Tool Time Tuesday...if You're "Strapped" for Cash

Strapped...as in pipe straps. I found these little galvanized beauties at Lowe's, but I'm sure they are in any hardware store in the plumbing section. I love anything galvanized and I have a lot of it in my sewing room as storage containers. So, when I saw these pipe straps I knew what I was going to use them for. Not to mention this bag of 10 was $1.70. That's 17 cents a piece. They do sell them individually and in all different sizes too...heck I can find 17 cents in the bottom of my cup holder in my car. Probably covered in spilled tea and all stuck to the bottom, but it's still 17 cents.


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Here's a picture of a pipe in the ceiling of our basement. See that white plastic thing...that's a pipe strap. My galvanized straps are much cuter than the plastic.
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The straps don't come with the screws, so you will need the flat ended type with nuts. Make sure they are long enough to go through the thickness of your cardboard box, which you'll see in the next picture.
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Here is a close up of a storage box. Mark the holes of the handle with a pencil where you'd like it to be.

With a sharp pokey thing, make little holes in the card board. Sorry this is fuzzy.

Now just place the screws in each on the holes in the handle, through the cardboard, to the inside of the box. Then just tighten the little nuts on the back. Here you have an ordinary cardboard box with a stylish and cheap handle. This is a little sneak peek at my new sewing room shelf too.

Do you remember when I mentioned that the girls drink bottled water by the case. Well, I save those cases and here is one of them.

and here it is all dressed up nice and pretty with a shiny new handle. I just covered the box with the fabric that I've picked to decorate the room with. These boxes are great to organize quilt projects, templates, papers, fat quarters, scraps, fabric squares (one box for each size), kids school papers, in and out mail box, bills, coupons, the list is endless. You can label the box too. I am going to use the round metal rimmed key chain tags from Staples, but I had the wrong size. If it works out after I buy the larger size, I'll show you a picture.

If you are going to do a lot of boxes that are the same size like I am. It might be a good idea to make a template the same size as the front of your box and then punch the holes in the template. That way, all you have to do is place the template on the box front and mark the holes over and over with out having to measure where the handle is going to go every time.

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Hope you like this one!!

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Have a wonderful Tuesday...I know where I'll be seeing you...in the plumbing isle!!!

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~Karen~