Simple Jewelry Organization

I've mentioned before that my nesting stage is in full swing over here. I have been trying to get everything as organized as I can before this baby comes in the next 7 weeks! If only there was enough physical energy to keep up with all the thoughts and plans racing through my mind:)

One area that needed some serious organization was my jewelry. I shared how I organize my earrings and since my earring stash has grown just a tad over the last year I needed a slightly larger frame with some room to grow (because who can resist that $1.50 rack at Forever 21??). I used a frame that I got at Goodwill and I just stained it a tad to fill in where it was dented and scratched.

My necklaces were the biggest problem. I had them ALL on one hanger in our closet and I can't even count how many times I would end up trying to pick out ONE and getting a whole knot of them about 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave for church. Nothing puts you in the mood for a nice, relaxing Sunday morning more than yelling at your mess of necklaces while hoping that shaking the whole mess will somehow untangle them all! And then having your husband say something about knowing where your 3 year old gets her tantrums from....

Ahh...here they are all nice and separated (with just two or three on each hook).

I found these tiny hooks at Target and my husband drilled holes into the inside edge of the frame and then I screwed them in. Super easy!

So now my jewelry is organized and easy to find. I decided not to use fabric on the back of the necklace frame for now, but I may add some later:)

Doesn't organizing feel good? It just brings down my stress level so much...and that's something I need in my third trimester and with a 3 year old:)

Scrappy Flower Pin

I have used this flower tutorial from House of Smiths many times for headbands for my daughter. I got the idea tonight to turn it into a pin for my necklaces and bracelets.

1. First, I cut out 6 circles from some fabric. The size of your circles is the same size your flower will end up being.

2. I put a dab of glue in the middle of the circle and folded it in half.

3. I put another dab of glue in the bottom center and folded 1/3 of the half circle in. I flipped the whole thing over and flipped the other 1/3 in and glued it.

4. I did that with all six pieces. Next, I cut out another circle of fabric that was slightly smaller than the flower. I glued all my little "pie" pieces to that circle of fabric. I find it also helps to put a dab of glue between each piece to make it more sturdy and less floppy.

5. I cut out a tiny circle of fabric and glued it into the center and then glued a pearl in the center of that. The pearl is an old earring that I took the post off of.

6. I glued a pin to the back. Then I glued a strip of felt over the inside of the pin.

I also made a black one, which I can't wait to pin to some black elastic bracelets that I have.

I love that they can be interchangeable with whatever necklace or bracelet I am wearing. They can even be worn by themselves or pinned to a hat. I like crafts that can be used in more than one way:)

All I had to buy was the pins. I got a pack of 100 from Michaels for $1.50 after my coupon. The rest of the fabric, pearls, and felt was what I already had on hand.

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Sugar and Dots

Anthro Inspired Necklace

So, did any of you guess that the Verveine Necklace for Crafting With the Stars was mine? Thank you to everyone that voted for it:) I have never made (wearable) jewelry before...so this was a new experience for me!

Unfortunately, I did not make it through to Round 2...but I was very humbled to be a part of the top 12 and I look forward to playing along (minus the pressure!) in the weeks to come:) Getting to meet all my fellow crafters and their "stars" was great! What a fun experience!

So you want to learn how to make your own necklace? Then here we go...

Materials:

beads of choice

ribbon or string for neck piece (mine is made of shoelaces)

needle and thread

1/8" ribbon

organza (for flower)

hot glue gun (or any other glue to secure your knots)

1. First, I decided what order I wanted my beads in. Then, I chose to string them with thin 1/8" ribbon. I wanted it to be sturdy (since I have a 2 year old that likes to pull!). Space your strands out to your desired length and leave about 3" of ribbon on each side.

**Make sure the center holes of your beads are large enough for whatever string/ribbon you are going to put through them. As you can see, my bottom strand of pearls are strung with black thread because my ribbon would not fit through.**

2. I took the bottom strand of beads and tied it to my middle strand of beads on either side, making it so the beads were nice and tight on the string.

Here is what it looks like after being tied together on both sides:

3. Next, I took both strings that I just tied together (bottom and middle) and tied them to the top strand of beads.

Again, here is what it looked like on either side:

4. Now for the neck strap piece, I found a six pack of black shoelaces at the dollar store. I braided three of the shoelaces together.

To decide how long you need your braid to be...hold your beads piece up to yourself at the length you want them to fall when the necklace is finished. I pinned my shirt where that measurement was...and then used a fabric tape measure to measure around my neck from that point around to the other side.

Make the braid 1" longer than that measurement on each side.

5. Next, I took the end of my braid and fed it through a ring, folded it over and sewed right across several times with a straight stitch. Repeat with the other side of the braid.

Sorry I don't have pictures of the final stages...but I took the ribbon ends of my beaded strands and tied them onto the same rings as my braid. I knotted the ribbon, cut off the excess, and then applied a layer of hot glue around the knot to make it more secure.

For the flower, I cut five 3" circles of black organza. I took each circle and folded it once in half (to make a half circle) and then again in half (to make a 1/4 circle). I repeated with all my circle pieces and then sewed the ends all together. I then sewed it directly onto one side of my braid (covering the ring)

And that's it! Pretty easy peasy:) Once I figured out my color scheme...the actual assembly of the necklace was very easy. There are SO many different things you could do with this too. Like ribbon for the neck piece or a large silk flower on the side? I wanted to put the flower on a pin so that it could be removed and put on a sweater or something:)

Price:

ribbon: $.50

beads: $3.00

shoelaces: $1.00

organza: $.50

Total: $5.00

Thanks again to Tam over at Sew Dang Cute for letting me participate and my craft star Shelley from How Does She? for giving me great input:) I am so grateful that I got to meet both of you!

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