Baby Shower/Gift Clothing Rack
This one is a bit off the beaten path. When my younger daughter called and said "Dad can I borrow your hot glue gun?" I knew she needed some help...
We came up with something a bit sturdier for the occasion. Hopefully some of you can think of other places to use this idea.
Best wood glue!
Here's a wooden crate, two 3/4" dowels, wire ties, and some hot glue sticks. Not pictured, some wood glue I already had.
I measured across the crate. The dowels were 4 ft and I needed part of one for the cross piece. Afterwards we thought "Maybe we should have measured diagonally instead?" Oh well...
We cut off about 20" and that left us plenty. Repeat for the other dowel.
I measured to the center of the crate and held the shortened dowel in place. I drilled a 1/4" hole either side.
I used a white wire tie to hold the dowel loosely in place. I didn't want to snug everything down until it was completely assembled.
We sat the crate upright and used a small leveling square to get a good vertical for the dowel, and drilled two more holes to secure the dowel.
Here's the upper wire tie in place. Repeat the process for the other side.
Now add the cross piece across the top with two wire ties each side. This takes at least three hands 😉. I would have preferred to hide the latch portion of the wire tie at the bottom. Repeat for the other side. We could drill and nut/bolt/screw this, but I found out about this project last-minute, and did my best to assist where I could with what was on hand.
Once it's all sitting upright/straight/etc, snug down your wire ties. Use a box knife to trim the ends close, NOT wire side cutters. You'll avoid painful scratches in the future (trust someone that's been in the electrical field since 1983!)
Just in case, and not really knowing if or how much it would help... we added wood glue where we could. Wipe up the excess.
Stain, or decorate, or whatever. Here's my oldest daughter's bounty from her recent baby shower. Granddaughter #2 is on the way!
Expecting family with my helpful daughter Noel on the far right 💗. It's truly a season to be thankful.
Holler if you have ideas to help others.
Happy Hometalking!
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This portable rack would be cute and useful as a 'dress up' centre for a small child.
It would keep the clothes and accessories contained, and off the floor.
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A portable wooden rack is an interesting design that requires ingenuity. The end result looks amazing. You've done a great job! Probably my wife would appreciate such a gift. So I want to try making something similar to put baby socks, tights, pants, and hats in there too. My wife wants our son to have a separate shelf of outdoor clothes for winter and fall. She has had time to order many hats and socks from Amazon, so now I definitely have to get to work on the shelf. I think I'll make the bindings your way. Thanks for sharing the pictures. They will help me think through the process of making the beanie shelf.
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