a little woodworking ~ a new plate rack

Now that the colder weather is here, I have been coming up with all kinds of little indoor projects that I want to accomplish.

I recently saw some wooden plate racks from Crate & Barrel and thought some small ones would be great to hold the mismatched plates I use at tea time. I knew I could make my own with scrap trim and dowels we already had on hand.

First off, I found some oak strips 3/4" x 1/2" {anything similar would work} and a couple 1/4" diameter dowels.

Since Mike was around, he got to use the power tools--he cut two pieces of the oak to a length of 8 inches, and I sanded them...

We then cut the dowels to 4-inch lengths--12 of them altogether...

I got to sand them...


We connected the wooden strips with 2 of the dowels, by drilling 2 holes on one side of each piece of oak--the holes are about 1 inch from each end...

Using some wood glue, I connected the two oak strips by inserting the two dowels into the drilled holes.

Then I marked out the holes along the top of each strip of oak. My holes are spaced about 1 3/8 inches apart--5 holes along the top of each strip...

Using wood glue, I glued the dowels into place...

...and let them dry overnight.

It's a small rack, but can easily hold 8 plates--two in each of the 4 sections...

I love it, and it's working out great!

I even have some more materials left, so I think I may make another...