Child's Book Display

I have to admit I feel pretty empowered, I feel like I could do anything!  Why do I feel so empowered, you ask?  Yesterday I did something I'd never done before.  I woodcrafted!  I bought some wood, then I pulled out my husbands table saw, his jigsaw, his palm sander and his drill.  ☺  Wanna see what I made?  Admit it, you're curious.

You can buy this at the store for about $100, I made mine for about $50.

If you'd like to get daring, I'll tell you how I did it. Make one instead of buying one, save yourself $50!

 I started with a plain pine board from the hardware store.  It measures 3/4"x24"x36". 

 I used the table saw to cut it in half.

I ended with two boards that measure 3/4"x 12"x36".

Then I used the Jigsaw, my husbands newest toy.

 I cut an angle edge going 3/4 the way down.  I also cut little "feet."

Repeated the same process with the second board.

 Then I pulled out the Palm Sander, and I sanded the cut edges smooth and kinda smoothed out the corners a little.

I also had this board which is 1/2"x6"x48."
And I also had 5 3/4"x36" dowels.
I cut the board down to 1/2"x6"x36" (It needs to be the same length as the dowels.)

 Next I measured and drilled holes in the side board for my dowels and my bottom support board.  I also pre-drilled holes in the ends of each dowel and the bottom board to help them go in easier.  I screwed the dowels and bottom board into one side.

Then matched them up on the other side.

 Here's the finished wood structure.

Next the fabric, the best fabric to use would be canvas, I chose not to because it's expensive and I already had some fabric that matched the room I'm putting it in.  This fabric I doubled up, it measures 75" long and 37" wide.  Basically I took it and sewed it so it looked like a Giant Pillowcase, with one short end opened so it can be turned right side out.

Next I pinned my fabric around the dowels, marking where I needed to stitch.  I pulled it off and went to my sewing machine.

I sewed little pockets on the front to slide the dowels into.  (The top loop will use the unstitched section and the loop will be at the Very Top.)

(The bottom loop needs to be about 5 or 6 inches above the end of the fabric, so it will hang down below the dowel.)

 The finished sewn project looks like this, with 5 pockets.

 I unscrewed one side of the dowels and slipped the dowels in the pockets.  I screwed the dowels back in and made sure the fabric hung straight.

Moved it into my daughters room and filled it with books.

It's been a big hit ever since.

Here it is from the side.



Anyway that's how I did it.  I love the way it turned out.  I plan on either painting the wood, or staining it.  Once I get my husband a router I'm going to have him make some decorative edges on it.  But for the moment.  It's perfect!





In the end my book display case stands 36" tall and 37 1/2" wide (that's 11" wider than the store bought and 9 1/2" taller) it is also made of real hardwood, not particalboard.  So I have a bigger, better, sturdier, shelf for half the price.  I'm feeling pretty good about my project.  :)