We’ve all done it. Most of us hide in shame. Others of us display it for the world to see.
What is it?
Our Pinterest project attempts. There are many of us brave enough to share their ventures online on sites such as http://www.pinterestfail.com/. I’m not sure I’m that person.
My solution? Pick a project SURE to be a WIN!
So I started to think. What is something I actually need? A girl could get lost on Pinterest for weeks without seeing or feeding her family, so I knew I needed to go in with a plan.
I started looking around my house thinking, “what do I need, that I didn’t know I needed?” Another option could be walking around Target; you are sure to find things you didn’t know you needed at Target.
Then it hit me: a jewelry organizer!
Now, I didn’t grow up wearing jewelry. I’m new to the whole girly girl image. But in the process of becoming more feminine, I’ve acquired a drawer full of jewelry, tossed in plastic desk storage bins. It’s not pretty, and I sure as heck can’t find what I’m looking for, ever.
So with my new found need, I headed to Pinterest. As soon as I got there and typed in my desired project I was hit with more options than I found humanly possible. The scary thing about Pinterest is that when you scroll down, it never ends. Ever. Very clever Pinterest, very clever.
Eventually I see something that I think I can not only do, but that I could transform into my own creation! I’m pretty bold and brave like that.
Here’s my inspiration:
You will notice the cool looking frame in back, and the strings and clothes pins on the left. I am going to combine them into something totally my own! Or as least I’m going to try.
Step 1. Buy a frame.
For me, this is the easy part. I have a Goodwill addiction. More specifically I am addicted to their $1.49 Tuesday sales. So I just hopped right on over and bought myself a frame for $1.49.
Step 2. What else am I going to need?
Oh yeah, I need to figure out what else to get! This would be the problem of creating it myself.
I figured;
- Some paint
- Some strong cord
- Cute little clothespins
- Foam paint brush
- A stapler
I have a ton of paint at home, I’m cool like that, but I wanted new paint. I headed over to Home Depot and snatched up a can of their “oops” paint. If you are unfamiliar with their “oops” paint, it is paint that has been mixed for a customer who then decided it wasn’t the color they had desired. I lucked out and found a quart of paint+primer for $2, which is way cheaper than any craft store paint option.
Then I headed on out to the craft store for the cord and clothespins. I found a cord that I thought would be plenty strong for what I wanted and really cute mini-clothespins both for less than $8 combined!
Step 3: The Prep & Painting.
First I got my paint station ready. Nothing fancy here, just a table, newspaper and a sponge brush.
1. I started by removing the paper backing of the frame. Not every frame will have it, but fancy one’s like the one I found at Goodwill might.
2. Remove any little prongs that keep the picture and glass in place. I used a screwdriver to help pry them up.
3. Make sure you shake your can or bottle of paint really well, and then load up your brush. If you choose a frame with a lot of texture you make want to glob it on to get into the nooks and crannies and then wipe off any excess. This is why I chose to use a foam brush; it really gets into those tight spots.
4. Start painting! Even with a primer added into the paint I chose, I still did 3 coats.
Step 4. The Assembly
1. I started by flipping the frame over. I cut each piece of cord long enough to give me an extra 6 inches on each side. Then I stapled (very carefully and with many wrecked staples) the cord to the back. Since there was going to be added weight with the jewelry, I tried to keep the cord pretty tight. I decided to staple in two directions to the weight wouldn’t be pulled all on one staple.
2. I tied knots to keep the cord attached to the staples and to help them not slip out. I them spaced the cord down the frame. The frame I chose was about 18 x 24 inches, and I put 4 lines of cord from top to bottom.
Step 5. Load Up the Jewelry!
I added all of the mini clothespins and started adding one piece at a time. All that’s left is to hang it on the wall. I’m pretty simple, so I’ll just put a couple of balanced nails in the wall and stick it right up there. You could get fancy and buy special hooks for frames, but since you have the entire back open you have plenty of even space to hang from.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. The only thing I think I’d change is the size of the clothespins. I think there were some slightly bigger ones at the craft store, and those would probably not fall apart as much as the tiny ones do.
Now I just need to hang this puppy up! I hope you’ve been inspired to make something too! Now that I’m thinking about this idea, I’ve got other similar ones swirling around in my brain.
How about a recipe holder? Hang a frame like this on the cupboard and clip in your recipes. You could even display the recipes for each day of the week so no one has to ask you what’s for dinner!Or a picture frame? Take those random snapshots and clip them up for display. This would be really cool if you painted the frame in a Christmas theme for displaying all your Christmas greeting cards.
What ideas can you think of?
Recent Comments