DIY Cooking Utensil Holder

This is probably my favorite craft I've done so far! It just turned out so well. It all started with my husband and I trying to reorganize our kitchen a bit better. We've been in our apartment for a little over a year now and are just figuring out that the way we have some of our things organized doesn't make sense. We've been keeping all our cooking utensils in a box in one of the cupboards because we have no drawers. I finally realized how dumb this was and so I pulled out the ones we use the most and stuck them in this glass vase I had and stuck it by the stove. Much more accessible, but not very cute. And then i pulled out the Mod Podge . . . :)

1. So the first thing I did was cut squares out of paper. The black ones are 1 1/2" squares and the white are 1 1/4" squares. I cut a bunch of extras because I wasn't sure how many I was going to use which was good because I ended up using most of them. The punch I was using sometimes cut unevenly so I had to throw away a couple. But I'm getting ahead of myself - that's the next step!

2. Punch all the corners of the squares. I have this really great corner punch I got from my mother-in-law. She bought it for me for my wedding scrapbook. I know it's used for rounding off the corners of a sheet of paper and making it look pretty, but I use it mostly for making these squares to decorate a page with. If you don't have a punch like this, you can get one at JoAnn's or Michael's. Or I'm sure it would look great to just use one of those patterned scissors. Whatever works!

3. Glue the white on top of the black. I just used glue stick - cheap and easy. Having the black and the white adds more contrast and interest than having only one color would.

4. Decide how far apart you want the squares on your vase. I wanted mine to be in diagonal lines so I placed two squares like diamonds straight up and down from each other.

5. Add Mod Podge. I did this in little pieces, as you can see from the picture below, so I would have a dry place on the vase I could hold. Just paint a little circle of Mod Podge where you want to place your square. Then press the paper onto the Mod Podge. You'll probably have to press the corners of the papers and hold for 10 - 20 seconds so it will lie flat.

Tip: It's nice that the vase is clear because you can look through it to see the other side and line up your squares with each other. It made it a lot easier for me to get them straight by doing it that way.

6. Once all the squares are in place and have dried for about 10 minutes, add a layer of Mod Podge to the top. Now, this is where I hit a bit of a setback. I used card stock for the black and printer paper for the white. The black paper held together very well, but because the printer paper was so light, it started peeling apart when it got wet from the Mod Podge. So I had to be very careful around the white paper to make sure it stayed intact and looked good. If I do this again, I'll definitely use card stock for both.

7. Lastly (this is optional), I wrapped a ribbon around the vase twice and tied it in a bow. Honestly you could use whatever color. I happened to have this perfect black and white one sitting in my craft box. Also, make sure you let the Mod Podge dry for at least 20 - 30 minutes before you add the ribbon. Because of the texture of the Mod Podge, my ribbon stays up all on it's own. If your vase is shaped differently or you're having a hard time keeping the ribbon up, You could add a dab of Mod Podge on the back of the ribbon in a couple of places.

And that's all there is to it! Doesn't it look so much better than when it started? Share your ideas with me on how you've organized your kitchen and have made it look cute. I'm open to having guest posts on here if you have ideas you want to share!


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