Handmade Egg Crate- great desk organizer!

This is an easy and creative way to give a gift + you made it yourself.
Part of my assistant Natalie's job each year is to hand make a holiday gift for our clients. This year I came up with a clever idea for a desk organizer. All the bits and bobs that collect on one's desk could be contained in a ceramic egg crate. We have used egg crates from a store like Anthropologie for several styling assignments this year, so I thought...easy enough to make using clay and discarded cardboard egg cartons.
So Natalie went to work, at a local pottery studio.

Step 1: Roll a slab of clay and then drape it into the egg carton.

Step 2: Allow it to dry,

Step 3: Then glaze and fire.
*Optional step: We added a little motto " create and collaborate"
to ours by pressing stamps into the clay while they were still wet.

*Note:The shape of the crates can be organic and very handmade, this adds to the charm.

We filled the finished crates with office supplies, like tacks, paper clips and rubber bands, then wrapped them in cello wrap and tied them with a personalized ribbon and hand written note.

We hope you give this a try, our editors and art directors were impressed and charmed by our handmade gifts, just the right thing for this holiday season and something that will be useful through out the year.

Happy Handmade Holidays!