Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Earring Organization

Well, well, well. One year without posts and here I am, breaking the streak.

Lots has been going in life, obviously. I'm finishing up medical school this May and finally going to be a DOCTOR. I start my training in Pediatrics this summer! In less than two months, I'm also GETTING MARRIED to truly the best man I know (and there will be a little DIY coming with that, believe you me).

But this is about crafting!

I just wanted to share this with you guys because I've never seen earrings stored quite like this. Putting chicken wire, or lace, or burlap in frames never really worked for me. They were all a bit too rustic, for lack of better words, for how I like to decorate.

I do, however, have a few of these scrolls hanging in my apartment:



It hit me when I saw these that I could imitate this style.

One trip to Michael's later and....



Pretty, no? I have been using this system for almost two years, and it's held strong for me. Hooks go near the top, hoops go on the edges (they of course also work really well on the bottom, and studs go near the bottom for easy unhooking.

Here's a slightly closer look at the top edge:


Also, this was almost laughably easy to make. I found a nice long piece of Aida cross-stitch canvas, a dowel (about 3/8" in diameter I believe), and red embroidery thread.

First I cut the dowel into two lengths, for the top and bottom. I pre-measured how many rows of canvas would be enough to make a casing for the dowels, then I back-stitched it in to emulate the look of a scroll. At the top, I also added a loop to hang it from.

Choose a spot, hammer in a nail (or hang a Command hook, whatever floats your boat), and put your earrings in. Done!

Thanks for reading, especially to those of you who used to follow my blog and remained faithful followers! Hopefully I'll poke my head in again soon to share some of my wedding DIYs with you!

- Annie

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Commitment Day 13: Storage Solutions - Earrings, Rings, and Watches


Welcome to Day 13 of my 30 Days of Commitment Series! You can find the other posts in this series here.

This isn't quite what I had planned for today; I just found out that I don't have the photos that I thought I did, so that will have to wait. Instead, I'm continuing my series on how I store my oodles and oodles of stuff.

The champion of today's post is boxes. Boxes of any kind. Pretty ones saved from gifted jewelry, or candy, or laying around storing silly things like decorative silverware. Put those boxes to use!

As a recap, here is the "accessories corner" of my room.


When I was China, I saw these wire-framed, straw-wrapped, jewelry-holding doohickeys that I instantly knew I needed. To hang it, I tied a piece of embroidery floss around the wire at either side of the top "petal", then hung the whole thing over yet another Command hook. Don't be fooled, that thing is heavy with so much hanging from it.

But in the end, it really is oh-so-perfect for "hook" earrings.


It's roughly organized between metallics and non-metallics, as well as "big and dangly" vs. "small and delicate". This really helps me when I have an idea of what kind of earrings I want to pair with an outfit and don't feel like searching across this whole spread (it's surprisingly difficult to actually find the pair you want, even in such a small area).


My post earrings all live on the cart in two boxes. This one below holds the "fun" ones, ones that I am more likely to wear in a casual setting. The box itself used to hold one of my silver bracelets that is now hanging on the wall with its brethren.


See the snake one hanging from the lid of the box? That's an ear cuff, and I will definitely be wearing it when the opportunity comes. Super-cool.

Also note how, as much as possible, I try to keep my earrings paired by fastening one of them through the stopper of the other one.


The fancier post earrings I keep in this flower box. Remember the M&Ms teddy bear box from this post? This one also once held M&Ms.


Going clockwise from the bottom:

  • The first compartment holds green-toned earrings. For some reason I have a lot of those.
  • The second compartment holds my earrings that are primarily gold.
  • The next two compartments hold vintage earrings that used to belong to my mom. They wreak havoc on my ears (I have a relatively sensitive nickel allergy) so these are reserved for special, short-term wears.
  • The fifth compartment (it's kind of difficult to see) holds the dangly crystal-and-silver earrings.
  • The sixth compartment holds my crystal and pearl studs. 
  • The center holds any hoop-style earrings. Most of them are actually a perfect fit!
I rearrange these on a regular basis, as my collection changes frequently. Some time soon I will need to go through my earrings and put away the ones I don't usually wear.

Moving on to rings!

This box used to be just a box, and I would throw my rings in it willy-nilly. I finally decided I had enough and actually turned it into a real "ring box."

See the ribbon-like one on the bottom left?
My favorite ring, hands-down.

It was a very easy and fast project. With some white fleece, I cut out a rectangle about as wide as the box and at a length that I knew was too long. I rolled it up until the roll was the size I wanted and cut off the excess, then used that rectangle as a pattern for more pieces to cut and roll up. I just kept cutting out and rolling rectangles until the box was filled. Then, it was a simple matter of sliding my rings in, sorted, of course, by the base metal.

I used another box for my watches. Someday I may devise some dividers or something to keep them better sorted, but for now, this works fine. I have a bunch of other watches that either don't suit my taste (again, passed down from my mom), are broken, or have no battery in another box hidden away in the drawer.


Hope you enjoyed this installment of my Storage Solutions! Eventually you'll get to see what I do to store my other accessories, clothes, and crafting stuff. Hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!

-Annie

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Monday, November 5, 2012

Commitment Day 5: Storage Solutions - Bracelets and Necklaces


Day 5 is here (see the other Days here), and boy, did I cut it close today! Still immersed in exams (one down, three to go!), so today is again a short one.

Storage is a big problem for me. I have a lot of stuff and not tons of space, nor do I want to spend tons of money on fancy solutions.

I have accumulated a ton of jewelry. A lot of it is inherited from my mom, gifts, collected from garage sales, and bought off clearance. This stitcher may be stingy, but she's also a bit too enthusiastic about finding a good deal!

In several posts this month, I'll be showing off what I've done to store my jewelry so it's visible but out of the way. Today's all about the bracelets and necklaces. And today's star players are Command wall hooks, shower curtain rings, and paper clips!

This is an overview of my "accessories corner", sandwiched between the bookshelf and the closet door (on the right). You'll eventually see all of what's going on here in future posts.


Focusing on the left first, you see a ribbon with loops tied in it, hanging from two of those Command wall hooks.


And threaded through those loops are nothing less than shower curtain rings, holding my bracelets and bangles in sets and loosely related groups. All well-displayed and easily removed, and not even taking up table space!


I also have a few bracelets that are stiff and open (you know what I'm talking about, right?). For those, I just dangle them from the mouth of an old, cleaned-out jar. Easy-peasy, and I'm not afraid that they'll fall off and land who-knows-where.


 Necklaces were interesting for me, as I have a lot of those. I have this straw-wrapped, wire jewelry frame I obtained from China years ago, and it has served me so well. In order to maximize its utility, I added hooks made from bent paperclips to hang necklaces from. I threaded those through the straw, making sure they hooked over the wire frame so they wouldn't rip out.


Longer/wider/busier-looking necklaces are relegated to these hooks on the side. Thanks again, Command!


And hiding away in a drawer is a little bear-shaped box (its former incarnation) holding other pendants and chains.


 I hope you enjoyed looking at this! I enjoy being able to browse through other people's storage solutions to find approaches that work for me. Hopefully I inspired you!

Anyways, I have to get back to studying. Wish me luck, and I will see you tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

-Annie

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