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!

Preparing Old Wine Bottles for Upcycling

I have been collecting old wine and liquor bottles since we moved into this apartment. On occasion so bring them home from work, the rest are from cooking and personal consumption here at home. Since hubby gathered them all together and they filled a whole box, I figured I better use them.

My first project will be a set of small organizers for a small metal rack in my bedroom. The wire shelves make using some containers here troublesome, so I figure heave glass containers will be the perfect solution for holding combs, brushes, and other small items that always seem to get lost and tossed around. Plus it has to look better than the old shoe box I am using now.

The first step is to clean the bottles and remove the labels. I hit up Pinterest as usual and came across a very useful pin that compared label removal methods. To spare you the trouble of looking it up, soaking the bottles and a mixture of very hot water and baking soda works best. Since not all ornate bottles were clean, I decided to combine the cleaning and label removing steps and added dish soap to the soak water. It seems that the cheaper the wine, the harder it is therefore the label. Ok, there's nothing scientific in that, just observational. Also clear bottles seem to be a bit harder to work with - perhaps a stronger adhesive?

Here are my results from the first four bottles that I soaked. While I got all of the labels off, I am left with a bit of glue to clean up. Still, this is better than hours of peeling and scraping. To remove the left over residue, and even some left over sticker scraps from the second set I did (not pictured) I turned to canola oil. Just wipe a good layer over the affected areas and allow it to sit for a n hour or two. The oil beaks down the adhesive enough to be easily wiped or lightly scraped from the bottle. Then just wash away the oil with dish soap.

Here are the final results, all ready to be cut and decorated. I can't wait to get to the next step!