Rather than push my son to draw and write, I look for ways to make drawing and writing accessible and fun. When I found a roll of paper in a junk pile, I knew I wanted to mount it and to set up a DIY art table somewhere. In the middle of a pandemic, it had to be done with stuff from around the house. I chose mismatched cups hooks from my toolbox and my cupboard, found a dowel that fit through the hooks, and set to work on my Buy Nothing Group coffee table. If you’re going to put holes in your coffee table, it helps that it was free.
My paper roll is 18″ long, so I cut my dowel to 24″. I spaced my hooks 20″ apart on the underside of the coffee table. I didn’t have matching hooks, but I chose two that could hold the 1/2″ thick dowel rod. If you’re working with a different sized roll of paper, a rule of thumb is to space your hooks 2″ wider apart than your paper roll, and cut your dowel a good 6″ longer. Your dowel rod and hooks could be smaller than mine are, as long as they fit into each other.
I drilled two tiny pilot holes 20″ apart on the underside of the coffee table. You can use chalk to make any temporary mark you need to align your materials.
I screwed each cup hook into a pilot hole. Then, I ran my dowel through my paper roll and popped both ends into the hooks.
Hack: Does your dowel slip out? Try a binder clip on each end!
The coffee table turned DIY art table was a success! I installed it and said nothing. Later, I found Goosebumps inspired artwork. My next project to encourage drawing involves fabric pens and a t shirt that came my way thanks to the Buy Nothing Project. If you’re interested in more of my at home creative educational projects leave a comment to let me know!
