Christmas Storage

A while ago, while still in Dubai, I had recognized the need for proper storage for our Christmas decor. Lynda and I were habituated to getting ornaments from 'The One' at the post Christmas sales and we wanted to store them nicely as opposed to being thrown in a bag and stuffed away somewhere only to be be pulled out the next year, damaged.

With little or no budget, I decided to utilize the boxes that the spares were shipped in. I have three boxes in total. The one for the crib is purpose built to size, but the other two have been modified to suit.

The Crib Box made from 1/4" MDF. The cardboard box contains the figurines

One of the shipping containers is configured as upright storage and for bulk decor and larger ornaments. There are two drawers that fit one over the other and rest a foot off the base. This allows, boughs and wreaths to be placed at the base of the box. I fitted handles that we salvaged from bulk welding spools and cheap casters make for easy mobility.

The box looks bad from the outside, but keeps everything clean on the inside

The first layer with the ornaments wrapped in tissue paper

Second layer

The base with the loose boughs

The third box was configured to act like a chest of drawers. I used the covers of the boxes that held our printer papers as they were sized well to hold the ornaments. I used three boxes in the last level to hold bigger ornaments. The drawer holders are brazing rods held in place by 1/4" plywood. Simple really.

The move from Dubai to Bahrain and then to Canada took it's toll on the exterior

First look at the inside

Some of the 'drawers' pulled out

A look at the inside showing the construction detail

And finally, all of the ornaments laid out while decorating the tree.

This Organised!!

It's so amazing to have the shed all wired up. I can now work in it and confine my mess to one place instead of it being all over the house. I have music and heat. What more could one want.

It was now time to get all of my tools in place so that they have a specific position within the shed as well as being within easy reach. The space between 2 studs now holds dedicated shelves that were drilled out using a pegboard as a template for accurate spacing. These hold an assortment of screwdrivers that I have collected over the years as well as a set that I bought when I arrived in Canada. The shelves are angled slightly forward to make it easy to remove and put back the screwdrivers.

Tomorrow more shelves....

Finally everything in place

Vac Job - Organizational P0rn

In my previous post I blogged about getting a briefcase to hold the components of the Car Vac Kit. The briefcase was exactly what I wanted, but I knew (deep down in my heart) that it lacked that certain 'je ne sais quoi'

A few (like 1) seconds of soul searching and voila (pardon my French) there lay the answer. I needed a place to hold everything in place regardless of the orientation of the briefcase.

Is this necessary??? Why so many questions?? What is this??? Guantanamo???

Anyhoo. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I scrounged around the house and sheds for raw lumber. Found what I needed. I then cut 2" lengths of 1 1/4" dowel. I had some 2 x 2 lumber lying around which I proceeded to profile as closely as possible to the interior of the briefcase.

I then drilled and countersunk the base and the dowels to accept 2" screws.

All the components cut to size lined up

We have lasers!!!!

Screwed!

Glued!

Organised!!!

I then glued and fitted the dowels to the base, painted the entire unit black and whacked it into place in the briefcase. The entire job took me under an hour to complete.

Me likeeee.

Vac Job

A short while ago I posted on cleaning the inside of our van. I had spent most of my morning doing it and saved my self some cash that I would have had to pay for professional cleaning. I used my Shop Vac which made fast work of the cleaning, but manipulating the large 2 1/2" hose through the car was a pain.

For future cleaning, I picked up a Craftsman Car Cleaning Kit which consists of a 1 1/4" hose, 11 ft. in length, car nozzle, crevice tool, dusting brush and hose to hose connector. This should make cleaning the car an easier task.

Contents of the 'Kit'

However this is not really what this post is about. No Sireeeee.

When I got the unit home, I realized that if I did not store the items together in one place, some of the smaller nozzles would get misplaced. I could've used the original packaging, but honestly, where's the fun in that....... So it was off to the Depot to look for a suitable box to hold everything. Why the hell are Tool Boxes so expensive????

Not one to be easily defeated, I decided to think 'out of the box'. I concluded that a briefcase would work just as well as a Toolbox and I set about sourcing one. I scored one for 5.00$ and it holds everything very well and in place.

I wonder if anyone transported contraband across borders in this.

Sits well - for now.....

But it's all sitting there in a jumble. I've got to do something about that.............

Jewelery Storage Solutions

With Lynda's jewelery overrunning her small closet, I had decided a long time ago to solve her problem.

OK, I know the drill, we're supposed to listen and do nothing - but I thought that just this once.....

So I decided to go all out on this one and got her a Gerstner International GI-530 Red Oak Tool Chest. These chests were made to store precision hand tools and are felt lined to protect those tools.

Me thinks it does a good job of storing her jewelery.....

The chest in it's natural setting

The top section holds watches (Lynda does not wear a watch)

With the drawers open