bye bye bracelet botheration!

like many people, i am constantly striving to de-clutter and get (and stay) organized.  while i'm willing to pare down and reduce how much stuff i have,  one area i really don't want to reduce is my accessories.  this has been a trend throughout my entire life.  i still have jewelry from elementary school!  and while my preferences have obviously changed . . . from jelly bracelets and plastic charms to spiked bracelets and dog chains to more recently a vintage and tailored collection . . .  the need for adequate storage has been a consistent problem, especially with bracelets!  you may remember my previous post about my jewelry board , but my bracelets have remained a problem until i found this . . . 

recently, while perusing pinterest, i came across this idea of how to store bracelets with a wire paper towel holder.  it is so simple and i knew would be very affordable so i quickly began my search.  i stumbled on this wooden one yesterday at goodwill.

not only was the price fair, but i knew that it would take very little sweat equity to change it into being display worthy.  as soon as i got it home, i got to work transforming it into the treasure it has now become.

first, i took it all apart, removing the small dowel and have saving it for future use.  then i filled in the hole with wood putty.  after allowing it to dry for a few minutes (i'm impatient!), i gently sanded all of the pieces. the final step in preparing for paint was to wipe off the dust.  easy peasy!

then i went about painting.  i ended up doing four coats of paint, allowing it to thoroughly dry in between each coat of paint.  finally, i gave it a very thin coat of polyurethane, since the paint i had used was a flat finish and i wanted glossy.  

after putting all the pieces back together i was done.  all together it took me less than 24 hours!!

i didn't pick a color that matches the room, but rather one that makes me happy . . . and that i already had on hand so i could save money!  i don't know what makes me happiest, paying so little for such a valuable storage solution or the fact that my jewelry boxes now close!

Project Cost Breakdown:

paper towel holder = $2

sandpaper = $0  (left over from another project!)

paint = $0  (left over from another project!)

polyurethane = $0  (left over from another project!)

Grand Total = $2  

pumped up kicks

i. love. pinterest.  i admit that i'm horribly addicted to it.  i don't even feel that guilty about it either!  

anyway, like most people, half of the crap i pin, i will never do.  let's be real.  i mean, how many birthday parties can be thrown, fingernails can be painted, and rooms can be decorated in one lifetime anyway!  sheesh.  every once in awhile though, an "easy" project comes along that truly isn't too time consuming or too much of a budget buster.  this leads me to last night's project.

i love the chevron zig zag pattern you see everywhere these days and i wanted to put them on a pair of shoes.  i had seen these on pinterest and was inspired.  

i like them, but i wanted mine to be a little bit different.  so off to walmart i went to find an inexpensive pair of white canvas shoes.

when i arrived home i gathered the supplies i would need for the project:

shoes (duh!)

acrylic paint 

brush 

fabric pen with ink that disappears with water

chevron template (i found a great printable chevron template here!) 

after cutting out the pattern, i fooled around with the placement until i found what i wanted.  

i ended up tailoring the template a little bit to the exact size of zig zag that i wanted.  as you will see, the lines drawn aren't perfect, so i had to fudge them once i got to painting.

then i carefully painted each zig zag with acrylic paint.  i really debated to paint the tongue or leave it alone.  ultimately, i decided to leave it be and i'm really happy with that decision! 

finally, i let it dry overnight.  this morning i felt them to make sure they were completely dry before dabbing the remaining ink lines with a damp paper towel. 

that's it!  fun and relatively simple to do chevron shoes. :)  but perhaps the best part of all has been how excited my daughter was about them.  she now wants a pair of her own!

Project Cost Breakdown:

canvas shoes = $5

acrylic paint = $1

fabric pen =  $0  (left over from another sewing project)

chevron template = free!

Grand Total = $6

window silhouettes

i'm not fond of exercising . . . and quite frankly, i'm a little leery of people who say they are! last year, i was determined to shed some extra pounds so i would get up early each morning and walk the neighborhood in westwood. i actually enjoyed the time to myself but especially loved mondays when people would discard potential treasures to the curb for trash day.

one morning i spotted some old windows propped up against a tree just waiting for the garbage collectors. i couldn't believe that these hadn't already been picked up by the local pickers! lucky me, these were only two houses down from where my parents live, so i could easily stash them to bring home later.

i've held onto these for well over a year now before finally bringing them to our home in florida and converting them to frames. here are a few pictures of the transformation.

i started by putting painters tape on the windows to eliminate additional paint to scrape off the glass.

then i painted the frames. i chose to not sand first since i wasn't sure if the original paint was lead based or not. i just intend to make sure my kids don't chew on them! :S i used the same paint from my jewelry holder project.

i don't have a picture of these next steps, so i'll just describe what i did.

i had silhouettes of my family from previous artwork (thank to my bestie who made them for me!) so i just traced them onto black cardstock and cut them out with a pair of fine paper cutting scissors. i splurged and bought a pair of these since i know i will use them again and again.

then i measured out white poster board and cut it to fit the inside of the glass frame.

after this i covered the board with fabric and taped it down on all sides.

i then taped the silhouettes onto the right side of the board.

finally, i used painters tape to hold it all together on the back of the frame.

check out the close ups first and then scroll down for the finished project. oh, and please excuse the glare . . . photographing these was a real pain in the glass! (sorry, couldn't help myself.)

finished! easy peasy and super cheapy!

Project Cost Breakdown . . .

old windows = $0

black cardstock = $0.50

white poster board = $2.40 ($.80 each for three)

scissors = $7

fabric = $8

hanging hooks = $1.50

Grand Total = $19.40! (sigh. i guess i could have saved even more money by using leftover fabric i already had on hand . . . but spending less than $20 isn't bad!)