Mission: Bathroom appliance organization

Last week, I realized that my roommate keeps her bathroom products neatly put away, while I left mine sprawled all over. To be courteous, I bought a few fabric boxes and organized everything. I'd seen these hair dryer / flat iron holders made from PVC pipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. This is not a tutorial, but might give you some pointers if you have any interest in making something similar. Here's the finished product, serving its function well:

The project cost about $12 in materials. Here's what I used, in non-plumber terms:

4" Y-shaped sewer pipe

Drain cap (fits inside the pipe)

Two sheets of textured scrapbook paper

One sheet of accent scrapbook paper

1/8" wide satin ribbon

Craft paper/newspaper/scrap paper

X-acto knife

Epoxy/Mod Podge/Tacky glue & foam brush

Drill

Dremel

Similar to most aspects of my life, I don't often think projects through all the way. I first made this with 3 inch PVC pipe. The barrel of my hair dryer fit, but the attachment I always use was too wide. I made a few mistakes with the first one, so I didn't mind a chance to re-do it. I made a few mistakes with the second, too, specifically not sanding the raised spot in the middle and not drilling the holes first. If you do make it, drill before you start attaching things!

First I glued the drain piece in. I used some epoxy I had from a failed attempt to glue the side mirror back on my car (haha, fortunately my dad is more handy than I am), but I think any kind of glue would work. Then I made a pattern by ungraciously wrapping, drawing and cutting repeatedly. I ended up cutting the scrapbook paper into pieces where the two pipes meet, but it was probably easier to start with one piece.

Then it was time to brush, glue, brush, glue. I found it easier to use Tacky Glue for this part because it's stickier than Mod Podge.

After the main paper was glued, I trimmed the edges with an X-acto knife. You could make a more precise pattern and skip this step, if you have more patience than I do.

I cut the accent paper into strips and glued it on, wrapping it over the edges and pressing down the angled side. Then I coated it with Mod Podge, since it will be in my unventilated bathroom.

The edges were a little bumpy so I glued some narrow ribbon over the seams. Then the power tools came out (not that a drill and Dremel are really "power tools"):

I started with small pilot holes, then worked up to 1/4" for the top. I was going for a keyhole shape, so I added a 1/2" hole right beneath it. The top one worked perfectly but the bottom was a little off. I brought out the Dremel and it took care of everything right away.

As I said before, drill the holes before you start anything else. Since I had the front side down while I drilled, it got scuffed and torn. Not bad, but enough that I had to patch it. The paisley pattern is pretty random so it's not very noticeable, but still. I also really wish I'd had the foresight to sand down the raised circle on the front. The Dremel would have smoothed it in a matter of seconds. Oh well.