How to Make a Pin Cushion and Craft Shelf to Organize Your Work Space

This article will teach you how to make a teacup pin cushion and craft shelf for organizing your sewing and crafting essentials. There is nothing more frustrating than digging through a drawer or even a sewing box when you are in the middle of crafting a project. This cute pin cushion and craft shelf will keep everything organized and within arms reach, so you will never have to search again! Just follow the easy steps below to craft a teacup pin cushion and craft shelf for your work space.

Teacup Pin Cushion

Materials: teacup with or without the saucer, Fiberfill, fabric (6" piece), trim, hot glue gun/glue

Directions: Place all of the materials on a flat work surface covered with plastic or news paper. Clean the teacup with warm soapy water and dry thoroughly. Grab enough fiberfill to fill the teacup, barely above the rim of the cup. Shape the fiberfill into a ball and place it in the teacup. Cut the fabric approximately an inch larger than the rim of the cup. Use the glue gun to secure the fabric along the inside of the teacup..

Cut a strip of trim to fit around the rim of the teacup, making it long enough to overlap the ends. Run a stream of glue around the rim of the cup and position the trim in place. If you have the matching saucer, add hot glue to the bottom of the teacup and center it onto the saucer pushing down gently.

Your teacup pin cushion is now complete and ready to hold your needles and pins for your next project.

Craft Shelf

Materials: Slat of wood 18" to 20" long x 6" wide x 1" thick, medium grit sandpaper, acrylic or latex paint, paint brush, pencil, tape measure, 6 tall baby food jars, 2 loop picture hangers, hammer, 1 nail (slightly smaller than the screws), screw driver, 6 screws (3/4" long).

Tips: you can eliminate the wood slat and use a premade wall shelf, if you prefer.

Directions: Place all of the materials on a flat work surface covered with plastic or news paper. Sand the wood slat until the surface and edges are nice and smooth. Use the paint brush to apply a coat of paint to the wood, one side at a time. Apply a second coat of paint if needed. After the paint has dried, choose the side which is to be the bottom of the shelf.

Lay the bottom face up on your work surface. Measure the width of one of baby jar lids and, times it by 6. Using the tape measure and the pencil, make six equally spaced marks onto the wood. Remove the lids from the jars. Place one of the lids onto a marked spot, top down. Use the nail and hammer to tap a hole through the lid and slightly into the wood. Remove the nail and screw one of the screws into the holes until the lid is nice and tight. Continue this step to add the remaining lids. Do not screw on the jars, just yet.

The next step is to add the picture hangers. They are going to be placed on the 1" thick side of the shelf. Measure in approximately an inch on each end and mark the spot. Screw the picture hangers in place. Now you can screw the jars to the lids.

Now hang your craft shelf in a convenient location to your craft table. This craft shelf is a great way to organize buttons, ribbon, trims, beads etc. The top shelf can be used to hold craft paints, glue, pens, pencils and more.