8 Last-Minute DIY Gifts for National Boss Day

Need a good way to archive magazines? Build these simple wood storage bins and have all of your favorites at your fingertips instead of lost in a towering pile. You can build four bins from one 2 x 4-ft. sheet of 1/4-in. plywood and two 6-ft.-long 1x4s. And cutting the wood is easy with a jigsaw or band saw.

Your boss needs a place to store their coat or hat in their fancy office. You can build a simple coat and hat rack in about an hour from a 6 ft. 1x4 and coat hooks. You just cut the boards to fit your space, paint them, outfit them with different kinds of hooks to suit your needs and then screw them to the wall. Check out the detailed how-to instructions here. You'll find hooks in a tremendous range of styles, colors and prices at hardware stores and online retailers. For inspiration, check out these clever and unusual coat hooks.

Clean up the office kitchen with a spice rack as a gift on National Boss Day for your supervisor and co-workers. This spice rack will keep your favorite 18 seasonings on ready alert. It's quick and fun to make and, using our dimensions, will fit inside a standard kitchen cabinet. You'll need:

• an 11-1/2- and a 7-1/4-in.-dia. wood disc
• 9-in. lazy Susan hardware
• four 1-5/8- x 5/8-in. dowels for legs
• one 5-1/4-in. x 5/8-in. dowel handle
• a 1-7/8-in. Forstner drill bit
• a 5/8-in. spade or brad point drill bit
• a 1-1/2-in. wood ball or other knob.

With a pencil and a protractor, divide the larger disc into 30-degree wedges to create 12 center lines for the bottle indents. Center and trace the smaller disc on top of the larger disc. Next, with a drill press, drill 3/8-in.-deep holes on the 12 center lines with the 1-7/8-in. Forstner bit, spacing them between the disc's outer edge and the traced circle. Next, divide the smaller disc into 60-degree wedges and drill six more 3/8-in.-deep holes with the Forstner bit. Drill four 5/8-in.-dia. 1/2-in.-deep holes on the large disc inside the traced circle, then use 5/8-in. dowel centers to transfer the hole locations to the underside of the small disc. Drill four 1/2-in.-deep holes on the underside of the small disc and a 1/2-in.-deep hole in the center of the top for the dowel handle. Glue in the dowels to join the discs, and glue in the handle. We drilled a wood ball for a handle knob, but a screw-on ceramic knob also provides a comfortable, attractive grip. Apply a finish to match your cabinets, then center and screw the lazy Susan bearing under the large disc and play spin the bottle.

Books and binders tend to take up a lot of space in an office and aren’t always in an easy-to-reach spot. Solve that by creating a sliding bookend. To corral shelf-dwelling books or DVDs that like to wander, cut 3/4-in.-thick hardwood pieces into 6-in. x 6-in. squares. Use a band saw or jigsaw to cut a slot along one edge (with the grain) that's a smidgen wider than the shelf thickness. Stop the notch 3/4 in. from the other edge. Finish the bookend and slide it on the shelf. Want to build the shelves, too? We've got complete plans for great-looking shelves here.

If those books and binders are running out of room for your boss make a spot for them with petite shelves. Turn a single 3-ft.-long, 1x12 hardwood board into some small shelves to organize a desk top or counter. Cut off a 21-in.-long board for the shelves, rip it in the middle to make two shelves, and cut 45-degree bevels on the two long front edges with a router or table saw. Bevel the ends of the other board, cut dadoes, which are grooves cut into the wood with a router or a table saw with a dado blade, cross- wise (cut a dado on scrap and test-fit the shelves first!) and cut it into four narrower boards, two at 1-3/8 in. wide and two at 4 in. Finish, then assemble with brass screws and finish washers. For expert advice on how to finish wood, check out this collection of tips.