Better Living Through Crafts

Since my computer is the devil and I can no longer go online for digital scrapbooking, I've been really sad and out of the creative loop. I did take a book making class last weekend, but I only got so much excitement out of that because we used ugly supplies :)... I did however realize that it will be wonderful and amazing to use for Stampin' Up!


Okay... I realized that since I have two friends who sell Cookie Lee products, and I rarely wear jewelry, I have a lot of necklaces sitting around in my nightstand drawer. It got to the point where I couldn't find anything else in my drawer and they were all tangled. I have tried to find a good jewelry box, but apparently they are "seasonal" and only around during Christmas (which I find to be a little more than crazy). Doesn't anyone need one any other time of the year?





So anyway, after several futile attempts to find something to contain the tangle in my drawer, I begged Tim to make me a jewelry box. To his credit, he said that he would make me one. I found some free plans online and it is a doable project for him. But having said that, I realize that it is another thankless project for him to take on. He is working to get the yard in order and start a garden, so the jewelry box making isn't going to happen anytime soon.





My mom happened to bring by a magazine that she got to try and perk her house up before she sells it. I took a quick glance through it and didn't find too much of interest, but I did find a wall-hanging jewelry thingy. I didn't really take that close of a look at it other than to think it was kinda cool. Well, last weekend, inspiration hit me and I decided that I would make one. Of course, since I didn't have the magazine and didn't really remember what it looked like, I was kind of lost, but I thought that I'd come up with my own creation. I have a stash of scrapbook products like you wouldn't believe, so I took some of my favorite Basic Grey papers and found an amazing deal on a frame at Joann's ($16.90) that was 12 x 36... three gorgeous papers across. :) The only problem was that once I took the glass off, I realized my mistake in the frame purchase. Instead of having a firm backing, it just had a cheap piece of cardboard, so I was worried that it wouldn't hold the knobs or the weight of the jewelry. I asked Tim if he could drill through glass, but he didn't seem very excited about that idea and thought that plexiglass would be better.





That created quite a day for us. We went to Home Depot and picked up a sheet of plexiglass. The only size that would fit was a 30 x 36, which meant we'd have to cut off 18 inches of height. So they don't do it there at the store (which is totally frustrating) so they give us this ridiculous $3 tool to score/cut the plexiglass. We go home thinking that it is going to be easy-peasy. Tim starts to score it and score it and score it. He tries to bend it and it shatters on that end. So we start at the next end. We score and score and score and it breaks again. I wanted to cry. So I call Lowe's to see if they will cut it. They would, so we headed back out to get another sheet. He cut it for us and we figured out that the problem is that you cannot continue the pressure that is required for scoring when you are trying to go across three feet of plexiglass. You can do it on a short length, but not the long length. Grrrr. But then we took the first 12 x 36 piece and Tim was going to drill through for the knob. He held it over the edge of the table and started to drill. It cracked. Now we only had one piece left. He took it out to the deck and put it on a piece of wood and drilled through it slowly into the wood. It worked!





I mod-podged three pieces of paper onto the cardboard and then we screwed the knobs through the whole thing and hung it up. I was so pleased! I may actually try to start selling some. (I did go and buy a glass drill bit to ease along the process and make it cheaper.)





Here's a picture of my project.






I guess I should have taken a picture once I got all of my jewelry hung up, but I will have to do that later. I realized that I have a whole bowl full of bracelets as well, so I'm making a couple of smaller ones to go along side it and hang the bracelets. Yay! Crafts make me happy!!!