With January comes that spurt of motivation we all want and need to get more organized and be more productive. For us, having an inspirational space that we can see throughout our day is the best reminder to stay motivated. That’s why we made this awesome wall note roll to give us just that — a place to write our inspirational messages, to-do lists, favorite puns and even Pictionary drawings. We were really excited about making handmade beads and were drawn to how copper (we’ve been really into copper accents lately) meshed with neon colors, so we put the two together for our project. The process was incredibly fun — who doesn’t love drilling, hammering and spray painting?! Let’s get to it!
Materials:
— roll of butcher paper
— ½ inch copper tube (can be found at any hardware store — we used one 10-foot piece)
— cotton twine or baker’s twine (we went with cotton twine for more strength but you can always double or triple up on baker’s twine if you like the color better)
— scissors (not pictured)
— metal macrame ring
For the DIY wood beads
— various sizes of dowels (we used three different sizes found at a hardware store)
— hand saw (not pictured — optional to cut your own, but we got our dowels cut at the hardware store)
— sandpaper sponge (80 or 100 grit)
— drill and ¼-inch drill bit
— clamp
— spray paint
— cardboard for spray paint
For the DIY copper beads
— ½-inch copper tube (excess from tube above)
— tube cutter
For the DIY leather handle
— leather (of sturdy thickness for durability, about 1/16th inch — you can get this at a craft store)
— utility knife
— cutting mat
— hard edge ruler
— rivet
— rotary punch
— hammer
— block of wood or surface you can hammer against
Instructions:
Measure your butcher roll and add seven inches (this accounts for 3.5 inches of excess copper tube on each side). We inserted the copper tube within the roll to see how it would look first.
Use the tube cutter (the ones with handles are easiest to use!), and cut your copper tube. Hold onto the excess for your copper beads. Pro Tip: Screw the tube cutter on lightly, rotate using the handle a couple of rounds, tighten the screw, turn a couple more rounds and repeat until the copper loosens and separates.
Take your excess copper and cut into varying sizes from ¼ inch to four inches long — these will be your copper beads. Next, onto the wood beads! We had our dowels cut at the hardware store into the smallest pieces possible. That is, for the circumference of the dowel, not the length.
We used 80-grit sandpaper to sand down the edges of the pieces.
Clamp a wood piece with an A clamp to get a good grip when drilling a hole. Using a hand drill with the ¼-inch drill bit, lightly apply some pressure and drill a hole on the side of each piece (rounded side of circular dowels).
Now to the fun part — spray paint time! Once all the pieces have been drilled, lay down a piece of cardboard to protect other surfaces from getting spray painted. Separate the wood pieces into the number of colors you have. We chose a bright pink, neon yellow and shimmery silver to add some POP. Have fun with this — you can color the whole block or get creative with painter’s tape to create some lines or shapes. We liked the spray paint texture as well as the wood color, so we lightly sprayed one side of each piece. Let these dry while you assemble the note roll.
Take the cotton twine and loop it through the copper tube. Insert your copper tube with twine through the butcher paper roll.
Measure three feet on either side and cut the twine.
Gather your copper and painted wooden beads (when dry!). To establish the order we wanted, we laid out our pieces first so that stringing would be easy-peasy. Center the twine from each end of the copper tube so that there are equal lengths on each side, then tie a single knot at each end of the copper tube. This is just to hold the beads up so it does not need to be taut. String the beads (we had extra!) to your desired length on each strand — we went for about one and a half feet each. Pro Tip: Wrap each end of the twine with tape (the length of your biggest wood bead) to give the twine structure so you can string with ease!
Once strung, take the two strands and tie them together in a single knot. Then take your metal ring and tie the strands from the knot around the ring. Triple knot it for good measure!
Set this part aside — you’re almost done! Lay your cutting mat flat and grab your leather and ruler. Measure and cut a strip with your utility knife, running it along the ruler’s edge. If you don’t have a cutting mat, feel free to layer a few pieces of cardboard or cut on top of a block of wood instead. Fold the cut piece of leather in half and measure where your rivet will go. Take your rotary punch and pierce two holes. You should have one hole on each end.
Wrap your leather piece over your knotted ring (leather should be folded in half), insert the two pieces of your rivet in the leather holes and press together until you feel a snap.
Place your project on a wooden board or something similar to protect your table. Take your hammer and tap your rivet in place with some pressure. Too much pressure may bend it so we recommend hammering a few light taps rather than one big bang. Flip over the leather and hammer the other side.
Once the rivet is nice and snug, trim the excess twine a couple inches from the knot and tuck the strands into the leather.
Your note roll is officially COMPLETE! TA-DA! Hang it on a sturdy nail and start writing today.
We’d love to see your take on this wall hanging note roll! Tag us on Instagram using the hashtags #iamcreative and #britstagram.
