How To: Refurbish a Jewelry Box with Clip On Earrings and Paint

Some difference eh? I love it. A little bit of paint, fabric and shiny baubles and this once almost useless jewelry box is useful and pretty. I was on a big spray painting kit one day and collected everything I could find that might make a pretty accessory holder. The pulls were hideous (and hard to use being so small) so I dug into my thrifted clip on earring collection and voila! here is how I made it:

Gather Ye Materials
Jewelry box
Paint (optional) I used Rustoleum Apple Red Spray paint
Clip on Earrings (1 for each drawer/door)
Small piece of fabric

Gather Ye Tools
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Pliers
E600 glue

Begin at the beginning...



Step 1:  Remove hardware holding door glass and the door glass.
{If painting}Remove drawer pulls and tape a pice of paper to where door glass was.
 
Step 1.5: Paint

Step 2: Use glass as template for fabric. Cut fabric larger than glass.

Step 3: Glue down fabric to inside of door frame.

Step 5: Trim fabric.


Collect your clip on earrings.

Step 5: Remove backs from clip on earrings. I did this with a pair of pliers. I held onto the earring with a pair and pulled on the clip with a pair.

Step 6: using a glue that can bond metal to metal (like E600) to glue the earrings to each drawer pull.

Step 8: Add post earrings to fabric and you're done!

Add it to your bedroom and fill with your fabulous accessories!
Happy refurbishing!

How To: Picture Frame Brooch Display

I love red. Seriously. Since I was a kid I have been choosing red game pieces, red lollipops, red clothing and as an adult I still do that but I also choose red home decor pieces like my red Ikea duvet cover. So it was only natural that when I had two cans of apple red spray paint land in my lap that I go to freakin' town on something right? Well, I did.


Looks like this Island of Misfit home decor doesn't it? It kind of is.


I gathered together two plastic dollar store picture frames, one hideous and almost not even useful jewelry box from my Mom, a thrifted mug rack and an empty picture frame collected during a trip to the dump (not shown). I gave everything three light coats of Rustoleum Apple Red paint, added some cork board here and clip on earrings there and voila!
And voila! You have a gorgeous framed brooch display made in minutes!


This is what happened to my closet when I put it all together! I love it!

While the mug rack is pretty simple (Find one and paint it.) The others do require a bit of a step by step. I am not going to make one or the larger earring display though. All I did was staple some wire mesh I had laying around to the painted frame. I had wanted to use lace but didn't have a piece large enough. I like the bigger mesh though, it supports the bigger post earrings. But i you need a tutorial there are lots of great ones out there. Here, here, and here are all great ones to get you started.

In this post I am going to run through the brooch display. I'll post the step by step for the jewelry box in just a couple days.


Gather Ye Materials
Picture frame finished to your liking
Piece of cork board at least as big as your frame
Piece of batting (or any bulky sot material like felt or fleece) as big as frame
Piece of fabric a couple inches larger than your frame

Gather Ye Tools
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Picture hanging hardware in case your frame doesn't have that. (Mine didn't)

Begin at the beginning...


Step 1: Place your frame backing on a piece of cork and trace. Cut out your cork and fit it in the frame. make any necessary adjustments.
Step 2: lay cork on batting and trace. Cut.

Step 3: Layer your fabric, your batting and your cork board so that the cork is on top and fabric is on the bottom.

Fold each side over and glue with hot glue one side at a time. Do this in opposite sides creating a nice taught front piece of fabric.

Step 5: Flip over and check for taughtness or in my case wavy stripes.

Step 6: Fit back into frame.


Step 7: If you are using the frame as a dresser top display, this is where you try and squeeze the back, back into the frame.


Step 7.5: If you can't fit the frame back on, or want to hang the display on the wall using tack, little nails or a good glue attach picture hanging hardware directly to the cork board.


And voila! You have a gorgeous framed brooch display made in minutes!

Come back soon to see how I made this gorgeous little number!

How To: Turn a Bread Box into a Charging Station

This pretty little unnassuming number is one of my most recent accomplishments. It has been in the works since July or August. Yup. I think I received the breadbox from a friend in July, and it was sanded and painted in August. But I was two(ish) months finding just the right knobs, a grounded extension cord and then waiting for a drill to come back home. (Captain awesome has about seven hundred but you think I could have just one?!) Anyways, it was all worth it because looky what it does!

That's right! It is a handy dandy (and might I say beautiful) gadget charging station! On that shel is a Nintendo DS, my Blackberry and the battery charger for my brand new Olympus Pen camera. There is also room for Captain Awesome's Blackberry. We are not against Ipods, we are just not cool enough for them (But we are accepting donations and sponsorships.).

Look at that neat and tidy awesomeness. Seriously. See those cable ties? Reusable little numbers called Q-KNots from UT Wire. They are great! This really speaks to The Storage Geek in me you know?

Would you like to make your own? You would? Sweet. We can be Geeks together.

Gather ye materials:
Wooden bread box (Mine had one door in the front and a door on top for a shelf.)
Paint (I used Rustoleum Glass Black spray paint)
Knobs (if you are not using the ones it came with.)
Power bar and grounded extension cord if you, like me are not lucky enough to have an outlet right behind your planned charging station location.
Cable ties (again optional but really make take the project up a notch I think.)

Gather ye tools:
Palm sander (Or a sanding black)
Medium grit sandpaper
Drill
1/2" drill bit
1 1/2" hole cutting drill bit (I didn't have one but I wish I did)

Watch and learn:

Okay, this is not mine but it is as close as I could find to mine (I cannot for the life of me find the pictures i had of my bread box sanded before painting!). See the top knob? On mine it is fake. The top lid just lifts up, but I added a third knob to deter people from using the lid as a flat surface. I kept the fake knob because there was already a hole, and the sweet knobs I found came in a pack of three. But I digress!

Step 1: Remove knobs and sand breadbox, inside and out.
Step 2: Paint. I spray painted mine with two light to medium coats of Rustoleum's Glass Black. The second picture caught a lot of sun light but looks just as black as the outside.

 Step 3: Put your gadgets on the top shelf so you can get an idea of where you want your holes drilled.
**TIP** Attach your charging cords so you can see how far they stick out to the side. If I had done that, my first hole would have been as far to the left as possible.

Step 3: Drill holes.

Step 4: At the back of the bread box, make a hole large enough for your power chord plug to fit. This is where a 1 1/2" hole cutting bit comes in handy. I did not have one so I just used my 1/2" drill bit until I had a hole big (and ugly) enough. But nobody sees this hole, so don't worry your pretty little heads about it.

Step 5: Replace your knobs. Check out these GORGEOUS curio knobs from Tim Holtz's Idea-olgy line. I had literally been looking for two months for knobs JUST like these in thrift stores and Re-Stores. Even in new stores. Nada. Then I am walking through Michaels, minding my own business and in the clear acrylic stamp aisle they jump out at me. I nearly screamed at mom "I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THESE FOR MONTHS!" I think she thought I was nuts. But yeah, knobs in the scrapbooking aisles? Go figure. I hope I am not committing blasphemy by using the curio knobs as actually cupboard knobs. ;)

Step 6: Add power bar and plug in your adapters.
Step 7: Cable tie your chords to keep them neat.

Step 8: Feed chords through holes you drilled and plug in your (probably way cooler than my) gadgets.

Step 9: Add more storage to it by gluing and/or screwing a pocket system to the upper door for more gadget holding space. Do the same to the front door for holding more wires or extra USB cables etc. Plug another power bar into your power bar for more outlets. BUT! If you do this, make sure your extension cord can handle the load. I used a heavy duty one meant for air conditioners that Captain Awesome found for me in Mart-Wal.

Step 10: Bask in the awesomeness that is you and your creation! Seriously, I already love this thing more than my dog. (Just kidding, Sweetie is irreplaceable...by inanimate objects.)

Hope you both enjoyed this how to and are maybe a little bit inspired to create your own? I would love to see your creations if you do!
Happy creating!



P.S. Seven More days to vote Until Wednesday calls into the Top 25 Canadian Mom blogs at Circle of Moms.

How To: Manage Your Fabric Scraps

When you create timeless works of art as we all do, you also generate something else; scraps. Yup, I said it. That five letter word, scraps. Every crafter defines scraps differently. Myself, I define scraps as any pieces of fabric smaller than a fat quarter (It is not as generous as it sounds.). I have a couple systems for storage such as the jar of long wide scraps and those smaller than charm squares which are mostly used to adjust tension at the beginning of a project. The ones that are closer to a fat quarter than a charm square in size are folded and stacked in a small pile and kept at arms reach for small accessory projects. But what do I do with them when my jar is full and my stack is no longer easily accessed? Well, I start by looking a for a couple good scrap projects. Planning is vital. The above pile will be turned into two things.

Sewing Bit & Pieces by Sandi Henderson

You might know Sandi by her blog name Portabello Pixie. This book is a gem! I have yet to make anything from it but it is a constant source of inspiration. I will be making the Ruffled Head Scarf found in Sandi Henderson's Sewing Bits &Pieces. I cannot seem to ind a picture of it anywhere and the book pages are too shiny for my scanner. But it is a pretty little patchwork number.Which is to say, I will be cutting out 3"x3" pieces of fabric until I have enough for the head scarf construction.

And lots of these. That is to say lots of fabric flowers made with technique. Which I will be sharing this weekend! I was asked a couple times about how I made this pretty little brooch and I thought it high time I show everyone. So come back and check us out m'kay!

Now take your patterns and start tracing. I usually start with the biggest piece first and once I run out of space I go to my next size. Like this piece, first I traced my head scarf squares, then I traced some medium sized circles. I actually had three circle sizes I was tracing.

Keep tracing until all of your scraps are covered in circles and squares and petal and leaf shapes etc. And you have a lovely pile sitting on your work station.

Cut, cut and cut some more. I wish I had a pair of spring loaded Fiskars scissors for this job but having a razor sharp pair of Fiskars classic orange handled did me just fine. These are my piles about half way through. I doubled each of them at least. Now they are ready to be sewn patchwork style into a ahead scarf (Or two) and made into brilliant flowers for hair clips, brooches and all manners of accessories.

Alas, due to the nature of cutting so many circles, my scraps still had scraps. But I am okay with that. What I do with these is keep them in a zippered pillowcase and use it along with stuffing for felt pieces and pillows etc.

For me, scrap management boils down to storage until the scraps become a small stash and then planning what I will do with them.  Sometimes, I do all these steps as the scarp comes across my table. But usually, like yesterday it is a say long affair. Now, hopefully the weather cooperates with me tomorrow and there is ample lighting for tutorial photos. *fingers crossed*

What do you do with your scraps?