Budget Friendly Copic Storage

Spring blindsided me a bit this year. Today was my first tri of the season and lets just say I was much happier with my results last year.  There have been too many things going on at home and at work so I've been slacking on my training and slacking on my posts. If you're reading this though, chances are you're more interested in Copic storage than a race report so I'll get to the point of this post - my new budget friendly Copic storage.

A few months ago I started looking at various options to store my growing collection of Copics markers. There are some pre-made options on the market, but most that fit in with the rest of the things in my space either didn't have the right dimensions or were more than I was willing to spend. I also saw some neat tutorials for cubbies made out of foam board, but I wanted something that could handle more weight if I wanted to store things on top. I was able able to alter store bought bins and the 'semi custom' project ended up under $25 total.

Close up:

What you need:

• Craftologie Rectangle Storage bins.I  got mine from Joann's website. They're priced $12.99, but you can get them with the coupon or on sale for under $7 each. I couldn't find the dimensions anywhere so if you're interested, the external dimensions of each bin are 5.5"W x 5.75"D x 11.125"T. The internal dimensions are about 4.75"W x 4.875"D x 10.5"T.  

• Particle board or foam board or acrylic that you can cut into 4 3/4" strips.I used 1/4" particle board from hardware store that was leftover from another home project. I cut the pieces with a saw and then pained them to match but if you use foam board  you can cut them with a knife.

• Thumb tacks
• Small hammer
• Small ruler or tape measure
• Bolt cutters

Directions:
I apologize for the lack of pictures here. The ones I took as I was working on the project turned out blurry. If something doesn't make sense, feel free to leave a comment on the post.

1. Cut and paint the particle board if you haven't already. You will need 2 pieces for each box to make 3 cubbies, but if you want smaller compartments you can divide each bin into 4 compartments. My pieces were ~4 3/4" to fit inside but measure each box because I found that there were slight variations in size.

2. Measure off and mark where you want the front of your first shelf to be. For my cubbies, I measured off 1/3 of the height and marked it on each side inside the shelf. I then measured off 1/4 - 1/2" below the front measurement and made the marks in the back of the box. This is to tilt the shelves down a bit so the markers don't fall out when you pull one out. You can see what tilt works better for you, just use the same offset for the rest of the project.

3. Measure the length of the pin part of the thumb tack you're using. If its longer than 2/3 of the side wall of the box, you'll need to use bolt cutters to cut off part of the tip so when you insert the pin, it doesn't pierce through to the outside of the box. You'll need 4 pins for each shelf and maybe some extras in case a few break. I'm sure other things will work here too so if you find something that doesn't need alternations, let me know.

4. Push or hammer in the pin into each of the marked locations. If the pins are not going in, you can try using one uncut one to make the initial indention and then hammer the shorter one in.

5. After you put in the first 4 pins, put in one of the shelf pieces to make sure it fits and looks as expected. Then finish inserting the rest of the pins and sliding in the shelves on top.

The one thing I still need to do is add small labels to the caps of my Ciao Copics.

If you want to see more pictures of my craft room, you can find them on this post.

~Olga