is enough room to add three dowels for ribbon.  I only added three because I didn't have more ribbon than that.  It is nice to know that I can buy more and have a place to store it though :)

Fifth, I simply added lathe to the front and sides.  Just cut to size so that the front piece goes in front of the side pieces.  Trust me, it looks better that way.  Then use little finishing nails to add it on.  The wood isn't very heavy, so it will stay on just fine.

Sixth, cut the bead board to size and add to the back.  I could have turned the bead board the other way and not had to cut as much, but I like the way it looked with the lines going up and down.  (This was all done before I had an electric saw.  It was a TON of work!)  I also used nails on this part.

Last, I caulked all of the seams with paintable caulk and then spray painted it.  I used a satin black spray paint.  Make sure to spray paint your dowels the ribbon goes on as well.

There you have it.  A detailed step by step of how it is all done.

I hope this helps answer all of the questions, but like I said before, please let me know if there are other questions.  I love to be able to help!