DIY Spinning Yarn Butler ~ Pinterest Challenge

Welcome to the June Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, hosted by My Pinterventures. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop {and y’all too} to not just pin, but to make it happen! Look below for a list of past Pinterest Challenges.

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Past Challenges

• January ~> Making Decorative Paper Clips
• February ~> Recycled Paper Basket
• March ~> Recycled Drawer Paint Storage
• April ~> DIY Rope Basket
• May ~> Crocheting Over Fat Yarn

So this month, I chose to try making this Pin from Burlap & Blue. The post has great instructions for making a paper towel holder using a dowel rod, dessert plate, & decorative knob. It’s a great idea, but I’m not making a paper towel holder. I’m going to make a spinning yarn butler for my yarn cakes!  : D

The Supplies

I gathered the supplies I planned on using for this project – a thrifted metal charger, a 3/4″ wooden dowel, & a turning spice rack. I had some thrifted dishes, but I wasn’t too certain about my ability to drill a hole in one without breaking it. My plan was to glue the mini lazy susan onto the metal charger. That was the plan, in the beginning.

This spice rack has been hanging out for a while because it’s missing the spice jars. Now I’m going dismantle it – bwwaahaaahaha!

The sides are just attached with wooden pegs & a metal nail {?} of some sort. I decided to whack it with a hammer to take off the bottom, which didn’t work out too well…oops!

This turned out to be okay because of two reasons:

• I could see that the ball bearings for the mini lazy susan were connected in a ring & would stay together.
• If I used the bottom piece I would have to either fill in the holes or flip it over & have un-rounded edges on the base.

So, I removed the top piece with a little less force & it stayed in one piece. Yay!

I’ll be attaching the mini lazy susan to the side with the holes & then the top of the base will be nice and smooth.

Making the Spindle

After measuring my yarn cakes, I decide the spindle needed to be 12″ long. I marked this with a pencil & cut the end off with a hand saw. This is great when I have smaller things to cut, but I really need one with finer teeth. I can only pull this in one direction or bad things happen!  : 0

I slowly went around the dowel making a cut, then just broke it apart. This left me with an end that was a little rough…

Okay, it looked like something my dog had been chewing on! I grabbed a piece of 60 grit sandpaper & started rubbing the end on it to smooth it out. If you’ve ever sharpened lead on a sandpaper pad, you have an idea of how this works. Except I was trying to get a smooth rounded top instead of a pointed one.

Eventually I had something that looked like this…

Much better! I didn’t want a knob on top like the paper towel holder because it would require the dowel to stay flat on top. Even if I smoothed the edges, I felt like it would pull on the yarn when sliding it over the spindle.

Assembly

I realized I could just use a longer screw through the base & attach the mini lazy susan & dowel at one time. The screw in the picture was too short & I had to use a 2″ long screw. The metal charger turned out to be completely unnecessary because the wooden base is big enough for a large yarn cake.

I drilled a hole through the base & in the end of the dowel. The dowel hole is a little off because holding a dowel and trying to drill in one end is not an easy task! I realized {too late} that I could just wedge it in the side bar on my drafting table to hold it steady.

Anyway, after a fitting test, I painted the base with Americana Decor Chalky Finish in Victorian.

The dowel rod got a coat of Americana Creme Wax in Deep Brown. I decided to go over the purple with “vintage” once it was dry, so I could scuff it for a two toned effect.

Y’all this paint has so many different prices online depending on the color you want! It’s all the same price in the store, but you can check here & here to see what I mean.

All Finished

Here’s my yarn butler all assembled and ready for a yarn cake! Quick tip – don’t tighten the screw as far as it will go or the mini lazy susan won’t spin. Guess how I know that! ; D

My scuffing did not turn out the way I planned, but I should have used a wet rag instead of 220 grit sandpaper. I also coated it with clear wax after I scuffed it.

As you can see, this will hold a very large yarn cake! This is one of the Caron Big Cakes I found on clearance at Michael’s over the weekend, which is 604 yards of yarn. It was only $2.99 for this colorway & they retail for $9.99, so check your local store for clearances!

Of course I had to show you this bad boy in action…

I can’t wait to try this out while crocheting! I could even fit two on it if I was doing two stranded crochet. : D

Don’t forget to check out what everyone else made for their Pinterest Challenge this month!

To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ July Pinterest Challenge.

Now let’s see what other things Pinterest inspired! Head over and visit the other hosts to see what they crafted, cooked, built, or tried!

Erlene – My Pinterventures • Lauren – Mom Home Guide
Debbee – Debbee’s Buzz • Laurie – My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies
Bri – Halfpint Design • Julie – Sum of their Stories
Lisa – Blogghetti • T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet
Pili – My Sweet Things • Debra – Shoppe No. 5
Roseann – This Autoimmune Life • Terri – Our Good Life
Chelc – Inside The Fox Den • Cherryl – Farm Girl Reformed
Leslie – Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Kelley – Simply Inspired Meals • Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey
Jenny –Cookies Coffee and Crafts • Gail – Purple Hues and Me
Beverly – Across the Boulevard• Habiba – Craftify My Love
Kristie – Teadoddles • Shirley – Intelligent Domestications
Kelli – The Olympic Nest • Lydia – Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen
Michelle – Our Crafty Mom • Emily – Domestic Deadline
Leslie – Once Upon A Time & Happily Ever After