DIY Makeup Brush and Liner Holder

I've been on this endless quest to find the perfect way to find my makeup brushes.  I tried the jam-them-in-a-jar-full-of-beads thing, but didn't like it as my brushes never wanted to stay upright and were constantly knocking against each other and I didn't want to damage the bristles.

I came up with the vintage stamp caddy holder, but I still needed a way to better organize my eyeliners and smaller brushes, so this is what I came up with - granted, I'm now looking for a better idea because this one combined with the stamp caddy took up more space than I'd like it to so now this is in my craft stash to hold paint brushes and such (works beautifully), but I figured someone may find it useful.  It didn't fit MY needs, but it may be perfect for yours, so here goes!

The first thing you'll need is a metal grater.  This is an old one I picked up at a thrift store for a buck and I'd used it for a few years, but it had started to show a few signs of rust, so it was time for it to be reincarnated.

First, you'll need whatever you want to glue to it.  I love the decoden style, so I decided to go with that on the sides.  That means it is time to dig through your craft stash for all those broken jewelry pieces, beads that don't match anything, buttons, etc.  You'll also need a good glue.  My go-to decoden glue has become Loctite.  I adore Loctite.  I could write a freakin' sonnet about this stuff.  It holds everything pretty much forever.  And ever.  Even if it gets wet.

Then, lay out where you want the large pieces to go.  Once you have that figured out, you can start to glue things down.  You're supposed to let the glue sit on each surface for 5 minutes before you stick it together, so I just did it in sections.  Once you get the large things down, you can add some glue to the open spots you want covered, wait 5 minutes, then just press small beads, pearls, or rhinestones into the glue.  I find that with the small beads, it was easier to just press them into the glue rather than glue the bead AND the grater, and they have been hanging on there just fine.

A few shots of the sections of it so you can see how it came out once I was done.  I left some spaces bare intentionally so you could still see the aging metal and parts of the grater holes because I liked the way they looked.  You can click the pictures to get a better look.

 The red flowers are some old clip-on earrings I had lying around.  My ears are pierced, so they never get any love, but are too pretty to just sit in my box unused.

 Once it is dry, (24 hours is best), pop in your pencils and small brushes and you're done!  I used the handle on the side to hold my foundations.  This is a shot of what my makeup tray looked like with the stamp caddy and this in use.  Very cute, but just takes up too much space, so on to a new method!  However, if I had a bathroom with a ton of counter space or a vanity, I'd have stuck with this.  Everything is cute, on display, and easy to get to, so that was a definite plus.  Also, the grater being slanted when you set it on its side makes it great to hold taller and smaller brushes and liners.

What do you think?  What is your favorite way to hold your makeup brushes?

<3

WW