Window Shutter Mail Sorter

So…my first post took me longer to get around to then I originally planned.

I decided to start with a simple home decor project I did a while back.

I get a lot of compliments on this, and it was super easy.

A while back I saw a pin on pinterest that I wanted to mimic.

It showed an old shutter being used as a mail organizer.

Picture below:

The hardest step for this proved to be finding a shutter.  I went to a few garage sales and an antique store, but I struck out.  Of course, in my usual impatience to start a project, I went to Lowe's and bought a shutter pack.  I bought the smallest set they sold-although, the fact that it was plastic added a new step.  First step-primer-I used Valspar Primer for Plastic.

I was trying to give the shutter that aged look that a wooden shutter would more easily have.  I found this great tutorial here about creating a crackle effect using simple elmer's glue.  First the base paint color. I wanted a really bright pop of color to peek through.  I love buying sample jars from Lowe's-they're great for testing colors or for smaller paint projects and are really cheap!

After the base color dries, add a layer of Elmer's Original Formula glue (this is important as the new formula does not work as well) and spread evenly over the entire shutter. Don't forget the top and sides!

Once the glue is nice and tacky, top with your final color.  I chose a sample container of antique white.  Make sure you don't put it on too thick.  I made this mistake on one part of the shutter, so all of it didn't crack as much as I wanted.  Don't worry about it dripping through the slots, wait for it to dry and take a box cutter or knife to separate the layers.

As it dries, the paint will start to crackle, pictured below:

I added this step after playing with the painted shutter and having almost all of my mail fall through to the floor.  I don't have any pictures of this step and I apologize.  I will try to explain best I can.

The shutter is 12" wide.  I took standard 12x12 scrapbook paper in the same color as my base coat and cut into different size strips:  4", 6", 8" and 10".  I took all of these strips and folded 1/3 of them up lengthwise.  For example, the 4" strip was now 1.5" on one side of the fold and 2.5" on the other.

These would become the folders to hold any items that fell through the shutter.  I hot glued 1.5" edge to the bottom of the first slot on the backside of the shutter.  I glued the 2.5" edge to the bottom of the 2nd slot. Thus, I had a pocket for slot number 1.  I alternated the sizes per slot so i could store receipts and gift cards in the shallow slots and letters and invitations in the deeper pockets.

The last step was mounting the shutter to the wall-I used four drywall screws to make it more secure.

As you can see-I use it a lot.

I hope this tutorial was useful. I plan on updating soon with more detail on creating the pockets.

Until next time!