29. March 2008 by Kathy.

So I have been collecting interesting items in the way of jewelry and using them on different objects or in new jewelry.  Ok, I admit it - I seem to be addicted to rhinestones at the moment.  You can’t tell by what I wear of late but I seem to be drawn to shiny things!  Or is it because I live in Las Vegas?

So one of the blogs that motivates me is Seeking Everyday Beauty & Velvet Strawberries.  If you look at the blog entry titled Oh and one more you will see Andrea’s find for storing her pieces/parts.  (And a great collection of pieces/parts.)

I hunted high and low at two local Michaels but never saw this - probably was looking in the wrong area.  And I was in and out of several Tuesday Mornings looking for something like it and had no luck.  I did buy a substitute at Michaels but it was not deep enough.  So I just thought to put the idea in the back of my mind and hope someday to find a similar item.  Now while at Tuesdays I did buy what I thought was a drawer divider of sorts for the kitchen tool drawer.  Why I thought that was what it was is beyond me - I found it in the craft aisle.  (Isn’t it great they have a CRAFT aisle?  I have tassels collected from there that I am hoarding, lol.  They make great package tops for little kids - fun to play with!)

I unwraped/unsealed the drawer divider and was checking it for fit only to realize it has a COVER.  And said COVER slides off!  Well, by chance I bought the correct item to store those jewelry bits so I can see them but have them protected.  Here is a shot of it with the lid partially open that I took to show a friend how the cover worked (look at where the bubblewrap is NOT and you will see a shadow of the cover):

I think it will work!  And the wood color matches the wood in my workroom.  Sometimes you accidently discover what you are looking for all along.

Speaking of jewelry - Martha did pearl dying yesterday on her show.  Martha did it with Rit Dyes.  What I loved were the gradations of the pearls but Martha made me think that the powder dyes of Rits that I ignore should not be.  Her staff is so creative.  And then she stitched them on Silk ribbon and tyed it around her neck.  Look at the instructions or the video to the project - Pearls by Martha.  I bet this will work with real pearls too?   I have a lot of freshwater ones…

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Posted in thrifting, jewelry, storage | 1 Comment »

23. March 2008 by Kathy.

I do occasionally come up with some good organizational techniques.  (I just need to get them all at the same time and with time to implement them.)

So - controlling beads and keeping the space down - here is one of my techniques:

These were coca cola trays that I spray painted a neutral silver.  Then I used the watchman’s storage cases to separate the crystals.  And how do they stay there?  Well I helped them - I glued a magnet on the back of each of the containers (oh - BEFORE putting in the crystals - those lids don’t always hold!).

I can stack the trays on top of each other.  Easy to carry and easy to see at a glance what I have.

So then controlling and separating my stones from my beads is another problem.  Here is how I store those.  Of note - I usually have the drawers closed but I wanted you to see they really are full of stones.

My sorting approach on these - by color.  I just could not come up with another method to sort by.  So drawers have sophisticated titles as - Pink, blue, green, black - oh I have two called pearls…so I do have different colors in those drawers.  The sign turned sideways?  Well its a mix of two colors, lol. 

This is a CD holder that looks like the old file card systems in libraries.  Fairly shallow drawers - maybe 4 inches?

I have one other way of storing beads but that will wait for another day…

Posted in jewelry, storage | 2 Comments »

9. February 2008 by Kathy.

This one was easy.  I had already done 5 of these boxes so I only had to repeat the process.

I had bought these ribbon boxes on sale after Christmas LAST YEAR - early January 2007.  I had sprayed 3 black and 2 crème. 

So I took the last one, pictured here with one ribbon roll set in it.

I sprayed it – quick and easy to do!  It does take several coats though – as you can see in this photo where you can still see snowflakes.   I did not worry about the metal , just sprayed over it.  Nor did I worry about the inside – you can see that its still red thru the ribbon holes.

And finally here it is on the stack, already filled with ribbon.  I liked the black/white color (or lack there of) because I can really see what the colors of the ribbons are.  Makes it easier to pick the colors correctly.

Posted in thing-a-day-2008, storage, ribbon | No Comments »