Needle Case from Popsicle Sticks

Yesterday I talked about my new beading needles, there is only one problem with them, how to store them as they are 4.5 inches long? I did not want to go out and buy a special case or box. Then I decided I could make a case myself with materials I already had in the house.

I used some large popsicle sticks (they are probably tongue depressors), wooden thin coffee stir sticks, old magnet business cards, some fun foam, wood glue, wire cutters, small saw and fabric markers.

The length of the box was limited by the length of the tongue depressors after I sawed off the round ends. So my finished box is 5.25 inches long and 2.25 inches wide. The width is 3 tongue depressors wide.

I glued 3 tongue depressors together and then glued 4 small pieces of the thin coffee stir sticks across to stablize them. The stir sticks are easy to cut with the wire cutters. Next I cut the tongue depressors to make the side pieces and glued everything together, again using the stir sticks as stabilizers. I glued a piece of fun foam on the inside and on top of that 2 magnet pieces to hold the needles.

Next I repeated the whole procedure but slightly larger for the cover. Inside the lid I glued one magnet piece. To decorate the top, I used the round ends that I had sawed off to create flowers. As the box lid has a really tight fit, I could not paint the box, but I remembered that fabric markers are perfect to color the popsicle sticks. The box turned out quite well, the only thing that surprised me was the amount of time it took to make, almost 2 hours.

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