Oil Shelves

For years I have wanted a shelf for my essential oils so they can be out and easily accessible. G didn't like the idea of having a shelf on the wall in the hallway (thought it would look too cluttered), so we compromised by agreeing they could go on a magnetic shelf stuck to the fridge. 

Both of us scoured the Internet and drew a blank. There are tons of shelves for essential oil bottles, but none magnetic. The best thing I found was to go in a locker for lipstick /nail polish and could only hold three oil bottles. It was too expensive to buy enough for my entire collection. 

So the idea was put on pause. G has a co-worker whose husband 3D prints stuff, and G thought we could get him to design and build something for us. It took a while to get connected with him and send him the specifications. Right around that time, his wife became pregnant, and since she was our go-between, the project stalled again.

It recently occurred to me that one of my former students 3D print stuff. He actually makes farm toys and sells them. I figured he would be able to build me a shelf for my fridge. I was right! It only took him a few weeks to buy supplies and find magnets strong enough to hold up all of those bottles. 

His printer isn't big enough to make a shelf that stretches across the entire side of the fridge, so he planned to make two shelves that could go next to each other. Since I wasn't sure how they'd turn out, he made two and if I was satisfied, he would make two more. Here they are! 

The big challenge was making sure the magnets were strong enough to hold all of the bottles that would go on the shelf. They seem strong enough! I did a test to make sure they weren't slipping over time. I put a magnet next to the shelf at the same height. A few hours later, I checked if the shelf had slid. 

Neither had! I messaged him to request two more shelves. 😎