Wire Desk Accessories

1/4" grid hardware cloth
wire cutters or crafters snips
18-gauge wire
needle-nose pliers
flat-nose pliers
block of wood 1-1/2" wide
imagination

Note: Hardware cloth is not cloth. It is a gridded wire available at hardware and home improvement stores. Some of the larger home improvement stores sell it in rolls. I buy mine at a neighborhood hardware store by the foot. Prices vary, but for as little as $10 you can make A LOT of items. Some of the hardware cloth you buy is just a dull metal grey. Some is a shiny silver. The silver is prettier.

Suggestion: When folding the wire, it is often easiest to use the straight edge of a table or counter. Place the wire on the countertop, line it up where it needs to be folded, and press down. If neither table nor countertop is available, place the edge of a metal ruler along the wire and fold up. Sizes of all of the items are arbitrary.

1. Cut a piece of hardware cloth 7-1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long.

2. Fold back one end 5-1/2 inches. You now have an L-shaped piece. This will be the base.

3. Fold the base piece one more time, folding about 2-1/2 inches from the end (figure B).

4. Use small magnets to hold your notes and photos in place. Note: I used some of the magnets we made a few seasons back by gluing tiny decorative cut-outs to the back side of flat-backed clear glass "stones" and then attaching to a small piece of magnetic stripping (figure C).

1. Cut a piece of hardware cloth 6 inches wide and 11 inches long, and fold the side edges in 1/2-inch (two squares) (figure D).

2. Cut a 2-1/2" x 4-1/4" section out from the middle of the wire; then fold back the base 4-1/2" inches. Fold the end in 2-1/4 inches.

3. Cut a piece of art paper or card stock to fit exactly inside the frame. Slide it down between the folded back edges (figure E) and mark around the cut-out space in the middle.

4. Remove the mat, cut out the marked section, and fit it back into the frame (figure F). It should perfectly match the cut out area of the wire.

5. Slip the photo into the frame; then cut another piece of the art paper the same size as the first but do not cut out the center section. Slip it into the frame in back of the photo.

This one was made very much like the first frame except it is much smaller and the wire was painted white. Because it is so small, 3-1/4" x 3-1/4", only fold the base back one fold or 1 inch deep. Do this after turning the side edges in 1/2 inch. No mat was inserted. The photo shows through the wire grid (figure G).

Alternative:

This was made like above frame with only the side edges folded in and the bottom folded once. The outside measurements before folding were 7" x 6-3/4". The base was folded back 2-1/2 inches. The outside measurements of the frame are 6" x 4-1/4". The cut-out center section measures 2-3/4" x 1-3/4". The vellum mat was cut the exact size of the frame, but the photo was not trimmed to fit. The photo measures 7 inches wide, so it is 1 inch longer than the frame forcing it to bow out when inserted (figure H). This gives it dimension.

Once again, the measurements depend on how large a holder you want and how many spaces you desire. For a holder with three spaces, with two measuring 1-1/2 inch wide and one 1-1/4 inch wide, you will need a length of hardware cloth approximately 50 inches long and 6 inches wide. Because the folds will not always be exactly along a length of wire, you may be off 1/4 inch here or there. That's fine. Nothing has to be exact. What matters is that the folds are straight and neatly done (figure I). Note: A small block of wood 6" x 1-1/2" will make it much easier to make neat, straight folds in this item.

1. Fold over two or three squares (1/2 inch or 3/4 inch) for a cuff along the front edge.

2. Make a right angle fold in the opposite direction of the cuff 3-1/2 inches down from the cuff.

3. Make another right angle fold going in the opposite direction 1-1/2 inch away from the first right angle fold so that the two sides of wire are parallel to each other. To help make this right angle fold, insert the block of wood and fold against it (figure J).

4. Make another fold 3-1/2 inches up from the last fold in the opposite direction. Press very tightly so the two sides of the wire are touching each other.

5. Make another right angle fold 3-1/2 inches from the top fold (figure K).

6. Continue in this manner until you have three holding spaces (figure L). End by putting a cuff on the end of the last panel. This cuff will be along the bottom edge of the last side.

Note: If the above item sounds tricky, practice with a piece of paper first.

If you remember the fruit basket I made some episodes ago using hardware cloth, these next items will be a snap. The basics are the same except that there are no rolled edges. The following measurements make a 9" x 12" container with 1-1/2-inch-high sides. These work well for holding Incoming, Outgoing, Tomorrow, Urgent, etc. items.

1. Cut a piece of hardware cloth 11-1/2" x 14-1/2".

2. Cut out a 1-1/2-inch square at each corner (figure M).

3. Neatly fold each side up and secure the two matching corner edges at each corner by sewing together with 20- or 22-gauge wire using an overcast stitch (figure N).

The same directions can be used for making a pencil holder or a box. Only the measurements need be changed. Make a cover for the box in the same way by adding an extra two squares in both length and width (figure O).

These same basic directions can be used for making a three-sided holder for note pads (figure P) or a stack of CDs (figure Q). For these I also made a folded down cuff along the top edge for appearance.