#TBCCrafters Craft Hop - Upcycled Shutter

Check it Out!  I love creating things that I can use on a daily basis, things that solve a problem and have a designated purpose.  Since Delmar's passing, one of the things I have been doing to keep myself and my mind ocuppied is organizing.  It is really mind boggling how much paperwork we have amassed in this house!  I don't want to say I am a pack rat but I tend to hold onto things that I like.  One of those things is greeting cards I have received.   I just can not bring myself to throw them away, especially the hand made ones my dear friend Rose sent me.  Not only are they beautiful, but they are inspirational!  I keep these cards on the shelves in my craft room, tucked in amongst the jars and supplies I have.  I have been thinking of a way to display them.  While rummaging through my storage closet, I found these old shutters and an idea hit me!

I realized that the slats could provide an excellent place to store cards and other treasured items.  Turning them over so the center bar doesn't show allows full usage of each slat.  

My supplies for this really quick and easy craft included:

• Shutter
• Eye hooks
• Cup hooks
• Ribbon
• Sand paper

The first thing I did was remove all the hardware from my shutter.  This included the hinges and knob.  Then I took it outside and gave it a good sanding.  

I decided to leave the shutter unpainted. I really love the weathered wood look. 

Next I attached cup hooks to each of the bottom corners.  These will be useful for hanging keys, chains or other things. Then I added two eye hooks to the top edge corners so that I could attach a ribbon for hanging.

Using a long piece of this gorgeous ribbon, I ran it through both eye hooks and then tied the two ends together into a bow as shown above.

I really love how it turned out!  I'm thinking of making another one that is designated for the mail.  It's a great place to keep bills and important papers that come into the house.