You’ll need about half a metre to cover these files, which I got from Paperchase. Over the years, I have learnt that you get what you pay for with magazine files, and I was always forever buying those cardboard ones that break after a little while. These are super sturdy and much wider than normal ones, so you can fit more in too! They are £7 each but are worth the investment, I promise.

You will need

A magazine file (or as many as you need)

Half a metre of fabric to cover each one (pre-washed and ironed)

Some A3 card

Pencil

Sharp scissors

Mod Podge and a paintbrush (I just used the matt one, but use whatever you have)

Step 1

Make a template of your magazine file by drawing around it on the card – you just need to draw around one side and half of the back (the deepest bit) and then measure the bottom and front (the shortest bit) as a separate piece (see below). I added a couple of centimetres around the edges of the side template to allow for overlap, except for along the bit where it is half of the back. This edge will be placed along a fold of the fabric when you cut out.

Step 2

Place the larger template with the deepest edge along the folded edge of your fabric. Cut it out carefully, and then repeat with the rectangular template (which does not need to be cut on a fold). Then open out the larger piece of fabric, face down, and position the file on top.

Step 3

Once in position, spread some Mod Podge on one side of the file – you need a fairly thin layer but enough to make it stick. Pull the fabric over and smooth out any creases. Repeat with the other sides. If there’s a hole in the side (for pulling the file off the shelf) you can either cover it up as I did with mine, or cut a hole in the fabric if you prefer. I covered it for easiness!

Step 4

Next, carefully spread a little Mod Podge on the inside of the edges, and fold over the fabric and stick down. You’ll need to snip the fabric a little for neatness.

Step 5

Now stick down the edges at the bottom, and then cover the rest of the area with Mod Podge.

Step 6

Take the rectangular piece of fabric and place it carefully along the edge, and then smooth it down. Then repeat with the front section and neaten the edges inside too.

Ta-dah! You’ll have to let the file dry before you can use it – you don’t want all your magazines to stick to the insides!

Now I can tidy my magazines away in style! And when I have a craft room one day, they will go in there perfectly Until then, I’ll be storing these in our study. The great thing about this project is that you can cover these to suit different rooms and styles. Yay!

The post Fabric covered magazine files appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

We bought a spice rack several months ago with the intention of finding some little jars and making our own labels for them. As is often the case, we start off with good intentions but then life gets in the way and more important tasks come along! It was also delayed because we found some jars but then made the mistake of not buying the at the time (I think we weren’t in a position to carry them home safely), and then typically they weren’t there when we went back! Making these labels for the jars is a nice and easy craft project that you could easily complete on a week night. I decided to use the stamps that I used for our wedding invitations, which came from Pretty M on Etsy. I think this would make a lovely Christmas gift, or perhaps a wedding gift (we did something similar a couple of years ago and our friends were really pleased with it!).

If you want to have a go, you will need:

A spice rack, and as many air-tight jars as it will fit
Some pretty patterned papers
Some plain coloured paper
A glue stick
Some alphabet rubber stamps and ink pad (or a nice pen if you’d prefer to write the labels)
Some sticky-back plastic
A pencil and ruler

I started off by selecting the papers to use for the jars. I decided to use these lovely designs from the Victoria and Albert Museum, which actually came in a pack of scrapbooking paper from WHSmith (a long time ago – not sure if they still stock them!).

Then I stamped the names of the herbs and spices on some cream paper with pink ink, and cut out a 5 x 4cm piece of the pretty paper.

Just for ease, I glued the paper lightly together, and then stuck the whole thing onto the jar with a bit of pritt stick. This is to make sure that it stays in place when being covered with sticky-back plastic – this will keep it water tight.

When moving on to the next label, it’s a good idea to line the jars up to make sure that the labels are even!

The last thing to do is to fill up your jars and then you’re ready to go!

The post DIY Spice Rack appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I bought these wooden drawers months ago, and did a little blog post about them at the time with my idea to do them up. This year really has flown by – when I looked for the original post, I was really surprised to find that it was in January! So, it’s October and I’ve finally got around to doing it! The insides of the drawers had been painted but they were a bit dusty (maybe done with chalk paint?), and because I want to use them to store haberdashery bits and pieces I thought that I’d be able to line them.

I chose some pretty scrapbooking papers to line each one. The first job was to measure up and make a template – harder than it sounds, as each drawer is slightly different, but I managed to make a ‘one-size-fits-all’ pattern!

When the pieces were cut out I used some glue on each piece to stick them in, starting with the sides. I didn’t put glue right to the top, but used some double-sided sticky tape along the tops to make sure that the paper really sticks well.

Once all of the drawers were lined, I left them for a few hours to dry (this also gave me time to decide what would go in each drawer!). I measured out some pieces of card for labels and then used some rubber stamps to stamp each one. Ta-dah!

I’m really pleased with how they turned out I actually found a larger set not so long ago, and I’m planning to do the same with those ones too! Photos to follow…when I get around to it!

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