Mail Organizer Tutorial!

This week has been soooo messed up! I couldn't post this on Tuesday because we had no power, and then I was out of town for the next few days! So a little late, but here is the Mail Organizer tutorial!

I'm sure I'm not the only one with piles of mail sitting in various positions throughout the [house]. I needed to be [semi] organized. Important mail HERE. Other mail HERE. Simple right? Well desk filing systems were out of the question, I don't have 3 inches of flat space ANYWHERE. The only way I could go, was up.

I spent a half a day surfing for inspiration. And the rest of it scrounging through boxes looking for something I could use. And thus I found this:

[AKA UGLY old frame, note its falling apart and lacking glass]

The first step is to lightly sand it, it has some weird varnish on it (not to mention its the fake wood laminate stuff) and you want it to soak in the paint. Then using new nails and wood glue, I put the frame back together. Then I took off the existing hook (since it was hung for a vertical picture) and reattached it to the side (because I wanted it to hang horizontal).

Paint (I chose white to match the room it was going in) + Frame + Hooks=Awesome. (The frame will need multiple coats and lots of drying time in between)

While that's drying, lets start on the inside. First measure the opening of the frame and cut a piece of cardboard or mat board**slightly** smaller. I used spray photomount to cover it with a piece of scrapbook paper. You could also use fabric instead!

Using the rest of the cardboard/mat board, I cut it down to make two pieces of identical size (specifically 3.5"x9", but it depends on your frame) You can eyeball it to see what sizes would look best in your frame. I spray mounted these cardboard pieces onto some left over scraps from quarters. (Cover both sizes, leaving about an inch on the bottom of leftover fabric, and on the sides. 

When the pieces are dry you can start assembling. First measure out on the mat board, where you want the files to go. Since my pieces were 3.5" high, I set the top one at about 3" from the bottom so it would be slightly inside the pocket. Using hot glue, I attached the 1" of left over fabric to the board above the line (so the bottom of the piece was laying on the line). The bottom piece will attach on the very bottom of the bigger board, with the 1" of fabric glued all the way around to the back. (See pictures).

Once the pieces are assembled, (and dry!) place it inside of your frame. Carefully pull the files out of the frame until they are where you want them. Cut the fabric down in the back, and glue into place. Close the back of your frame up and attach to the wall!

Now comes the fun part. Decorating! I haven't decided what I want to do with mine yet, but you could attach ribbon, or frames or buttons to label which section is for which.

 

Total cost (for me) $0 [had everything on hand!]

Have a question? Let me know! I'd be happy to answer it!

Linked up to any of these:

This project has been featured at: 

  My Garden of Eden 

SewHappyGeek  

My Cheeky Canvas 

The DIY Home Sweet Home