Jewelry: Sorted

I love jewelry. I don't have a lot of it, but that's changing. I own a beautiful silver-toned jewel box, but it doesn't hold everything. This means my baubles make a mess of my nightstand or get tangled in a bag.  I decided that it would be nice to create a nice display organizer to go over my night stand. This would be my second attempt at a solution actually. The last one was a minor disaster and an even bigger eyesore. I didn't even bother to photograph it. This is better. Just better.

I started with two old store bought pictures that I didn't have a place for in my house. The frames on them were gorgeous, and I came to realize that's why I still had them. They had sage colored mats however, and that did not fit the plan. In fact, that just made the mats look dingy. Black acrylic paint solved this problem nicely. I used a dry brush and applied the paint sparingly and the result gave it a woody, natural looking texture. Next,  I prepared the cardboard backing from the original picture by covering it in craft foam sheets in black. I just used my hot glue gun for this because I  was feeling impatient and didn’t want to wait for white glue to dry. Also using hot glue, I covered the padded side of the board with a fat corner of black fabric. This all got reassembled (minus the picture) into the frame. This was easy for this frame because I didn’t have to remove any of the staples that secure everything in place.

This is the cardboard backing covered in foam. I had just enough!

To actually have somewhere to place the jewelry, I turned to wine corks. I have a collection of these as well. I chose the cheap artificial ones for this because I have more of these and because of their uniformity. For post earrings I cut the corks in half and wrapped them with silver-toned wire strung with purple glass seed beads. I attached them using screws and hot glue. Run the screw through the back of the board to the front the screw the cork about halfway onto the screw. Add a drop of hot glue, then finish attaching the cork. Add a drop of ho glue over the head of the screw for extra security. The earrings just slip into the cork, and I only keep the backs in the jewelry box.

For bracelets and rings, I used whole corks with divots carved into the sides. I decorated these with more wire, and a silver mother of pearl at each end of the cork. I attached these one at either end of the inner mat using the previous technique. The rings are placed on bamboo sticks that lay in the grooves. For the bracelets I glued several sticks together for strength. The rings and bracelets get placed between the corks and nothing slides off.

I love this so far. Another part that I love is that I can add to it. As you can see, I began using it before adding a second row of earrings and the bracelets. I have the other frame to use for necklaces, but I haven't decided on a design there yet. There are quite a few of chains, beads, and ribbons, and some are quite long, so I want to get it right. At any rate, I hope this design inspires you to create something good looking and useful out of your odds and ends. Please feel free to drop me a comment below, and be sure to check back every so often. I have a few other projects in the works that I can't wait to finish and share with you. Some even involve antiques!

A Simple Fabric Covered Box

Hello again crafty budgeters. I had a free evening and a small annoyance to tackle recently and so I stopped procrastinating and got to work. Hubby and I sit daily on our full-sized couch. Its soft and comfy and gives us way to much space too plop things down on the cushion in the center. Seriously, remotes, cell phones, notebooks, mice and keyboards, etc. It gets to the point where we start knocking things off and blaming each other for pushing in back and forth. My solution comes in the form of a small cardboard box, two fat quarters, Elmer's glue, and and some foam padding.

This little box was the perfect size for my needs. Just big enough to contain the junk that made simply sitting down a chore. I colored the outside of the box black to avoid its previously white and black print to show through. Frozen juice concentrate is not the look I was aiming for after all. I then cut a piece of the black fabric large enough to cover the entirety of the outside of the box, as well as the inside upright edges. I affixed it to the box with a thin coat of Elmer's white glue as though I were wrapping a gift and adding more glue to the flaps. The patterned fabric was used to cover the foam pad I added to the bottom. This was done to reduce the noise and potential damage of things being tossed in carelessly (yes, referring to myself).

  

That last application of glue necessitated the extra inserts seen above. I simply sized two thin pieces of card stock from junk mail and glued a bit of the patterned fabric neatly to them. I glued them over the messy flaps. So much better.

Here's everything all neatly assembled. Since I literally bought nothing for this project I cannot accurately give an idea of the costs. I often pick up fabric remnants and fat corners on clearance, and I had these on hand already. I've also been known to re-purpose other sources of material from sheets, old clothes, etc. so get creative. Let me know what you think of this quickie craft in the comments below.

Also, I need a wall-mountable jewelry storage solution. Any ideas?

Another Cat Toy Done on the Cheap

Willow (previously known as Test Kitten, T.K. for short) has grown, and so have her needs. She gained size, but lost none of her energy, and so needs more cat safe activities to keep her out of trouble. When I noticed how excited she got over some pool noodles that hubby and I bought (to be featured in  another project), I figured that would be the perfect building block for Willow's new scratchy-batty-chew toy.

Early test to see if she's even interested. She is!

The base was the side of a drawer from my soon to be replaced (fingers crossed) wardrobe. We stabilized it using small sections of pool noodle cut in half length-wise secured with duct tape . The longer vertical section of noodle was secured with my trusty Gorilla Glue.The fuzzy ladybug toy was from a package of assorted toys. She played with it maybe 3 times since getting it, and it had a dangle to tie it to something, so I did. I poked a length of ribbon through the top of the noodle and knotted it at a length to facilitate maximum swinging. 

Shortly after this pic, the toy was attacked from above.

I covered the base using some scrap fabric I had laying around. I figured she would think the duct tape was the real novelty and so this cover seemed like a good idea. It looks better too. Although this doesn't get as much love as some other toys, she still loves to beat this mercilessly. Another win on the cheap.

After many attacks a few weeks later. As you can see, it stands up to the Willow test.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

FREE!!! My favorite word.

One of my favorite things is finding free things that are actually useful. The usefulness of the item is actually the most important part of the deal, as we all know that it is an easy thing to find free things that nobody wants. Today I'll share some of my more recent finds. Perhaps they may spark some new ideas for you.

Wallpaper and fabric samples
I have a completely bare wall above the couch in my living room. I hang stuff there for Christmas, but the rest of the year it's just a full, unused space. It has been this way for the two years we have lived here because I couldn't come up with anything that seemed to fit the space. Yesterday I had an epiphany and began looking for free wallpaper samples on line.

Wallpaperdirect.com allows 2 free samples (shipping included), no questions asked.

Bemz, a company that specializes in Ikea furniture updates allows fabric samples that ship overseas at not cost. The plan is to use the wallpaper and fabric in frames to fill in the space. (Now just to find free frames!) I will be sure to update this project once it is all in place.

Gardening
As you know if you have read previous posts, I have begun trying to supplement our grocery supplies by growing a few things at home. I already have cilantro and basil growing well from seeds that I purchased on the cheap. I also have green onions and ginger growing from store purchases. It is a good start, but I want more. After searching, I found several sources for free seeds.

Groundswell International was the most impressive source that I found. They have a goal, it seems, to feed the world. Therefore, every spring they give away thousands if not millions of seeds to promote ending world hunger. Definitely worth checking out even if you don't have a green thumb.

Gardens Alive will send you a free catalogue, and that contains a $25 coupon with no minimum purchase. I haven't received the catalogue yet, so I can't promise there is no fine print, but other testimonials I have read point to it being true to its words. The exciting thing here is that they offer equipment and other gardening supplies.

Feed a Bee has a lofty goal in mind. They want go grow 50 million flowers to help out dwindling new population. To that end they will send packets of 200 wildflower seeds for free. No, it's not food for us, but we rely on bees for a majority of our food. In my book, this type of gardening is even more important than any of my plant endeavors.

This isn't the end of my quest for freebies, but it is a great start. If you have any good sources, please share them in the comments. I, of course, will report on the outcome of everything I tried here today. A little searching can pay off in a big way!