Ooooh I have something super fun to share with you today! How about a Handmade Holidays Blog Hop to give you ideas for gifts to make this year?

Thank you Jennifer Priest with Smart Fun DIY for hosting this great hop, finding sponsors, and organizing the prizes.  YES!  I said PRIZES!  You can win prizes for joining in on the hop fun.  Make sure you visit all of the projects that are list below my DIY Coat Rack Tutorial.

 

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Shout out to the awesome sponsors of this Blog Hop.  Thanks to them, there are fun prizes to win.

I wanted to make an easy DIY Coat Rack for my handmade gift project.  I needed a new coat rack in my foyer.   My old one is a wooden coat tree that we’ve had for as long as I can remember.  I knew this would be a gift that a DIY fan would love to make for Christmas Gifts.

In place of one of the hooks, my coat tree has a huge unsightly screw that snags everything.  I thought a wall hanging coat rack would be more convenient and leave room under the rack for shoes and boots.  I knew whatever design I came up with, it would be prettier than what we’re using now.

I had an idea of what I wanted.  I’m fairly handy, but it’s been 30 years since I used power tools in Middle School Shop Class.  (Do they still have Shop in school?  If they don’t, they should!  I loved it.)

 

 

When I was planning this project, I want to be able to do most of the work myself without help from my handyman husband.  Therefore, this project is perfect for DIY beginners.  The only power tool you will need is a drill.

DIY Coat Rack Supplies

• 36″ x 12″ piece of paint grade wood.  If you are going to stain it instead, get stain grade wood.   They have this size pre-cut at Lowe’s.
• Valspar Wood Primer
• Valspar Sample Paint in Gravity – The sample was the perfect size for a small project. You can use craft paint or chalk paint.
• 3 Brushed Nickel Coat Hooks
• 2 Brushed Nickel DrawerPulls
• Sandpaper
• 2″ Paint Brush
• Pencil
• Tape Measure
• Hand Drill and bits
• Screwdriver

 

 

First, sand your wood.  The front was pretty smooth, but the edges were really rough.  My husband’s power sander was at work, but it only took him 10 minutes to sand it.  Isn’t he sweet???  It would have taken me at least 30 minutes to do it by hand.

 

 

Whenever you paint wood, it needs a coat of primer.  You will see that my wood had some knot holes that were dark.   I put two coats of primer over them.

 

 

Now comes the part where I really needed my husbands help.  When I do a project, I usually just “wing it”.  I eyeball everything and don’t like to measure.  I knew that the placement of the hooks and knobs needed to be measured, and I couldn’t just “guess”.

If I had given it some thought, I could have figured this out on my own, after all I’ve had Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry.  Surely, I could come up the the solution using the skills from one of those classes.  However, it was so much easier to ask my husband!

I needed to mark where we wanted the holes drilled.  To throw a little monkey wrench into the figuring, the hooks each have 2 screw holes.  If they aren’t completely even when you screw them in, your hook will be crooked.

Steps for Finding Screw Holes

1. Mark 2″ up from the bottom of the board on the left side and on the right side.  Connect the marks using a straight edge.
2. Decide how far from the edges, you want your hooks, and mark it on the line.  Mine are 3″ to the edge of the hooks.
3. Find the center point between the hooks and mark where the knobs will go.

 

 

The hooks had screws in the package, and the knobs had bolts that pushed through the back of the board.  Then the knob screwed onto it.

When screwing into wood, drill a pilot hole a little smaller than the screw.  This makes it easy to screw it in, and the wood won’t split.  The knob holes need to be a little big bigger than the bolts that came with them.

 

 

The bolts that came with the knobs had rounded heads, and needed to be recessed so they would be flush on the back of the board.  Hubby used a drill bit that was a little bigger then the bolt, and drilled  into the hole just deep enough so when it’s screwed in, it will be flush with the board.

 

 

After the holes are drilled, I put another coat of primer of the whole project.  I needed to cover the pencil line anyway, so I just did the whole thing.

I let it dry, and then painted it with the Valspar Paint, being careful not to leave any drip marks on the edges.  I came home from an afternoon of crafting, to find that my husband had attached the hooks and knobs after the paint had dried.  He’s THE BEST!

 

 

There are so many ways that you could alter this DIY Coat Rack to make it match your home.  If you’re a more skilled woodworker, like my husband, you can rout the edges and add molding or a shelf to the top.

I chose to design a decal with my Cricut Maker machine.  Have you seen how awesome this machine is???  Visit my Cricut Maker Review. 

 

 

If you don’t have a Cricut Maker, you can purchase a pre-made inspirational decal on Etsy.

Apply your decal, and you are ready to hang it or give it as a gift.  From start to finish, you could make this project in an afternoon.  Imagine a loved one’s surprise when you give them a gift like this that you’ve made!

Looking for more ideas of gifts that you can make?  Visit FaveCrafts.  You name it, they’ve got it!

 

 

 

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