DIY: How to make a Sunglasses Drawer

Yes, I may have a problem.  And no, I do not know how many sunglasses I own.  I lost track around 46.

So, I have been scouring the internet, looking for a way to keep track of my sunglasses.  Most were okay, but for limited amounts.  I needed real space.  I also looked at some professional displays, like store display.  And, although loved them, didn't really have a whole room to devote to it.  Maybe in my next house.  However, I did have a junk drawer in the top of my dresser that held some random items, that I felt could be put to use.  I really wanted to just pull out a table saw and get this thing made out of some nice pine, but alas, I don't have a table saw.  But then I remembered this lovely stuff called Basswood, that comes in these great sized short, yet long stretches, that I have always been able to cut with my exacto.  Heaven.  So, here is my tutorial, on how I made my drawer of sunglasses.

 

Step 1: Gather Supplies

Here I have my box cutter / exacto / huge cutting tool that slices fingers nicely, my pencil (sharpen), my t-square (simple ruler will work, I just go overboard sometimes), my study solid wood chunk, and my basswood.

Step 2: Make Template

This is the most important step, yes, most important.  You see, my father likes jigs, and whenever he gets a change to make one, he does.  I on the other hand, don't.  But, this little jig was the best thing in the world. It was just a scrap piece from an old project we had laying around. We measured the height of the wood we were going to use, and figured that the hole would be just over half of that. You see, we were going to assemble it with the holes going opposite ways.  Then we figured since the wood would live in the hole, it needed to be the thickness of the wood.  So, we made a hole that was going to be the right size.  It was a bit time consuming, and we did use a saw, but, little bit of heaven, I'm telling you.

Step 3: Grab wood

Gather it.  This may be harder than it looks, I stood at the store for like fifteen minutes trying to figure it out.  Then I got twice as much as I needed.... ah....

Step 4: Cut wood in Half

Easy step, measure height, divide by two, cut in half.  This is where the long t-square came in handy.  Not only is it long, but does everything at a right angle.  Although, I always measure both sides, had too many t-squares not square.

Step 5: Mark for Holes

I then measured how far apart I wanted the holes, just enough to be able for the sunglasses to float nicely.

Step 6: Cut out holes

The little jig and I bonded quite a lot during this step.  Always make sure and line up the hole on the same side of the marking every time or you will end up with a hole out of place.  This was my biggest fear.

Step 7: Tape, if needed

So, I made the long ones full length.  They didn't quite go the length of the drawer, but that extra inch hasn't mattered at all.  However, because I had extra wood for the other direction, I actually taped the left overs together for one slate.  Make sure you don't put all your taped pieces in the same row, stagger them.  Also, if you think it is weak, it isn't once the contraption is together.

Step 8: Assemble

I was very careful with this step, so afraid it wasn't going to work right.  But, it did.  I had done it all perfectly, and all of the weak spots suddenly were solid.  I was amazed actually. 

Step 9: Fill with Sunglasses

I know, impressive looking right?  So many fun sunglasses, yet it isn't all of them.  I've had it up and running for a few months now, and trust me, it doesn't look like this anymore. I have now doubled, and sometimes tripled them up in their little spots.  The nicer ones with cases live in here to.  I have a glasses cleaning cloth, and some liquid cleaning on hand so I can clean them as I put them on and walk out the door.  It has held up pretty good, and I am in love with it, don't think I could ever live without it.  Sometimes the hardest part is choosing which pair to wear, well, and keeping track of them.