Tutorial : Afternoon Tea Keeper

Last week I got creative and turned a CD spindle (you know the things your blank CD's or DVD's come on) into an afternoon tea keeper:


Here are the steps to help you make your own:

You will Need:

An empty CD/DVD Spindle
Scrapbooking paper
Mod Podge
Small hacksaw
A file
A pair of pliers
A decorative doorknob
Ribbon
A clamp

Instructions:

Find an empty CD/DVD spindle:


Take the two pieces apart and saw off the 'pole' in the base of the spindle, using a small hacksaw:

File down the rough bits caused by filing off the pole, so it becomes flush with the base:

Next, drill a hole in the top of the lid of the spindle which is large enough to get the screw of your doorknob through. It is important that this hole is drilled (and drilled slowly) as other methods of putting a hole in the lid are likely to result in the lid cracking, like this:

Take all of the pieces of your doorknob and lay them out. I picked up this beauty for a whopping $4:

Attach the knob loosely to the lid of your spindle. You need to do this to see whether the screw for the doorknob is abnormally long. If it is, it is likely to protrude into your afternoon tea so we need to cut the screw down a bit. If the screw you have for your doorknob is short, skip the next step.

Clamp the screw down to a surface that won't move and cut the appropriate amount from your screw using the small hacksaw:

Secure your doorknob to the lid of your spindle using a pair of pliers. You will need to make sure that it is tightened exceptionally well to ensure that it doesn't come undone when you are opening and closing the finished afternoon tea keeper:


Next, trace a circle onto the back of your scrapbooking paer, using the base of the spindle as a guide:


Cut out the circle and trim until it fits inside the base. Apply mod podge to the base of your spindle:


Place your cicle of scrapbooking paper on top of the Mod Podge. Use the edge of a card from your purse to smooth out any air bubbles:


Embellish the lid of the spindle using ribbon, like so:


And you're done!

The afternoon tea keeper is perfect for holding approximately 8 biscuits:


Or perhaps a delicious cupcake:


The coolest part about using a CD/DVD spindle is this:

It tells you how to lock and unlock it, so there is no need to worry that your afternoon tea will fall out while trying to operate it.