Project: Found Object Jewelry Organizer

Until recently, I faced this mess every morning when deciding which earrings to wear.  It always happened -- I wanted to wear a certain pair of studs.  Instead of finding that perfect pair, I had to go without because the earrings I wanted were impossible to find in this tangle of bangles.  So, I decided that I needed to do something about it. I first I thought that I could go thrifting to find little vintage trays and such, but that meant that I had to go out and buy stuff.  So, I decided to solve the problem with some things around the house.  

So, I gathered the items above to start the project. 

• Wool Felt Scraps
• Double-stick tape
• Coke Bottle Caps (preferably of the Mexican variety)
• Paper punch
  

Basically, I took a piece of felt and cut it to fit it in these bamboo drawer organizers that I put in the top drawer of my dresser.  Next, I took the paper punch and punched out several felt circles and placed them in the bottle caps.  They fit quite snugly so I didn't need to glue or tape the circles into the bottle caps.  Once I created enough bottle caps, I used the double-sided tape to stick the caps to the felt.  I left enough room in the center of the tray for my larger earrings.  

Voila! Isn't it cool?  It's working out very nicely.  Now I have little trouble finding earrings in the morning and the rest of my jewelry is nicely organized too.  This was a fun, easy and expensive project!  

Inspiration Everywhere!

I don't know about you but I find inspiration everywhere, especially in magazines! My favorites are Blueprint, MS Living, Domino, and Real Simple. These mags always have great ideas for crafts, decorating, and organization. However, I do not like the idea of keeping a stack of magazines in the corner of my bedroom gathering dust. So, I decided to create an inspiration notebook where I can cut and paste my favorite ideas found in magazines and easily access them when I'm ready to do a project. This is really the reincarnation of a two similar notebooks that I've created before -- one for my wedding where I gathered pictures of dresses, flowers, favors, etc and another for all the recipes that I find on the Internet.

All you need for this project is a simple sketch book, self-adhesive tabs, and a little imagination. First, I created headings to organize the ideas and projects. For my inspiration notebook, I've included headings for crafting, decorating, miscellaneous, organization, sewing, and wishes. Then, I created self-adhesive tabs for each heading and adhered them throughout the edges notebook. To make the notebook special, I covered the front with one of my favorite paper patterns (it's wrapping paper from my favorite local store Letterhead) and cut out a rectangle for my title, which I decorated with stamps and paper punches. It's a great way to keep all those inspiring projects organized and in one central location.