Whaddaya know, Blog--I've been crafting! Specifically, crafting this nifty copycat of a tablet holder sold by Pottery Barn. It fills a crucial need, as lately I've been doing a lot of pinning of recipes on Pinterest, and it's high time I figured out a way to cook right off the web. This little jobby really serves the purpose. Here's how my daughter Manzi and I made a pair for our Nook tablet and Kindle:
You start with a wooden cutting board, the paddle-shaped kind with a hole in the handle. I bought two of these on Amazon for an excellent price. You also need some wood pieces to make the little tray in which you will prop your tablet. If you only need to hang your holder, that's all the elements required, but if you'd like the option of standing the holder up on a table, you'll need a way to do that. I had the bright idea to get small wooden easels, which I purchased on eBay.
By sawing it off with my Dremel, I took the "cross bar" piece (upon which you would rest a picture) off so the easel could be mounted flat on the back of the cutting board. That wood bar, paired with a chunk of old yardstick, made for a perfect table-propping bracket, as you see in the photo. We used Gorilla Glue and small nails to put everything together. The Kindle and Nook fit precisely in their slots!
We painted the assembled holders with leftover kitchen cabinet paint: off-white glossy acrylic. The most fun part was antiquing! I used a sandpaper sponge so it would curve nicely around the edges so I could really remove a nice amount of paint. Then I mixed up some very diluted, very dark brown acrylic paint, painted it on and wiped it off, section by section, to complete the antiquing effect. In the photo, Blog, you will see before and after the antiquing process. After painting, I added small cushy stick-on foot pads to the legs of the easel to prevent slippage.
Using a couple magnets to support the hole and the easel-back, I am able to securely mount the holder on the side of the refrigerator. It could also hang on a nail on the wall. However you choose to use it, the holder makes it easy to keep your tablet in view while you cook.
Technology and crafting, in a perfect marriage, hey Blog?
