Plastic or wooden rulers are helpful to school kids but did you know you can also use them to build shelves? The shelves are so easy to create that even children can make them. When finished, they can be hung on any wall, and can hold stuffed animals, books, statuettes and much more. Paint the rulers or display them in their original condition.
To start the project form a square from four rulers. The ends of the rulers should overlap each other and be glued into place. Hot glue works fine for this project. Next youll need something that you can use for spacers. The spacers will hold each square of rulers up from the previous square.
Spacers can be anything from blocks of wood to bottle caps. Other choices include large, flat beads, pillars of cardboard circles glued together, miniature thread spools or even small spice jar lids. The spacers can be painted or otherwise decorated. Place one spacer on each corner of the square youve created with the rulers. Create another square out of the rulers, overlapping their ends, and gluing them in place. Glue this second square onto the spacers. Add the next set of spacers to the four corners of the second square. Continue adding the squares made from rulers. The amount of squares that looks perfect may vary depending upon the size of spacer you use. Narrow spacers allow you to add many more squares than wide spacers. Use six-inch rulers to make matching wall shelves. Glue the smaller rulers into square shapes, glue the spacers between each square, then hang along with the larger version. Create different looks by turning the smaller shelves in a diamond shape, or by turning all sizes in a diamond shape. Hang one large square on the wall, then a set of three smaller ones, in a vertical manner beside the large one. There are many different arrangements you can create with the cute boxes. The spacers mean, when hung on the wall, the shelves do not have a solid bottom. Therefore, the shelves are unsuitable for displaying certain small items. To create shelves that can hold a larger variety of items use spacers all the way around the rulers rather than just on the corners. Hang the handmade shelves in kids rooms to hold games and toys or in a bathroom to hold towels and toiletries. Display plates, framed photos, collectibles and more. Or, take the craft a step further, and make a decor piece youll treasure. Set the shelves in a diamond or square shape. Place Spanish moss, or even raffia, in the bottom. Glue in silk flowers, leaves and vines. Allow the vines to crawl up the sides of the rulers. Glue on tiny bumble bees, butterflies or other embellishments. This craft can be as simplistic or as creative as you want it to be. Craft stores are full of things you can purchase for the sole purpose of displaying in the ruler shelves. A ceramic lighthouse, a large plastic puppy, or even a cardboard tepee will look great in the ruler box. Dont glue any of the display items to the shelves and you can change the look for any occasion. Create a nativity scene, with the rulers painted, for Christmas. Remove it and set an Easter scene with Easter grass and eggs. If the novelties are set on the shelves, rather than permanently affixed, you can easily change the scene in minutes. Instead of squares you can also make a triangular shape with the rulers. Create the triangle shelves in the same manner as you did with the square ones, leaving out one ruler from each layer. If youve collected quite a few identical rulers over the years its high time you get creative with them. Build some of these fabulous shelves for a room or two in your home.
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