Transform Dollar Tree Items Into A Chic Tablet Stand For Your Kitchen Counter With This Easy DIY

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Once upon a time, cooking enthusiasts looked for cookbooks that laid out perfectly flat to avoid fighting with wayward pages while baking and brewing. Tablets, filled with hundreds of recipes, solved the flapping-page problem of traditional cookbooks. However, the use of tablets has a downside –- the possibility of water and food getting onto and under the device as it sits on the counter. One surprising solution to keep your device clean is a chic tablet stand constructed of some simple Dollar Tree items. This will enable you to cook without gunking up your tablet and it will keep the kitchen counter clutter-free.

Like all good recipes, this kitchen craft uses a wooden cutting board. Dollar Tree's Cooking Concepts Bamboo Cutting Boards are roughly the same size as electronic tablets and many smaller cookbooks. They also take to wood stain readily, which makes applying a couple of coats of color a pretty simple affair. A Thiecoc 6-inch by 1.4-inch by 1.4-inch Basswood Carving Block gives the tablet a foot to stand on (and at prices very close to DT's), while DT's Metal Drawer Pull keeps the tablet or cookbook standing upright.

In addition to the blocks, this project requires wood glue, sponge brushes, and a medium-sized photo frame with a functioning stand on the back. The sponge brushes will spread both the stain and glue onto the wood. When you buy the frame, test the strength of the stand to ensure that it's attached securely.

Kick this DIY project off by staining all of the wood pieces. If you love a rich wood stain color, like Decoart Americana Walnut Gel Stain, know that it can be easy to get heavy-handed when working with wood crafts. Ironically, applying stain in many light, even coats, as opposed to one heavy one, will give you the desired result. Once the stain dries, use wood glue to attach the wood craft block to one of the ends of the cutting board, parallel to and flush with the bottom of the board. The wood block is one of the pieces in the DIY that creates the stand for this project so make sure that the bottom of the cutting board and the bottom of the block line up. You may find that using a C-clamp is helpful if you're having trouble keeping the pieces in place while the glue dries.

Glue the drawer pull onto the wood craft block. Stand it up so it's parallel to the upright cutting board. Think of this as a guardrail for the tablet, which will lean against the cutting board on one side and the drawer pull on the other. Finally, remove the back of the picture frame. You want the piece that has the stand on it. Glue that onto the back of the cutting board and flip open the stand once the glue dries. The stand will work on this the same way it does on the picture frame.

The Dollar Tree picture frame is likely going to have a cardboard back and stand. This will work in a pinch, but if you'd like the tablet stand to be made of 100% wood, swap out the Dollar Tree item for some VOKOY Four-Pack 4-inch by 6-inch Wooden Picture Frames for Crafts. These items, including the stand on the back of them, are made of wood. They can be stained just like the cutting board to give your project a more uniform look.

If you're into industrial design style, use Dollar Tree's Tool Bench Metal Drawer Pull instead of the more traditional drawer pull. This one is shaped like a square bar and painted a matte black. The starker contrast between the drawer pull and the stained wood pushes this piece closer to the aesthetic of industrial and industrial/modern farmhouse design. And speaking of modern farmhouse style, a whimsical set of farmhouse style stencils give the piece a rustic country look. If you choose this visual style, skip the stain and opt for a chalkboard paint instead to give the cutting board a countrified shabby chic vibe. Stencils like SLGIFT Store DIY Decorative Kitchen Letter Stencil Templates offer a simple way to decorate the tablet stand with images like chef's hats, country fonts, and a little bit of humor.