A little something for your bling...

Not sure why, but I feel like I need something nice and beautiful to put my nice and beautiful things in. I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm crazy. I have a wood jewelry box that I really like, but it's gotten a little cramped -- and a lot disorganized -- with earrings and necklaces and bracelets all over each other. I had to untangle everything each time I wanted to wear some jewelry. That, and for some reason, it's starting to tarnish my jewelry...

So I found an easy solution that is not only cute but makes it so much easier to pick out what I want to wear. Love it!

There are so many tutorials for this kind of stuff online, but here's two ways that I found. One is just for earrings (cheaper version), the other is for earrings and necklaces.

Let's start with version one: It's definitely the cheaper route to go, and you can hang it on your wall. And while you can't put your necklaces with it, I found a super cheap solution for that (stay tuned for that tutorial!).

Version two was just so clever, I had to try it! Plus maybe you can swing it to do it for cheap...

We'll start with the basic version today.

Here's what you'll need:
*a frame, of any size you want
*fabric
*hot glue gun
*staple gun (optional)
*fiberglass screen
(Sorry, you don't need pushpins for this version, that's for version two, so ignore that in the picture...)

So I picked up my frame from the thrift store, a nice big 11 x 14, for less than a dollar. I used some fabric I already had on hand, and I bought the fiberglass screen at Home Depot (it was against the back wall behind the windows department) for a few bucks. And there's a ton, so split it with some friends, make a whole bunch for Christmas gifts, something...

First off, ditch the glass in your frame (you can save it as replacement glass or donate it). Then I painted my frame because I wasn't crazy about the color.

I didn't even sand it, just used some acrylic paint in my favorite color, Burnt Umber. Then covered it with a spray sealant.

Next, cut out your screen a little bigger than your frame. Then using the staple gun (or hot glue gun if you don't have that), you'll tack it down as far forward as you can from the backside of the frame (you're basically replacing the glass with the screen).

Make sure you pull it really tight as you do it. I started with one side, stapled it down, and then I pulled it tight as I did the other side and continued to pull tight and tacked it down well everywhere.

Then trim the screen, leaving just a little past where you stapled or glued it down.

Then trim your material a little bigger than the frame. Use your staple gun/hot glue gun to attach the fabric to the very outside/top of the frame from the back side (so there's a little space between the screen and the fabric). Again, make sure you're pulling it tight. You will also need to make sure you can trim the fabric around the hanging bracket so you can still hang it.

And that's it! How easy is that! Of course, this is only good for wire earrings, not for posts. That's mostly what I have, though, so it's been awesome!

I move the little plastic backs up right next to the loop in the wire earring hook and then you just slide the wire through one of the holes in the screen. Now your earrings are easily found, out calling for you to wear them.

Now I just need to get my necklace hanger done so my necklaces won't be all over each other...

Super, mega, ginormous to-do list...

I'm a list junkie, and now that I have thrown myself into the midst of developing a good inventory for my Etsy shop as well as digging into my gigantuan pile of personal projects, it was time to set some priorities and focus my goals for each month. Enter the super, mega, ginormous to-do list, on a super big wipe off board so I can clear it off and start it over the next month.

And I love, absolutely love, crossing things off my to-do list. Yes, yes, I admit that if I accomplish something during the day that's not on my to-do list, I will actually put it on my list just so I can cross it off. I know you're shaking your head, but that's my mini reward for getting things done. :)

And sorry, I totally forgot to take a picture before I started. Maybe I should add that to my to-do list...

But here it is, my monthly craft to-do list:

And don't you worry, I now have this thing completely covered with stuff! I just threw a few things on there for my pics. :) This was just a normal frame that I got for a whole $1.50 from the thrift store. It had an ugly picture of a pink leafy plant, and the frame was an equally unattractive pink. It's a hefty 20" by 20" frame.

This was a pretty simple project. I just took the frame apart and spray painted it silver (which, fyi, does not stay on very well on this metal frame; my friend suggested that using a primer may help). I took the ugly picture, flipped it around and hot glued the material over the back. I cleaned the glass and put the whole thing back together. Bam! Ginormous wipe off board. Love it! Fyi: not my idea. Check out this website for her version, which is excellent.

I also wanted to put on another project I did, which, because I didn't have my to-do list, also doesn't have a before pic. Now I won't have any excuses for the lack of pics...

My incredibly talented friend built herself a new headboard and was going to throw their old one away. Woohoo! Free headboard! I didn't think it was too bad looking, but my hubby thought it was pretty not good looking. So, enter some gorgeous chocolate brown suede and booyah!

I got two yards of fabric and it was perfect for our queen-sized headboard. I took the leg thingies off the back and laid the headboard face up on my bed.

I cut out pieces of quilt batting to provide some softness and some plump as well as hide the pattern in the headboard. Then I put my fabric, right-side down, on the floor and transferred my quilt batting down, then laid the headboard down on top of it.

I grabbed my staple gun, pulled the material tight and stapled it into the back of the headboard. I (well, really my husband) screwed the leg thingies back on, and there you go! Now if I could only get around to the matching pillows I've been wanting to work on...

I did the same thing with my son's headboard. Just a piece of heavy duty wood, covered in quilt batting and fabric stapled into the back. It was about a half-hour project. :)

I embellished Drew's bed with some baseball material that I zigzaged on with my sewing machine. Love it!