home organization

DIY Brads Cheap & Chic

I have had many changes over the last month. We moved back to the states from living overseas in South America and with that change I have lots I want to do to update for our temporary home, including creating a family calendar.

I not only needed a family calendar quickly for the new year, but I also wanted something inexpensive. Soon, I’ll show you the calendar that I came up with.

But first, I needed a way to bind my new family calendar. And because I didn’t want to spend a lot on doing the family calendar since it will be temporary, I want to make it myself from items I already have or had in storage.

Of course, you can have a planner bound, but in a pinch the inexpensive metal and ugly brads I had on hand work just fine.

Too, I can’t claim original ownership on this idea because I saw this last year and wished I could remember where, but I put my own spin on it.

Look at what I gathered up that I have in my house and that can easily transform an ugly metal brad to a beautiful organizational piece.

Supplies:

• Ugly old metal brads just hanging around your house.

No sense in buying those expensive designer brads though I love them.

The plain metal brads normally come in a huge box and are way less expensive than the designer ones.

I had the ugly metal brads in storage with my other office supplies so its what I will be using,

• Cheap paint a/k/a finger nail polish.

The other thing I purchased when I landed was some much needed nail polish.

But, normally I have several colors stored in my house. Too, even if you decide to buy nail polish, some of the prettiest colors, are really cheap. You can find some smokin’ hot colors for just a dollar.

Also, I have these in my house and you probably do too.

• • Sharpies are always a must have in my house so I gathered a few I had.
  • Though washi tape is not necessarily cheap, again, it’s what I have in my house.
  • The other things I grabbed were a pair of scissors, an old pair of tweezers (I had about 5 of these stored – really? okay.okay).
  • I also grabbed a piece of foam that came with our new furniture we just had delivered.
  • And then the Mr. had grabbed some Scotch Super Glue Liquid, Precision Applicator to use for pads on the furniture and this stuff said it bonds to plastic, vinyl wood, foam,etc. So I figured it would work with washi tape.
    

I grabbed some of the metal brads and stuck them in the foam. The foam is just a “work table” to hold the brad in place so I could decide how to design them.

The easiest design was using the sharpies. The color is bright and I simply colored it over about three times to make the color more bright.

For another one, I grabbed my base coat nail polish and prepped another brad by using the base coat. I figured if it worked on my nails, it would make the polish adhere better.

After that dried, I applied polish. I let it dry some in between coats. I added two coats for one nail polish, the Revlon and I added three coats for the cheaper one I had.

I just left them in the foam as I worked on each one.

Then next I decided to try the washi tape. These took a little more time and patience, but I loved them.

I used the super strong glue. Now, be careful with that glue because the directions said it was some strong stuff.

I am sure you can probably use some other glue you have around the house, especially if you are crafty.

You know I am wayyyyy into diy and crafts when it has to do with organization or homeschool, but it’s not my thing to just make things to make them.

I hope you don’t think I am too weird when crafts don’t rock my world unless they are practical and useful, then I am all in, baby.

Okay, back to what I did with my washi tape.

After I applied the glue, I cut a small piece of washi tape and applied it on the top. You can see it in the picture above. (pink washi tape)

I let it sat for a few minutes to dry because you will need to turn it over to tuck the tape underneath the brad.

So don’t rush it. Paint some other brads while the glue dries.

Then come back to this brad. I put a clean sheet of white paper underneath it too.

Next, I took some scissors and cut the edges of the tape so it would tuck under the brad better.

I wished I would have used some fine point scissors but this worked okay. Too, like I said, this is about using what I have on hand and a regular pair of scissors is what I have on hand.

After I put several small snips around the edge of the tape, I added glue on the tape and used the tweezers to tuck and roll. (lol) I pushed the paper down all the way and used the tweezers to jam it all down or tuck it down.

Then, I picked the brad up by the stem (careful to not touch the strong glue) and then rolled it on the side on the way paper to smooth out the paper on the edges.

From Drab to Fab – The Humble Metal Brad

That’s it. Pretty easy and has to be for me.

One tip on doing this, just be careful because if you handle it too much, the color comes off the washi tape.

I found out that if I put a good amount of glue instantly and then tucked the ends under and left it alone they came out better than me over handling it.

Of course, the possibilities are endless with color and you can even add glitter or use material you like and have on hand.

I am not too much into glitter, but you may like it. Use the base coat polish and dip the head of the brad into some glitter and I bet it would look hot too.

I hope you like this quick fix to make the humble brad into hot!  Coming up soon, I have the quick calendar I made using these brads.

What do you think?

Hugs and love ya,

 

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