I couldn't resist the offer of
purchasing a Tonic Forever Moments Tivoli Storage Unit on Create & Craft last week as they were half price. These first came out last October and I held
back then mostly due to the price and also due to lack of experience in these
types of projects. Although useful as a storage solution for
those smaller things that seem to get lost in big drawers, the reason for my purchase
was to make this work as an advent calendar, something I had always
aspired to owning. Christmas feels that much more special when you fill your home with lots of homemade
items. However, I can see me making use of this all year round if I turn the drawers around and add little drawer handles.
The actual unit is constructed from
mdf which simply slots together. All you need is a little bit of glue which is provided with the project. I took the advice of leaving off the back panel until I had applied a couple of coats of paint onto the mdf. This prevented pools of paint forming at the back and was much easier to paint. I painted the back piece separately and then fitted it on when the paint was dry. In normal circumstances I would save the painting to last because of the risk of the mdf swelling and then joints not fitting but this didn't seem to be a problem and I was careful when applying paint need the joints.
The drawers are made up of strong cardboard pieces which are ready to glue together and decorate as you
wish. Again, I painted these first before construction to make it easier. It is surprising how long it takes to apply two coats of paints twice over on 24 little drawers! Still, I had the TV on in the background which kept me company. I then sealed my drawers with some Modge Podge to protect from wear and tear
before gluing the corners together.
Finally I decorated each drawer front with paper I
had from my Mind’s Eye and numbered them 1 to 24!
Here is a photo of the finished result.
