DIY Magazine Book Holder

10.01 in acne, book, diy, holder, magazine, my, Paid, story

Seeing as I go back to college tomorrow, Ive set myself the goal of becoming more organised. Ive even already bought myself a diary for next year! Not too sure how long it will last though. 

But over the past few weeks Ive gathered together empty cereal boxes to do a DIY I saw on pinterest ,in order to organize my drawers, and as I had a few left over I decided to make something else. Originally, my aim was to join 2 together and make it wide enough to hold all 3 folders, but it turned out the cereal boxes werent long enough. So, I still joined 2 together but instead opted to store books and my diary - my camera also nicely fits in the front too.

You will need :

• 2 Cereal boxes, of similar height
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Something to cover your work surface
• Your choice of decoration(s) - paint, decorative paper, ribbon etc

1. First of all, cut down the middle of the back and along the bottom of your box, so you are able to fully open it out.

2. Next cut off all the tabs on the top (the end which the box was opened from when in use).

3. Then cut of 2 strips from the back, so you are left with 2 tabs.

4. Glue the bottom of the box back together.

5. Repeat the steps above to your other box. Next decide how wide you want the holder to be and place a strip of glue along the bottom outer edge of one of the boxes and slip your other box onto it.

6. Then glue down the inner and outer tabs on both sides. (I forgot to do one side which made it a bit difficult to cut neatly in the next step).

7. Next, measure how big you want you front section and cut down to the marked line.

8. You could go ahead and decorate at this point or shape your holder. Personally I chose to give mine a curved edge. 

9. Decorate and your done! 

This is a really easy and simple DIY that can be easily customised to fit the style you want. You could decorate it by painting, decoupage, gluing paper, a whiteboard or chalkboard sticker. I opted for sticking some decorative paper I found in my crafty box, along with some lace ribbon stickers and a small chalkboard sticker. Im surprised I didnt turn to using my trusty option of wallpaper samples!

Hopefully this brings me a step closer to being more organized. Are you an organized person?

Successful organizing is based on the recognition that people get organized because they, too, have a vision. - Paul Wellstone

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Mmmm Blackberries

23.48 in blackberries, book, diy, holder, magazine, mmmm, Paid

After 2 or 3 weeks of damp and miserable weather, it was nice to open our curtains to clear blue skies and glorious sun for the last week of summer. As Ive seen full, ripe blackberry bushes all over the place, and on my summer bucket list I stated I want to visit a pick your own berry farm, I thought instead Id do it in the wild. So with the walking boots on and tubs in our hands, me and my brothers headed up onto the moors to forage for berries.

The short cut way onto the moors is up the dreaded 100 steps, well I think theres 100, I usually give up counting as instead Im gasping for my breath.

Its safe to say we dont need to be popping to the shops to buy blackberries for a while! The majority of them have been frozen so we can dip into them when we like. Hopefully, Im going to use some for baking purposes - Ive already made a delicious apple and blackberry crumble. Id have to say crumble is definitely a favourite comfort food of mine. A blackberry and lemon tray bake, blackberry and apple loaf and a blackberry cheesecake are all on my list. Mmmm, Im hungry just thinking about them! 

Whats your favourite way to use blackberries?

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