Spice Rack

Ever have one of those projects like all of mine that you think you'll just print, cut, paint, hang, and then you'll be done? But then the printer doesn't line up like it should, and every step is taking about 10 times longer than you planned, and you can't get a blog out for 2 days because everything is going so slowly.  Well, I have about 3 of those projects going on right now.  

So, if anyone is still out there.......I have several things to post about as soon as I get the finishing touches on them.  Please stick around?

OK, enough excuses.  Here is one of the projects I've been working on:  A new Spice Rack.  Yay!!!

For years I've been looking for a spice rack that would hold all of the spices I use.  I have yet to find one I like.  Either they don't hold enough bottles, the bottles are too small, or their style doesn't work in my kitchen.  What's a girl to do?  Well, design one, of course, and get honey to help make it.  :)

This strange little wall is actually a chimney that runs from the basement to the roof of the house.  Remember, this is a house built in 1929, so it has lots of little things to work around.  A spice rack fits perfectly here.

The brackets were some I picked up at Hobby Lobby, and Edward cut the shelves for me.  Notice the notches he had to put in the shelves to fit around the door facing.  It's really not a rack but three individual shelves hung to look like a rack.

The jars are from Hormel Bacon Bits.  Yes, we stopped buying bacon for a long time so I could collect the jars.  At least the bacon bits were real!  Their size is perfect, and I like their look for spice jars.

The frame used to make the spice labels can be found here at the Graphics Fairy.  I just copied and pasted it several times.  I was hoping to stack the words of the spices on top of the graphics, but couldn't seem to do that on my Mac. With some trial and error, and running the 8.5"x11" shipping labels through my printer, twice, I was finally able to get labels. 

This picture is not a printable.  If I get a nice one created, I will post it at a later time.

To align the labels on the jars, I drew a line on the side of a sticky note to mark how far down from the bottom of the curve of the jar I wanted the label to be.  I, then, used the sticky edge of the note to mark the center of my label.  It was very easy to match the edge of the sticky note with a glass seam that ran down the side of the jar in order to center the label.  I'm a bit anal about such things and since the jars were kind of curvy at the top, it was difficult to measure and mark the jars.  This system worked pretty well.

Also, I cut clear contact paper squares a little larger than the labels and placed them on each jar.  This will allow me to wipe down the jars without ruining the labels.

It's really not fancy, but it certainly does what I need it to do. My spices are now accessible, organized, attractive, and protected from too much heat and light.  I'm absolutely delighted with it!

So, what favorite craft or decoration have you created out of necessity?  The rest of us would love to hear about it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie