DIY Jewelry Organizer

Lately I've been noticing what a big mess my dressing table seems to be. I have a nice jewelry box where I keep my expensive jewelry, a store-bought organizer for my costume jewelry and I keep my bracelets on vases. But it looks cluttered. And tacky. And I wasn't overly thrilled with the store-bought organizer. What to do?

Well the obvious solution is DIY!!! So after a few fails (and I mean epic fails that basically ruined the store-bought organizer) I decided to hit the thrift stores and find a sturdy shelf that could hold my necklaces, earrings, dangling earrings, rings and bracelets. Not as easy as it sounds, but for $4.99 I found this:

It isn't gorgeous, but it has the bare bones of something useful. Since the brackets on the bottom shelf were broken, I took the shelf apart and removed all the brackets. Then I decided to move the bottom shelf down (there were already holes drilled where I think it might have attached to a dresser or something.) Then I broke out the Clorox wipes and cleaned it up.

Oh, and here is Jack demonstrating that the shelves are placed approximately sausage-sized-cat apart.

See? Better already.
My first approach at painting the shelf was a black and white motif with women's silhouette's...my husband wasn't too thrilled with that. And before you ask, the organizer is going into OUR bedroom so I guess HE should get A SMALL bit of say in how it looks. He's more conservative than me, prefers neutrals and would be happier if I only wore small unobtrusive jewelry. Yeah, trying to please him only goes so far.
I went down to the storage room and found an old can of latex paint. It's satin finish, which I like, and a nice pale brown. My original plan was to do the pale brown base coat, use lace as a stencil and spray paint a dark brown over the lace. Would have been gorgeous...but not for $7.97 a yard for lace. Never one to pass up a bargain, I noticed that sheets of duct tape were on clearance. I figured, I can print on the duct tape (right 'cause anything will go through my printer,) and then cut the shapes out, use them as stencils with the spray paint and peel them off.

All I'd need to do was whip out my really cool rotating finger knife and cut out some butterflies.

Flaw #1 The printer would absolutely not feed the duct tape sheet through.
Flaw #2 The duct tape was hard to cut through the backing paper, and as a result, not all the butterflies came out pretty.
Flaw #3 My carpal tunnel wasn't feeling the whole carve 3 sheets of duct tape with extreme pressure on the blade to get all the way through.

So I just traced over the butterflies I had printed on regular paper onto the backing paper side of the duct tape sheet. There isn't any ink transfer but you get the impression to work with. I whipped out my scissors and cut out as many as I could get in various sizes - I ended up just using 2 sheets. All that was left was to apply them in a pleasing design, spray paint over them and then peel them off.

Flaw #1 When you put duct tape shapes onto latex paint and then try to peel it off, it takes the paint with it.

Now I have something I kind of like. I can scrap the whole spray-paint idea (it's cold and windy out anyway) and just leave it pale brown with the shock of neon pink butterflies scattered over it. It appeals to my need for color and hopefully it will appeal to his belief that it has to "fit in" with the rest of the bedroom.

But I'll have to leave the story off for now. I have decided to use 3 vintage coke bottles to keep my bracelets on, probably hot glued to the shelf...and I have a rough idea for my dangling earrings and necklaces...but so far no real victories in coming up with a DIY earring holder for post earrings. Oh and I want to make one of these for my rings, but I don't have a pair of heels to do it with just yet.

TO BE CONTINUED...

More Zipper Bracelets!

This year 2 of my very good friends graduated from high school. "J" works with me at the library, and is kind of a punky style girl, she loves a lot of the same types of books as me and is generally pretty cool. For her, I decided on a one of a kind zipper bracelet:




"J"s bracelet is 2 zippers. I started with the grey one, sewing on the hooks and loops by hand. The loops hold the ball chain in place and it is a little longer than the bracelet, so it hangs free in one spot. The hooks hold the ribbon in place (I pinched them closed with pliers after sewing them on and getting the ribbon in place.) I decided it would be fun to add a second zipper and I left this one closed, sewing it to the grey zipper so they would have even ends. I then finished the bracelet off with snaps - I love the snap setter I got at Goodwill!

"M"s mom works with me at the library and "M" is a super-cool artistic photographer. She is spunky, fun and sweet. I wasn't sure what to do for her, I knew her favorite colors were purple and teal, but I didn't have any materials in those colors that inspired me. I toyed with a rainbow bracelet idea for awhile, but nothing seemed right. Then it occurred to me that I had zippers in my collection that had come from "M"s grandmother - "M"s mom shared left over craft supplies with me when they distributed her mother's belongings. So I decided to make "M" a bracelet with zippers that belonged to her grandma. I hope she likes the sentimentality of it. Her bracelet was inspired by The DIY Collection.

I took 3 long zippers, they weren't exactly the same length, and then separated each of them into 2 pieces. I popped the red and white zipper pulls off but the black one wouldn't come off easily, so I left it. I layered half of the red with half of the white, pinned them together and sewed them by hand. This could have been done with a machine - I just decided to create this bracelet by hand like I did "J"s. After I finished the red and white, I sewed the black to the white. The next step was to find a can in the pantry that would work as a size-guide. I wanted one that would create a bracelet big enough to easily slip over my hand, I tried 3 or 4 before I got the size I wanted. The zippers were then wound around the can in repeating layers and pinned. I could then slip it off the can and sew it together. The most hidden stitches I could find for this part of the sewing was to use red thread and add a stitch between each tooth on the red zipper. Very secure but hard to see.

Now how to finish it off? I decided to make some zipper flowers like the ones on Ucreate. But hot glue is messy and that didn't work for me (this time, I will triumph eventually!) So instead I went with a swirl like this:





And the finishing touches? Rhinestones from vintage jewelry. I think she'll love it!

Rainbow Gum-Wrapper Weave Bracelet

Lately I've been seeing a lot of really neat art projects with rainbows. I love rainbows and I love the look of paint chips, plus they are free. So I've decided to create some rainbow wall art using paint chips. This post is not about that wall art. Okay, I played around with the paint chips for I don't know how long and realized that I couldn't make it work while they were in one piece.

So I started cutting my stack of chips apart, tossing the white segments off to the side. My paper cutter wasn't doing a great job cutting just the white off, or maybe I wasn't doing a great job of it. Anyway, I noticed that the growing pile of white strips had thin bands of colors around them that variegated up through the rainbow as I cut through my stack. So I'm sitting there, mindlessly cutting and trying to imagine what I could possibly do with those strips. I decided to try a gum-wrapper weave with them, like the one I did the Christmas tree garland out of. I worked through the colors, trying to keep the pinks, pinkish reds, reds, reddish oranges together and so on, but not stressing about making the order exact. The chain ended up being a couple of feet long. So, how to make it into a bracelet? I decided to use a can as my form (I liked the size of a can of baby clams. Not too big on my wrist but big enough to slip the bracelet off easily.) I wound the chain around the can and started "sewing" it together with an elastic cord. I didn't want it tight, since it is paper it needed to have some give to it. Also because I didn't stitch every single link together, it doesn't look quite as pronounced that the chains don't match up exactly in the zigzags.

There are a lot of different gum-wrapper weaving tutorials online. This one is pretty good, though it starts with a wider piece of paper than I did. It would be a stronger weave, but sometimes you just make do with what you got.

I want more Halloween jewelry! Spider Ring

Okay, so it's no secret that I love Halloween. I have an amazing costume put together for myself as well as two great ones for my kids. But the entire month of October deserves special treatment. So I want creepy jewelry to wear to work, but I don't have the budget to buy it. What to do?? Make it! I've been wanting a spider ring and my buddy Ann suggested I could make my own. I started out with the plan of making the spider and then making a stretchy one-size-fits-all band for it. I watched an awesome video on making bead spiders on YouTube. Then I had to look at my collection of beads to see what I had. My beads are usually leftovers from projects or given to me. I also harvest them from old costume jewelry I've picked up inexpensively. I liked the video's use of seed beads to create joints in the spider's legs and decided to go with coiled spacers and seed beads to create the same look. I used simple hang pins to to string them, creating a simple loop at the end to attach them to the body of the spider. My original idea was to use the oblong greyish bead for the abdomen and a black bead for the head, but I couldn't quite get it all attached securely. Here is what the first prototype looked like. I am not by any means a jewelry maker, I don't know a lot of the proper ways to make things, so quite often my projects are cobbled together. If they look good and stay together I don't care what they look like on the back side. The first spider looked good (I love the little rhinestone spacers I used on the front legs!), but my 7 year old gave it a few good shakes and it fell apart. Back to the drawing board. I decided to try for a jeweled main body but I had the worst time with the supplies I had on hand, until inspiration hit and I remembered a fake engagement ring sitting in my costume jewelry stash. I found a large jump ring that I could use around the base of the rhinestone's setting and added the legs to that. I left the ends of the legs loose, and it looks more realistic but it'll take some getting used to having them on and between my fingers. I then used a long hang pin to add the oblong bead abdomen. Instead of hanging it from the jump ring that holding the legs, I attached it directly to the base of the rhinestone's setting.

Scrabble Tile Jewelry

I was scheming away the other night, trying to figure out how I could make some more jewelry to wear for Halloween, since I don't have the cash to buy any. I was thinking about my inventory of junk jewelry and nothing seemed right. I thought even if it was super simple, like saying "boo" it would work. Voila! Inspiration hit me, I have a whole bunch of scrabble tiles that I've bought for scrapbooking and crafts. Why not drill holes into them and make jewelry?? Here's what I came up with:

You can pick up scrabble tiles pretty inexpensively on eBay but I love finding them at garage sales and thrift stores. I used a small drill and an old scrap piece of wood to do my drilling. You have to be careful with the drilling, if you drill too close to the tile's edge it will break or be too weak to use with jump rings. If you drill too far in, it makes it really difficult to use the jump rings. Good luck with that. The other thing that tripped me up was that I wasn't paying attention to which tiles I was drilling and I accidentally drilled holes at the top of the "I" and "R" in Girl. I suppose I could have added charms or something, but I just switched them out, they are pretty common letters in the scrabble sets. I started with the "Boo" earrings for Halloween, then I thought it would be fun to make a necklace for my daughter for homecoming. Our town's colors are purple and gold and our team is the Arrows. It was pretty simple from there. My husband suggested making a bracelet in case my not-girly daughter wouldn't wear the necklace. So I tried using the gold thread to link the letters, then used the jump rings to attach the word to the purple cording. I don't like it as much as the necklace but my 4 year old loves it. I think I'll make a necklace for myself too. The last project I made today with the tiles was a Girl Scouts bracelet. I thought maybe it would look nicer and be more flexible if I used a 3-ring combination to connect each tile. I got the whole thing done and realized that it wasn't as strong as the large jump ring style because now there were 3 weak points instead of just one. So I took it apart and switched it to the larger jump rings. It turned out better, and I think it will be pretty strong

Recycle a broken spoon ring into earrings.

I have been blessed to get some of my Dad's mother's jewelry. Grandma died about 30 years ago, so her jewelry is at least that old; most of it was costume and I use it in other projects, but some of it was nice stuff so I kept them to wear. My 3 favorite pieces were my angel wings ring - like a spoon ring that wrapped around my finger (sterling silver), my gold and silver cuff bracelet and my sterling silver spoon ring. I can't wear the angel wings anymore because it broke, probably from constant wear and readjustments. My husband took it to the jewelers and had it fixed, and that is when we discovered it was sterling silver. But I have been told it is too thing for everyday wear, so I save it for special occasions. So I started wearing my spoon ring, it was a really cool one that was identical on both ends instead of one being smaller than the other. Unfortunately last month it broke, almost exactly in the center.

So, what to do??? I had a flash of inspiration and thought I might make the two sides into earrings since they matched pretty closely. I started by putting the pieces of the ring between 2 washcloths and gently hammering them flat. Then I used a pair of needle-nosed pliers and carefully bent the skinny top part back on itself to make a loop behind each piece.

Finishing the earrings was a simple as adding a jump ring to each one and some french hooks. Super easy, and I think super cute.

Zipper corsage bracelet

Okay, I want to apologize up front for not being able to give credit to the crafter whose blog had the zipper bracelets on them. They are all over the web but I saw one on StumbleUpon and now I can't find it to refer you to. Basically the blog said to find a zipper, I went to the thrift store and bought 4 for a quarter each. I tried to get ones that were just a little too short for my wrist. Then when I got home I cut as closely to the zipper as I could. I took the blog's advice and used a lighter to singe the edges down so it won't fray. Then I used my mini drill to drill holes into the end of the zipper and into the zipper's pull to add jump rings and links/fasteners.

As I've mentioned before, I have some of my grandmother's old jewelry. I have been looking for ways to reuse it in a more contemporary way and this turned out to be a fun opportunity. I used a pin and clip-on earrings set. I removed the hardware from the back of the earrings but not the pin. Then I attached the earrings to the pin using a large jump ring. The I simply attached the pin to the zipper bracelet. Kind of a funky-vintage corsage bracelet.

I'm in love with this idea!

The other day I was stumbling around the internet on StumbleUpon (if you haven't started using it, you should!) and I came across this great idea. It's a woven bracelet made using a simple chain bracelet and embroidery floss. I loved the look of the ones pictured on SEMI DIY and had to see if I could make one for myself.

I have a huge stash of costume jewelry that belonged to my dad's mom. My mom gave it to me for my girls to play with, but I kept most of it for my own. I wear some of it as is and other pieces have been recycled into new pieces or used in my crafts and scrapbooks. The bracelet I used for the base of my woven bracelet is large textured "gold" links. I decided on the brown/turquoise combination because brown is a neutral and turquoise is my "pop" color. As a bonus, I happened to have one strand of brown suede cord and one strand of light turquoise suede cord, so I added those to the mix. What do you think?

It doesn't lay flat like SEMI DIY's, but I like the overall look. I am not a huge fan of suede cord, it seems to break too easily when you try to pull it tight, but I thought it added a little different texture to the weaving. I want to make a few others now, with different types of weaving. We'll see what I can come up with in tribute to SEMI DIY's great idea!

New sparkles for me!!

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find a turquoise sun dress in my closet that fit beautifully. I hadn't expected it to fit for a few months (I've exercising and watching what I eat,) and I checked the price tag and it turns out I got it on clearance at Wal-Mart for $1.00. But since I wanted to wear it to work I had to find a t-shirt to wear under it. I don't mind cleavage, I just don't want all my customers seeing it at work. I had to go to the mall to get a shirt and I stopped at the thrift store while I was out. I found this necklace for $3.00!!! I cleaned it up using a nail brush and some toothpaste. I LOVE it!! I think it goes well with my hair today, and I had that done before I even bought the necklace!

The Quest for the Perfect Purse

As many women out there can attest to, there is no such thing as the "perfect" purse. My husband often wonders how he can use the same wallet for 10 years and I need a new purse at least every 3 months. Well, I don't know why, I just know that's how it is. So in an effort to diffuse this particular marital squabble, I'm on a quest to find the perfect purse. Ha ha, this oughta be fun.
Purses must meet the following criteria:
1. Zip top to help prevent loss of wallet and other necessities.
2. Just-right length of straps, it should fall between my elbow and my waist when I am carrying it on my shoulder.
3. Big enough for my stuff; i.e. wallet, planner, sunglasses, MP3 case, emergency medications and any toys my kids might stuff in.
4. Easy access to my stuff. It doesn't do me any good to have to spend 5 minutes extracting my wallet at the checkout counter.
5. Divisions so my stuff isn't all crumbled up together.
6. Be cute! I don't want a purse that doesn't match my personality. It must be FABULOUS, it has to show a little bit about me.
Today I was a the thrift store looking for a vase to put some paper flowers in for Easter -- my girls are making them to give to Great Grandma -- and I found 2 purses that I kind of liked. The first was a cream colored leather with antiqued gold accents. It was cute, and it fell at the right place on my shoulder, but it had a weird stain on it. It was a zipper top but there was just one big open cavity for my crap to get lost in. Oh and it was $5, whereas choice #2 was $2. Choice #2 was a black leather purse, about medium sized. It had 2 dividers, so 3 main pockets. The center divider is zippered and the whole purse closes above that with a snap. Hmmmm, $2 and all those pros? I'll take it!
But the problem remains that it was still just a black leather purse. No flair, no personality. So here is what I came up with:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I had a flash of inspiration and thought it might be fun to personalize the purse with a heavy-duty charm bracelet. I have on there right now a watch, 'cause I'm terrible at carrying my phone so I don't know the time 90% of the time, a lucky turtle, a LOVE charm, a MOM charm and a "diamond" ring. Oh, and a fun heart shaped padlock I picked up somewhere or other. I like to sparkle, I like to make people wonder what goes on in my head, I think this charm bangle will give me a chance to change it up and really play with my style.
I attached it by putting very heavy duty jump rings through the holes created by sewing the seam of the purse. I didn't have to make any holes of my own. I'll just have to see how it holds up.

Now, wonder where I can find a rhinestone skull to put on the purse? Or maybe a Cheshire Cat? Or maybe Jack Skellington?