A new home for my necklaces

So, I've been collecting fun jewelry for awhile and it's outgrown the two hooks in my closet. I'm not really even sure how I stumbled on the idea, but it all came to me in a rush, including the layout, which I excitedly passed on to DH while standing in the shower, gesturing over the door at him! (In retrospect, he didn't quite understand my gesturing and did what he thought I wanted, which wasn't quite the same thing as what was in my head. Next time, I'll be sure to draw it out a little better so we're on the same page).

There's a story behind these pretty drawer pulls.

When I was young, I needed a desk in my room. I'm sure my parents had visions of completed homework and hours of reading. The reality was much, MUCH messier. The desk came from a yard sale and it needed a bit of TLC. My dad sanded it, painted it, and even added a laminate top to it. Then he added these pretty drawer knobs that I picked out all by myself. I loved them. Obviously, I still do.

I still have that desk. It's now our computer desk, and a few years ago, at a yard sale or store closing sale, or something, I found a whole pile of those exact drawer pulls. And I bought the whole lot, much to DH's chagrin, as he had no idea what in the world we needed them for! We replaced the worn knobs on the desk, and the rest found their way to a dusty pile in the garage.

Until now!

My original intent was to buy some bead board or similar fancy, textured lumber and then paint it. But, as I wandered around the store, I couldn't find what I had in mind, and I really didn't want to buy an 8' x 4' sheet of wood for this little project. So, I went to the craft store, where I still didn't find quite the right thing. I did find a board with beveled edges, but, as I looked at the price tag, I remembered a shed full of plywood scraps and a husband who is handy with power tools, including a router.

Off we went! LOL!

DH did a great job on the wood, though I've since learned he'd like a new router, and then I painted it in this pretty spring green. DH drilled the holes for the knobs, using another one of his fancy tools, and then I attached the knobs. The last bit was buying belting at the fabric store and attaching it to the back with staples (yet another power tool)! We also had to buy a funny two-headed bolt thing, plus a molly (or anchor) to attach the knob to the wall for hanging, but all in all, I had most of the parts on hand. And I love it!


These are my shorter necklaces and they hang in a narrow space on the wall in my oddly shaped closet. The longer necklaces are all alone on the hooks that used to hold (or attempt to hold) all of this! So pleased with how it turned out!

Christmas in January

There are a couple of Christmas projects I've been wanting to do for a while now (like several YEARS), but I always get caught in the insanity that is December and those projects wind up on the back burner. Again. And again.

This year, as we took down our Christmas decorations and stashed away all the amazing clearance finds, I decided it was a perfect time to take on those projects.

I saw the inspiration for this box in a Reader's Digest Christmas book several years back. I wanted to buy the book, but sadly, it's long since out of print. So I copied lots of pages out of it before returning it to the library. I'll probably be working through those ideas for years!

This is a box for my Christmas music CDs. Normally, they just hang out on the counter on a little shelf under my CD player. Not this coming Christmas!

This year, they'll be hanging out in this:


Pretty, huh? I think it needs some kind of decorative element on the front in the center, but I haven't found the perfect thing yet, so it'll wait until I do. I'm picturing something red, gold, and gaudy as heck! LOL!

I started with this pile of supplies. I gave up on the glitter paper, though. It just didn't seem right somehow--a shoe box, Mod Podge, and some photocopies of Christmas hymns from a nearby hymnal. I copied them onto some beige/eggshell colored paper to make them look more aged.


I used my handy-dandy Creative Memories tearing tool to tear the edges. I only used a few of them, really, and it was hard to choose favorites to put on the box. I've saved the scraps for another project, though, I promise not to keep them forever! :-)


Then I used my brown ink pad and a plain old (really cheap) make up sponge to "chalk" the edges, further aging the paper. I tried the fancier sea sponge, but the make up sponge really worked a lot better and is loads cheaper.

Then I Mod Podged the music onto the box in a random pattern, and sealed it with Mod Podge sealer. And last I glued the red ribbon around the top edges, both inside and out.