How To Make A Kawaii Display Shelf

You’ve all seen photos of peoples’ amazing kawaii toys on display and it’s a great way to show off your stuff and cute up a room. I have a printers type drawer that I’ve filled with tiny things and this week I’m going to show you how to start one yourself. The first part is over on my own Asking For Trouble blog, where you can read more about my type drawer and all the things I’ve collected, and below are some ideas for display shelves.

An old type drawer is the classic because it has so many tiny little shelves to fill. Luckily there are still loads of them about. Ebay is your best best – here are some type drawers in the UK. Prices vary according to condition – mine was filthy and I had to do some very tedious cleaning before I could use it.

Etsy also has some great new and vintage display shelves from sellers who will have good quality stuff that’s ready to be used straight away. If you have a specific size or style in mind, you’ll need to check back regularly until something good turns up. This is a really cute unit from Atelier de la Choisille in France.

Here’s another style from Best Favorite Things in the US – remember, you can always paint them to match your room. If you have any antique, junk  or charity/thrift shops nearby it’s worth keeping an eye on them too – they’ll often have collectibles shelves for things like thimbles that can be re-used.

On the cheaper end, craft shops will often have plain wooden houses that can be painted or decoupaged. This one from Amazon is just £5.50 including shipping!

Another great and cheap idea is to head to IKEA or another big box store and buy some shadow box frames. Lay them out in a nice arrangement and then glue them together and paint. Emma at Emuse has a great tutorial for this.

Check back tomorrow when I’ll give you some ideas of tiny things to put in your display shelves.