Easy $1 DIY Spice Racks!

This is one of the projects I finished lately and couldn't wait to share with you!  I made spice racks out of these!

DIY Spice Rack from cooling racks

They worked out perfect for my pantry! They are seriously awesome and super cheap!!

I'm going to be a bit transparent here.... don't judge me... Hey, this is the real deal.

Pantry Shelf Before

Yep... that's my "spice/cooking" shelf. It was a jumbled crazy unorganized mess. Then one day, I just had it! I could no longer take the mess! I needed to get that shelf into shape. Pronto!  

I hated searching for spices. I had duplicates (that I didn't know about). There were ones that kinda looked the same and I would use the wrong spice in a recipe. Yeah, that's not fun! Who likes cumin in chocolate chip cookies!! 😝

I wanted a spice rack that I wouldn't have to clean.  I could have made one of those cute wooden ones, but they would eventually need to be cleaned and really... I'm just too lazy. So, I wanted a wire shelf, no cleaning! 😊 And more importantly, I didn't want to spend a boat load of $$ on one of those fancy smancy ones.

So, I kept searching through the Dollar Tree, just believing that I could find something there that would work.  They had these little wire baskets, but they were too shallow and the spices would've just fallen out, because I wanted to mount them on the pantry door.

In my search, I found those cooling racks you use for cooling cookies, and made them into DIY Spice Racks! It only cost $3 for all of them!

DIY $3 Spice Rack

I knew those cooling racks would work! Hubby didn't think they would, that while bending them, I would break the weld. But heck for $1 I'm willing to try it!  And I'm happy to say that it worked! Yeah, a couple of the welds didn't hold, but they work just fine!

Here's how I did it.

Bend the little legs flat as possible.

Bend legs flat cooling rack to spice rack

It will look like this.

Legs flat for DIY Spice Rack

Then bend up the one side at the 4th wire. I used needle nose pliers to bend it.

Bend side for DIY Spice Rack

Then skip one wire and bend the other side up.

DIY Spice Rack from cooling rack

I used this method for the smaller spice containers.  The larger ones, I made them wider at the bottom by skipping 2 wires and then bending up the other side.  It works great! You can see in the next picture.

Now the sides, aren't too fancy.  I racked my brain trying to find a workable solution for the sides from twine to wire.  I had this woven type of ribbon and just glued the ends together with my glue gun. 

Side Straps

Hey, it works! And you can see how I put them on the pantry door. I measured and hung them with screws that had a large head on them. After they were hung, I tightened the screw to hold in place. Pretty simple.

They don't bang around when I open the door and none have fallen. I can find all of my spices sooo easy and they are organized so I don't use the wrong one... 😉

DIY $3 Spice Rack Complete

Sweet!!

And now look at my pantry shelf..... I even labeled some of my flat container spices. Love it!!
Pantry 'After' Shelf
2019 Update!! This year I updated this entire pantry! Including a bigger and better spice DOOR! Check it out here, The Best Spice Organizer. 
Blessings,

67 comments

  1. I don't know how you came up with that, but good job! Looks great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gina! Thank you so much! I don't know... maybe sheer desperation ;)

      Delete
    2. Wow, this is an ingenious idea! Thank you so much. I am going to try it.

      Delete
    3. Great idea..... going to do this for my spices. Thank you for the idea.

      Delete
  2. .....What an ingenious idea ...and so ' do-able' , inexpensive ! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! Thank you! I'm all about easy and cheap!! Thanks for stopping by! Blessings!

      Delete
  3. This has got to be the most clever idea. I love it - now off to find some cooling racks cause my spice cabinet is chaos! Thanks, Cathy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cathy! I'm so glad this will help! I appreciate you stopping by!!
      Blessings!

      Delete
    2. My pantry door is hollow how will this hold?

      Delete
    3. Hi Susie! My doors are hollow too! It works just fine. Mine are holding up beautifully! No issues! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. Wow! That's genious. Love it. Thank u for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. great idea for craft supplies also!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Can't wait to share with my friend, she went online...found them (almost identical) but expensive and shipping made them out of her range.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh boy! I'm too cheap.... I've gotten to the point where I hate to buy it, if I can make it! :)

      Delete
  7. I am so gonna try this....I have to wear a hard hat when I open my spice cabinet lol...danger zone for sure! And buying the supplies for that cheap makes this project even better! Thanks for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! Jess! That's how I felt! If I can do it, so can you!!

      Delete
  8. I am going to try this as soon as I can get to the dollar store. Thanks for a great idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure thing!! They really are quick and easy to make!

      Delete
  9. Brilliant and then some. Thanks so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww. Thank you! I appreciate everyone that stops by! I'm kina overwhelmed by the response. But it's so cool! :)

      Delete
  10. I look at those racks at Dollar Tree all the time, thinking I could do something with those, but what? And there you are, I plan to use that same idea in other places as well, especially in pantry for cake decorating supplies, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great idea!! I am so please with them! They seem to be holding up very well and are pretty sturdy! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  11. Great idea if you choose to store your spices at room temp. You are very creative. I have always kept my spices and seasonings in the door shelves of my deep freeze. They stay fresh indefinitely. I use round labels on top of each container to easily identify them. They are stored in alphabetical order. I also keep a list of the spices I have on hand so I don't duplicate. Storing this way also allows me to buy some spices in bulk at a lower price. No worry about them going stale or loosing their flavor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, thank you very much! Wow! You are so organized! Good for you, spices can get pretty expensive. Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Delete
  12. Nice,easy and cheap: what else could be better? congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! so many comments for me.... but I'm so glad that people are finding the this useful! :) I appreciate you stopping by and commenting! Blessings!

      Delete
  13. Well, is wasn't really pallet racking material... which makes me wonder if this comment is spam... But in any case it won't involve any cleaning on my part! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love this! I think it would be cool to use silver duct tape (folded onto itself to eliminate the sticky part) in place of ribbons on the sides to match the silver wire.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my goodness.....I had purchased some of those racks before but found they didn't support what I was needing them for and I just stuck them away. Now I have a great use for them....'Thank You'! I'm excited about doing this project.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love it when I've saved something and then found a great use for them!! Good luck! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  16. Great idea. I also use a shoe holder (with all the pockets) as my spice rack. Also on the back of the door :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great idea. I'm so glad you came up with this idea. I just love it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great idea. I clipped the wire that would have the little feet facing the wall and used the 2 segments to seal the ends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea!! So glad you tried it out! Thanks for reading.

      Delete
  19. Thank you for sharing your project! You saved me money and a trip to the hardware store. Was going to make wooden rack but yours is so much better and cost efficient.

    ReplyDelete
  20. These are AMAZING!! I am going to clean out my spice cabinet (yes, I have a whole cabinet dedicated to spices) and put several of these inside the cabinet door. Unfortunately I don't have a door on my pantry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! That should work just as well!! Thanks for stopping by!! :)

      Delete
  21. Yeah, Lori! Congratulations for your great idea being in a magazine!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I will have to make some thanks

    ReplyDelete
  23. I already have some new racks from the Dollar Tree.
    I need some of these for the doors under my sink. I am going to try this.
    Thank you for the great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  24. You missed a trick! You should use the "feet" that you flattened to hang them - like a hook. Your screws look a bit on the small side - I'd use a washer and screw to make them really secure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep! You could do that! I haven't had any issues with them staying on! :)

      Delete
  25. Bonjour Lori,
    Super idée pour du rangement sur mesure, tellement simple, si peu onéreux. Merci pour ce partage. En revanche, je ne suis pas sûre de trouver ce produit en France. Je vais chercher une alternative... Mille mercis pour vos idées créatives :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Lori,
      Great idea for tailor tidy, so simple, so inexpensive. Thank you for sharing. But I'm not sure to find this product in France. I'll seek an alternative ... Many thanks for your creative ideas :)

      I'm so glad that you took the time to share your encouraging words! And how exciting for me that someone in France is reading my lil ole blog! Hoping you find something that will work! Blessings!!

      Delete
  26. you could even use the flattened legs as the holder for the screw to make it more secure

    ReplyDelete
  27. I think I will try this but use the legs on the inside of the rack and use wire to hold together. Simple enough. Thank You For THE Ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You bet! Good luck! Hope they work just as well for you! I still LOVE mine! :)

      Delete
  28. With my spices hidden away in a cupboard, there is no point in spending more than $10 or 1 hour on my spice rack. LOVE your idea.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I cannot believe your idea isn't flooding the internet! I have been looking for a cheap & easy solution for my spice mess for 3 years. Our new house has narrow doors. I don't feel competent to "build" anything. It would definitely freak the hubs out. Needle nose pliers and a screwdriver. I can handle that. You are a genius!

    Connie, Barnhart MO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Connie! You can do this!! So glad you stopped by! :)

      Delete
  30. Wow Lori, that was brilliant. I am definitely going shopping at the dollar store tomorrow. That is the first "perfect" idea i have read. Thanks so much and yes, your pantry looks fab, great job !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Good for you, Diena!! You'll love them! I still do!

      Delete
  31. make a video about this! unsure of how to bend the wires and such!

    ReplyDelete