Shadowbox Earring Holder

There are about a bazillion earring holders in blogland/cyberworld.  I was going to make one out of a frame and wire mesh like many people do, but then I found something BETTER! {In my humble opinion}

I honest to goodness can't remember if I found this at Marshall's or TJMaxx, LOVE them both!  And you could probably find something like this at either one.  It's a shadow box with a hinge door that opens and has a magnetized close.  The inside is a thin foam covered with burlap.  I bought 2 of them! {I have a lot of earrings...}

It was white when I bought it and I spray painted it Coral Isle to match my lamps and bring some more color accent to the room.

I also glazed the details with a dark brown:

I hung {most} of my earrings in the 2 shadowboxes.  I used pins for some of the hoop ones that don't have hooks.

I hung them in the corner of my bedroom right next to my necklace holder.  It is so handy to have them in close proximity.

I love that I can see right through the glass; do you ever pick out your accessories first, then chose an outfit? I do that sometimes, it's a good way to think outside the box a little bit and put together new combinations...

It opens so easily and I don't have to worry about earrings getting tangled, rifling through them to find a mate, or getting lost. Plus, it doesn't take up room on the dresser.

 Seriously, it's so handy if you're looking for a cute easy way to display/store your earrings!  I love it!


Linking to:
Southern Lovely
Someday Crafts 
Lil Luna 
Blue Cricket Design 
Domestically Speaking 
Sew Much Ado 
Todays Creative Blog 
Nap Time Crafters 
Finding Fabulous 
Remodelaholic 
Tatertots and Jello 
Design Dazzle 
504 Main 
Young and Crafty 
Whipperberry 
Redoux 
Be Different Act Normal 
The Gingerbread Blog 
Lil Luna 
Restore Interiors 
Domestically Speaking 
Blue Cricket Design 

Tutu Lamp Shade {& tutu-torial}

 I bought a pink lamp at a thrift store for a couple bucks a while back.

I thought it would be cute in my daughter's room.

 It had a cream shade on it that was probably once cute.

The glue was yellowy-orange in places,

there were stains on it,

and it was pretty shabby.

The lamp has sat "AS IS" on my daughter's table for almost a year.

Until yesterday...{note: I did rip that top part...it wasn't sitting in her room that shabby}

I wanted to make her a tutu lamp.

There's something magical and graceful about ballerinas,

I think that's why many girls dream about becoming one...

I have made a couple tutus in the past when my daughter was first born:

They are super super easy!  I first decided on how long I wanted the "skirt" part to be.

I decided on 10 inches because I wanted a little overhang on the bottom of the shade. (plus you can always cut it shorter, but can't make it longer)

I cut strips twice that long (20 inches) because the tulle is doubled up when you tie it.

Last time I made a tutu I bought the tulle that comes in a roll that is already 6 inches wide.

This time, I just cut them 6 inches wide myself.

The great thing about cutting all of these strips is that you don't have to be perfect and precise in your cuts.

I REPEAT, you DO NOT have to be PERFECT!

I'm not sure how many strips I cut, probably around 70ish

It will vary depending on how big and frilly you want it :)

I used a hair headband elastic to tie the strips to. 

It's the perfect size and I didn't have to sew anything together!

It also doesn't matter what color because it gets covered up anyway

You can see I used blue...

 {tip: make sure it's about 2 inches smaller than what you need because it stretches after all the knots!}

NEXT STEP: go to a comfortable place {couch} and watch a TV show {Nate Berkus} and tie the tulle strips to the elastic.

Fold the tulle in half and tie a loop knot. 

{tip: make all of the knots go the same way}

 

It should look something like this:

You can leave them loose if you wish, but I chose to tighten mine quite a bit. This makes a fuller, puffier tutu because you can fit more on.

By the end of the TV show, you should have completed filling the full loop of elastic with tulle strips all the way around.

unless you accidentally got so caught up in said TV show that you didn't "work" the entire time...

then it may take you another show...

I'm not necessarily saying it happened to me, but it could happen...

 Silly me, I was about to go to the fabric store to replace the cream fabric

when it dawned on me to, 

hello, 

SPRAY PAINT it!

I already had a bottle of Krylon Ballet Slipper pink in the garage so I raced outside and doused it a few times.

{after taking off all those pearly beads, of course} 

I covered the top part of the shade with some pink ribbon I had on hand using my glue gun.

I fitted the lamp shade with the tutu skirt, trimmed up some of the edges, 

and finished her off with a purdy pink bow!

It's big and puffy but I like it that way!

 Linking to:

Chic on a Shoestring

Remodelaholic

Finding Fabulous 

The Shabby Nest 

Sassy Sites 

Simple Home Life 

Tatortots and Jello

Funky Junk Interiors

The Girl Creative

 Under the Table and Dreaming

  Home Stories A to Z 

I Heart Naptime

Coastal Charm 
Not Just a Housewife 
A Diamond in the Stuff 
Someday Crafts 
The 36th Avenue
Blue Cricket Design 
Restore Interiors  
Design Dazzle
Southern Lovely
Todays Creative Blog 
The Crafty Nest 

Jewelry Stand/Holder/Keeper

I don't know what this is:

 Could be a cake stand, but it's kinda small for that.  And not durable enough.

I think it's a candle holder, like for a big candle, or maybe a few smaller ones?

Whatever it may be, I picked it up at a thrift store by my house

(which is out of business now, boo)

I really love how ornate it is.

But, I'm not a gold person.

I decided I wanted to use it in my bedroom as a jewelry holder.

At night when I'm too lazy tired to hang my jewelry back in place, it works very nicely.

It makes the jewelry feel like it belongs there.

I decided to paint it the same color as my lamps

I love the coral color with the aqua, cream, and brown in the room.

I primed with Kilz,

Spray painted it with Krylon Coral Isle,

and of course had to glaze it to make those ornate details pop.

 

It also accommodates some of my larger odd-shaped earrings that don't fit with my other ones.

Isn't it purdy?

Side Table Save

This side table is one of my great Craigslist finds before moving from Las Vegas.

I bought it because I fell in love with the detailed scroll carvings; however, the green/gold just wasn't me.

Here's some before pictures:

 Look at the details!

 The handles on this piece were the same greeny-gold color.

Sorry, no picture.

There was glass built in over the top.

It was somewhat scary to get it out.  We had to break it (my best friend ended up smashing it with a hammer)

Then we carefully took all the pieces out.

I think there was only one minor cut in the process (my friend's finger)

I took the hose on the vacuum and sucked all the remaining little tiny pieces of glass out of the nooks and crannies. 

I debated FOREVER about what color to paint this and whether to keep it 2-toned.

I finally decided on a classic white all over.

Since this piece was in great condition, the only prep work I did was:

1) break the glass and remove it

2) remove the handles

3) wipe it down with a damp rag

Normally, I would take off the door and paint it separately...I gave the job to my trusty husband.

Apparently the screws on the door were completely striped, so he got one of the hinges off, but the other one wasn't budging. (that's why the door looks crooked in the pictures, it only has the bottom hinge on)

Seeing as how I wanted to start painting right away, and I had already been so patient {wink, wink}...

I decided to work around the little door problem and just leave it on.

Anywho, after some Kilz primer, a couple coats of spray paint to both the table and hardware, black glaze, Polycrylic, {plus some blood (my friends), sweat, and work}...Behold, the finished product:

I was thinking about getting another piece of glass made to put on the top; but I sort of like it how it is now.

I just don't know about dusting in all those nooks and crannies...
 Ah well, for now I love it.


Linking to:
Domestically Speaking: power of paint party
Primitive and Proper 
Thrifty Decor Chick
Perfectly Imperfect  
Miss Mustard Seed
Chic on a Shoestring
Fingerprints on the Fridge
The Shabby Nest
Finding Fabulous
Remodelaholic
Simple Home Life
Tatertos and Jello
I Heart Naptime 
Coastal Charm 
Sassy Sites 
Home Stories A to Z 
Not JUST a Housewife 

Jewelry Box Re-do {A Mini Makeover}

I have never liked my jewelry box.  

It's always been the wrong color. 

So I fixed it.

I gave it a makeover.

It's a mini-me of my dresser now.

I LOVE it! :)

Silly me, I didn't take a before picture...or I can't find it...

I did find a similar one online though:

This isn't my exact jewelry box, but the color and the brassy knobs are IDENTICAL to what I had.

I started my "mini makeover"

I took off the mini-hardware with a mini-screwdriver,

taped off the glass,

took out the mini-drawers,

primed everything with Kilz:

and spray painted Krylon Ivory gloss:

I sprayed the mini-knobs with ORB:

The project wasn't complete until I added some glazey goodness (I used BEHR brand from home depot and mixed 1 part paint to 4 parts glaze):

I didn't take a picture of the "before glaze" jewelry box, but found this identical one online:

Wish they would have had this color when I bought mine...

And the "after glaze" finished product:

 

It looks great on top of it's master (see here):

It sort of reminds me of when my mom used to make my dolls the same outfit as me...
That was so cool.

My jewelry box finally looks like it belongs after being a misfit for 7 years. (Of course, my whole bedroom used to be a misfit so I can't blame the jewelry box)

I can't even describe how FUN it was to work on this!  It was just soooo...petite. 

{Stay tuned to see my other jewelry storage options for long necklaces and earrings!}



Linking to:
Remodelaholic: Remodelaholic's Anonymous
Tatertots and Jello: Weekend Wrap Up
Sassy Sites
 I Heart Naptime
Not Just a Housewife
DIY Showoff
Lil' Luna 
Restore Interiors
Domestically Speaking
Primitive & Proper
Thrifty 101 
Perfectly Imperfect
Shabby Nest
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Chic on a Shoestring
Finding Fabulous
Remodelaholic 
I Heart Naptime