They're finished -- the TP holders are ready for use!

[Mmathis]

I am so pleased at how they turned out! Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback and encouragement along the way. Now, just waiting my my son to come by and pick them up.

BTW, in case you're wondering, this was a project I came up with as a housewarming gift -- holders for extra TP rolls for my son and his 3 college roommates who have just moved into their first apartment. It's a 4 bedroom and each bedroom has its own bathroom -- how cool is that! These were my way of helping with a potential storage problem, and, ahem, always keeping some "extra" close at hand..... And a 6-pack of TP is included with each "holder".

One, fully loaded to show how it works. The finials are cabinet knobs I found at Hobby Lobby -- they are dragon claws holding a crystal orb [or at least, that's what I'm calling them....] -- perfect for these 4 guys!

Gift tags I made.....Mr. Wizard on his way to the "john."

And these are the do-dads I put on the bottom -- non-slip, and they'll keep the wooden base off the floor.

 

[addy1]

Nice job!

 

[tbendl]

They came out wonderfully.

 

[Dave 54]

Nice one Maggie
We keep ours in a Mummy CD Case it takes 8 rolls of loo paper Maggie , we did what you did but over a metal pole the problem was the area became rather messy as the rolls got rubbed together and a fine paper type dust appeared.
Being a mummy case it always get pointed out to us by new friends cementing the friendship

Dave

 

[Big Lou]

Outstanding! Very practical and attractive. Such talent! Next thing you know you'll be designing a new house.

 

[Jersey_Marine]

Wow those things are nice! During your initial post regarding the advice on the warped boards I had no clue they would turn out that amazing. You could make alot of money selling them. The cost to make them isn't much and I bet you could get 40 bucks each for them

 

[Lisak1]

So clever! They'll think about you... frequently!

 

[sissy]

great job and glad they hold 5 rolls and one roll to use

 

[Becky]

What a lovely gift! You must be really pleased with how they turned out. Good job!

 

[Mmathis]

Hey, thanks to all of you! Most of my projects either end in disaster, or worse, so you KNOW I have to be proud of myself with this one!

Phillip and one of his roommates were in town briefly last night and ran by to pick them up. This was the first his roommate knew of it, and he actually seemed to think it was a good idea! You just never know with guys!

Just an FYI, I have an acquaintance [acutally a doctor I had an appt. with, who does a lot of craft stuff] who came up with a good suggestion for disquising some aspects of my poor staining & sanding job. So, I hi-lighted all the edges with a bright, bronzy concoction [mica powder mixed with liquid top-coat] -- I could have used a paste, but didn't have anything, and didn't want to make a trip to the store..... And I also put a large dot of this color at each place there was a not-so-conceled screw head....to sorta fool the eye into thinking it was a bolt head. Very subtle, but effective, and it made the whole design really POP!

 

[peter hillman]

I would use these!

 

[Mmathis]

I would use these!

Why, thanks! My hubby said same. Even though we have a storage cabinet above the "throne," it is a pain to have to stop what you're doing and stand up to reach for a new roll.....

 

[Mmathis]

Outstanding! Very practical and attractive. Such talent! Next thing you know you'll be designing a new house.

LOL! But, I do have an app on the iPad for designing rooms, etc. [love doing that sort of thing] and it came in handy when Phillip was planning his furniture arrangement for the apt. Of all 4 bedrooms, his has the least amt. of practical wall space. Being a just-past-teenager, he didn't want our suggestions, so [I had taken measurements while we were there for a walk-through] I plugged it all into my app, along with the dimensions of his furniture.......and next thing I knew, he was sitting beside me, asking me to "move the desk here," or "put his bed there." And it worked, 'cause when we moved him in, it was a perfect fit!
The open space between the 2 doors is where he can put his drawing/drafting table when he's using that. He's a Graphic Arts major.

Wow those things are nice! During your initial post regarding the advice on the warped boards I had no clue they would turn out that amazing. You could make alot of money selling them. The cost to make them isn't much and I bet you could get 40 bucks each for them

I know, I was worried, too, but as it turned out, there were only a couple of the plaques that were warped -- and I had bought extras, so it worked out that I didn't have to use the warped ones. They ended up coming in handy by being my test wood for trying stains and drilling holes, etc. When I initially glued the 2 base pieces together, I clamped them. But by the time I was ready for the top, smaller piece, I'd gotten some 2" wood screws. Those went in to "clamp" that piece on, as well as to keep all 3 pieces held together better.

 

[MitchM]

There are some woods that are hard to stain evenly.
Next time you do a project with difficult to stain wood, (pine for example), seal the wood with a coat of half-cut shellac first.
The stain will be more evenly distributed that way.

 

[Mmathis]

There are some woods that are hard to stain evenly.
Next time you do a project with difficult to stain wood, (pine for example), seal the wood with a coat of half-cut shellac first.
The stain will be more evenly distributed that way.

Good idea. I didn't even think about sealing it, and I'm usually on top of things like that. And it is pine.