Kaisercraft Large Desk Organizer

And now for something completely different! Last weekend at my local stamp store, Stampers!, I spied a tiered organizer from Kaisercraft. I have been looking for something to house my Cuttlebug plates within easy reach of my machine. This seemed just the ticket. This is what it looks like, out of the package and assembled:

Here is what I created with some designer paper and metal sheets.

The assembled unit measures approximately 11" x 12" x 7" (33cm wide x 28cm high x 17.5cm) deep. It is made of MDF, and the three drawers are a heavy cardboard - akin to bookboard. It comes flat and shrinkwrapped, so I first assembled it to make sure all the pieces were there and that they fit together. It fits by slotting short appendages into strategically placed holes. Once it was all together, I could see the portions that would need paper and the edges that would need paint. I painted the exposed surface edges with Olive Green Lumiere paint. 

I determined there needed to be some gluing of the backboard to the sides, but there was a bit too much of a gap on one side for glue to do the job. This meant I had to get out The Tools!

I used an awl to poke a small hole in the MDF and, using the bent pliers, seated a 1/2 inch brad nail (like a small finishing nail) in the hole and then tapped it in with my T!m Holtz hammer. The bent pliers worked very well. Regular pliers would, too, but I purchased these bent ones a long time ago for a craft class - AND THEN NEVER NEEDED THEM - (why do instructors ask you to purchase things you will not need?) so I am always looking for an excuse to use them to justify the purchase.

I then covered the sides and back with coordinating designer papers. To cover the three cube drawers, I embossed some dark brown Ten Seconds Studio metal sheets in my Cuttlebug, and sanded the high areas to reveal silver. I eschewed too much ornamentation as I want this to be practical, not frou frou-ey.

Here is the sheet of paper that comes in the packaging, to give you an idea of another way to dress this up without painting the surface edges.

And here is the best part of all - it really works as a station to hold my Cuttlebug A, B and C plates, as well as a metal shim sheet and two embossing pads. They all fit in the middle tier. The back tier holds the Letraset adhesive I use on die cuts, plus longer die cutting plates. The front tier currently holds the few recent cards I made, but I may put some embossing folders there instead. I do not know what I will put in the drawers, maybe those really small embossing folders from Cuttlebug that are about 2 inches square. The Cuttlebug border embossing folders would store well in the lowest long drawer. It seems quite sturdy and already has proven handy, so I am pleased with this project!