Vinyl Cutter's Craft Caddy

I received a Cricut cutting machine for Christmas and quickly found myself with a lot of material and tools. I found some storage solutions for vinyl rolls on Youtube using ikea variera bag holders, but I thought I'd take it a step further.

The solution I ended up with turned out perfect for my needs, so i thought I'd document it and share by making my first instructable!

Here is an easy ikea hack for your vinyl storage solution. There isn't much to it, but you'll wonder how you ever did without it!

2 - Ikea Variera bag holders
2 - Ikea Skadis pegboards 14 1/8 × 22" (smallest size available) and included hardware (8 screws, 4 nuts total)
1 - Ikea Utrusta shelf 14 3/4 ×15" (sold in a 2 pack. In the furniture pickup at my ikea)
4 - Skadis shelf clamps (sold in 2 pk. 4 total needed.)
4 - 8-32 × 1/2" or 3/4" machine screws
1 - chest handle 3 1/2"
Skadis hooks and accessories as needed.

Flathead screwdriver
Side cutters or other snips
Drill for mounting the handle

Create an L shape by folding the back flaps of each variera (step 1 as shown on the ikea assembly instructions). Join the 2 by connecting the tongues of one into the grooves of the other creating a rectangular prism. If both curved flaps are on the bottom, you've connected it properly. Make sure to snap in and click all tongue and groove connections.

Using the side cutters or snips, notch the curved plastic to allow the curved pieces to snap flush when bent into place. See picture of where to cut and finished product. Once notches are cut and snapped in place, you should have a nice rigid box.

If you are mounting this to a lazy suzan, these curved pieces will be your anchor point.

Now you have a vinyl roll holder that will stand alone and hold 36 rolls of vinyl...but the fun is just starting and it's time to deck it out.

Using the mounting holes in the variera, attach the pegboard using the supplied screw and nut. You will only need 2 per pegboard so use cross holes. The top mounting hole should line up with the pegboard hole that is 6 in from the left and 4 down from the top. The bottom hole will then line up with the peg hole that is 1 up from the bottom and 7 from the right edge.

If looking from the inside, you should have 4 exposed peg holes on one side of the variera and 5 exposed holes on the other. *This offset should be noted when mounting the handle as it will move the center of gravity slightly.*

**Also, Make sure the protrusions on the nuts fall into the keyhole of the variera to get the nut securely on.**

Repeat for the 2nd side making sure you line up the edges of the 2 pegboards (same # of exposed pegs on either side)

Attach the shelf clamps to the top outermost hole at each corner of the pegboard. You will use the upper mounting holes on the clamp for the screws. Make sure the clamps are facing in. You can use the 4 remaining ikea screws and you will need the other 4 machine screws for the other 2 clamps.

If mounting to a lazy suzan, I would do that at this stage.

Add the Utrusta shelf with finished side up and unfinished sides against the pegboard. I had the laminate edge facing the side of the shelf with only 4 exposed peg holes.

At this point, back off the clamp screws and adjust the height of the clamps so the shelf sits flush with the top of the pegboard, re-tighten the screws.

Tighten the clamps.

I found a chest handle that worked for me, but you can use any you wish. It came with it's own wood screws but you may need these.

When measuring for the handle holes, keep in mind the variera is not centered exactly between the pegboard so the handle may need to be offset to accomidate.

Using the drill, mount the handle to the top of the utrusta shelf. Do not use screws longer than 3/4".

You're all done!

Now you can customize your pegboard to your liking to help you keep your space clean.

A beauty bonus is that cricut 12x12 cutting mats or scrapbook pads will fit perfectly in the gap created at the top of the shelf. I store my EasyPress on top and am super pleased that I was able to clean up my craft space.

I hope you enjoyed my instructable and were able to follow along. Post any pics of your setup if you try it, I'd love to see it!

Cheers!