A lot of my life involves looking for something only to conclude it doesn’t exist, so I make it myself. For example, when I was trying to redo my bathroom a while ago and couldn’t find anything I liked, I wound up painting a bunch of stuff myself and accessorizing with patterned duck tape. I got a new bathroom scheme for about $20.
Sadly, this project was a bit more expensive than that, but I’m still extremely pleased with how it turned out. In addition to my Duffy Rescue, I also collect Tsum Tsums. They’re smaller, less expensive, and they release new ones more frequently so it’s a win-win. The problem is storing and displaying the little buggers. I looked online for inspiration and saw some great ideas, but nothing I loved. I wanted something that could be easily added onto later. I didn’t want to build a display that only fit what I had since I know my collection will grow, but I also didn’t want a lot of dead space in the meantime.
Tsum Tsum literally means “stack stack” in Japanese, the whole idea is that they stack on top of each other. I saw a lot of displays with round boxes or buckets, and I didn’t like that since circles don’t exactly stack. I found squares too boring, so I landed on hexagons. I found some unfinished wooden hexagon boxes at Target for $6.99 each. (When I’m in project mode I’m not good at waiting, even when it is free two day shipping.) I started with four, figuring I could add more later. I painted them in bright colors with all-purpose craft paint. I have a large supply of Apple Barrel paints around the house-it’s actually what I use when I paint on canvas. While it’s not the highest quality, it paints super smooth and you can’t beat the price. I was going to do them all in the same color, but I ran out of “Caribbean,” so the last one got to be “Bright Magenta” instead.
I then stacked all the boxes together, kind of like honeycomb in a bee hive, and nailed them together. I highly recommend doing this on a flat surface like a table or a hardwood floor. I did mine on carpet and I got one of the boxes off slightly, so the whole thing rocks like a school desk with a wobbly leg if you poke it. Since I plan on putting it on top of a dresser and leaving it alone, hopefully it won’t be a problem. You could also hang this if you wanted to-the boxes come with built in hooks on the back. I might be doing that in the future.
Plus you’ll need a hammer, and your Tsum Tsums of course.
Step One: Paint the boxes the color of your choosing. Let dry. You don’t have to paint the insides, but I did.
Step Two: Align two of the boxes how you want them to stack. Nail the sides together. Make sure you keep them straight. I used three nails per box, for a total of six nails per connection.
Step Three: Repeat with additional boxes until done.
Step Four: Stand upright, test for wobbles.
Step Five: Arrange Tsum Tsums to your liking.
Cost: I spent about $30 without counting the Tsum Tsums.
Time: About two hours including drying time.
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