Frame Jewelry Display

I am not the type of girl to wear a lot of jewelry or accessories. I'm sure that makes me weird for a girl but oh well. You'll usually find me in just my wedding ring and a simple necklace when it comes to accessories. Nothing frilly or chunky or large for me. But don't get me wrong, i love the frilly/chunky/large stuff that everyone is wearing. I just don't know how to wear it myself. I'm terrible with accessories. Trust me, i wish i could be good at it because i really do love it. And oh how i wish i could wear headbands, but i'm pretty sure i have the biggest sized head you can get for a girl and the headband just digs in behind my ears causing major headache...but headbands aren't jewelry, which is what we're talking about today. So anyway, as far as earrings go....i almost never wear them. I have a bunch, but my ears are just too sensitive to metals most of the time that i hardly ever try to wear them. But when i stumbled onto this Earring Display over at Kevinandamanda.com, i fell in love.

That's adorable right? I couldn't pass up this idea, so i went and made it myself :]

It was SO easy to make too. PLUS i already had everything i needed, i didn't spend a single dollar. But even then, if you don't have some of the supplies, it's still a very inexpensive project. I had a bunch of frames i didn't know what to do with from decorations for our wedding, but i got all of the frames in the first place from DI and Goodwill for a $1 each, some of them for less. So like i said, very cheap.

What you'll need:

Picture Frames

Picture Hanging Wire

Craft Paint

(i used Vintage White & Calypso Sky, but your colors are up to you)

Paint Brushes

(the foam ones worked great to give the paint the streaks so it wasn't so polished with the white)

Thumb Tacks

Ribbon

Staple Gun & Staples

I started out, for this frame, painting it first entirely with the Calypso Sky and letting it dry. It doesn't take more then a few minutes. I wanted this to be the color to show through when i painted the white over it with the 2nd coat.

When i painted the white over the 1st color, i just brushed it over, i didn't try to get the white into the detail and corners. That's the look i was going for, the shabby chic look, and i got what i wanted :]

Next was the hanging wire. I used 2 pieces of hanging wire and twisted them together so post earrings can be hung from the display as well.

So, you can slide the post earrings in between the wires and put the backs on, or hang the hooks over the double wires.

When stapling the wires to the back of the frame, you have a choice. You can staple the wire directly to the back of the frame. But if you do this, i realized after the fact, the wire will be directly against the wall if you decide to hang the display.

So the other option is to staple the wires to the side of the inside of the frame where the glass and backing slides into.

I spaced the hanging wire about 3/4 of an inch from the top of the inside of the frame, and 3 inches apart for each additional wire below that. It depends on the size of the frame you use for how you space it though.

This is what the ribbon and thumb tacks were used for. Because the backs are taken out of the frames, there is nothing to use if it's going to be hung up on the wall. So this is what i came up with.

Amanda, the one to inspire this whole project, was inspired in the first place by Ruffles And Stuff with this:

She had used an old frame with the original hanging wire to string up her necklaces.
I didn't want to have to unclasp my necklaces to get it off the wire, so i decided the hooks were the way to go. I realize a necklace has to be unclasped to put it on your neck....but i just thought it was easier to slip a necklace over the hook when it comes to taking it on and off the frame.

The only thing you need extra for this is the Hooks instead of the hanging wire. You can find them in the hardware aisle. I used 7, and equally spaced them across the top on the inside of the frame.
If that isn't enough hooks for you though, you can use 2 hooks on either end of the frame and slip a dowel inside the hooks to hang the necklaces from and -- i would think -- that would be easily removed to take a necklace off the dowel. Or you can just use the picture hanging wire if you like that idea :]

So there you go. A simple, inexpensive DIY project you can do to display your jewelry.
I actually didn't keep this project for myself.... Husband thought i was silly to spend so much time for something that wasn't for me, but when i told him i was sending it to his sister, he said i was really sweet :]

My sister-in-law Leah makes earrings, which she has given me several pairs of, and has lots of pretty jewelry, so i figured she would put these to better use then i would.
So Leah, these Frame Jewelry Displays are all for you.

I hope you like them!

Hey There!

You've missed me right? I'm warning you right now, there are LOTS of words in this post, but not a whole lot of interesting ones. If you read all of it, you're a good friend. If you don't, you're still a good friend because i won't blame you for not reading. So yeah, there's my warning.
I know some of you are wondering what happened to me. i used to be so much better at keeping this up to date. I know i should be doing this better. Its like free therapy some days, cheep entertainment other days, and like having friends around the rest of the days. I like sharing things with everyone so i don't know what my deal is..... i'm sorry. Life just gets busy and distracting some times.
I recently spent 2 weeks in Idaho visiting my family. It was much needed for me, but the hard thing about it was that i did it without Husband. Gasp! I don't know how either of us survived 2 weeks apart.... i especially don't know how Husband survived living alone for that long. He's never done that before. He grew up the middle child. After high school he served a mission for our church for 2 years and always had a companion with him then. When he was going to school he had roommates. Basic training, he lived in barracks. When he was on the boat, its was like living in barracks. No privacy. There's always someone around. Then, we got married and he's been sharing a room with me since. He's never lived alone. But while i was gone he had to feed himself, entertain himself, and keep the house clean...He survived though, and i came home to a clean house. But he called every night to tell me to come home because he was so bored and he missed me. I felt bad doing it to him :(
But I stayed the whole 2 weeks in Idaho with my family, and i'm glad i did if only because i love my family so much. When Husband and i visit there together, Husband wants to go visit Utah right away and see all his friends from school and from growing up, so time seeing my family is cut short. He feels bad doing that, so it was actually his idea for me to go alone in the first place. I probably wouldn't have stayed so long except my younger brother was visiting the first weekend i was there, and i hadn't seen him in over a year. And then my other little brother turned 7 on Sept. 1st and he wanted to have me there for his party.

So i conquered my fear -- or at least survived it -- and drove the 12 hours by myself to make the trip. Yes. I have a fear of driving. I used to make drives like that, no problem, back in the days when i was single. But after i developed a vertigo issue a few years ago, conveniently around the time we got married, driving turned into a stressful scary thing. i only say conveniently because i have Husband to do the bulk of the driving when we travel. I won't go into how hard it is for me, but i got past it -- i did it! -- all by myself. I was going to meet my family up at Yellowstone National Part, but Husband and i decided making that part of the trip was pushing it for me. So i missed out on that with my fam, but oh well.
Getting to spend so much time with my little brother Jared was fun. He started 1st grade while i was there, and it was exciting to send him off for that. His poor mom though. Cindy, my step-mom, was at a loss of what to do with her days that first week. She spent every hour wondering what he was doing, missing him, and trying to think up excuses to go see him at school. And then when he came home, he didn't go running into his mom's arms like she imagined and hoped he would. He would walk in and ask where i was instead. She said it was like getting stabbed in the heart with a knife and having it twisted it in a little deeper every day. I felt bad about that, but thankfully she knew it wasn't intentional on my part. He just loved having me there. When i'm not, he usually calls at least once a week to tell me how he plans to build a guest house onto theirs so i can come live with them. He says bringing Husband is an option left up to me if i really want him to come, thank goodness. He just loves his sister.
His birthday party turned out to be a lot of fun. I spent a few hours filling up water balloons for him and his friends to have a war out in the front yard that only lasted a few minutes. But i got to throw a few of them myself, so it was all worth it in the end. His birthday present from mom and dad was his very own kitten. Cute right?

I was so jealous. Well, at least i was until she pooped on my bed in the middle of the night right next to my head. *Seriously???* I about puked all over her. After that she thought we were best friends though. She followed me everywhere, i couldn't sit down without her in my lap. blah. i started locking her in the garage every night so she would always know where the litter box was at night.
While i was there, i got to run into Logan UT a few times to go to Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby is one of those places i can spend hours wondering around and getting ideas for crafts and art projects and decorating. If we had a Hobby Lobby here in Cali, i would probably spend all our extra money there. Something i picked up while i was there, something i've wanted to do for a while but didn't have everything to make it, was supplies to make this:

Antiqued Candle Holders. Its glass vases sprayed with mirror spray paint and water to make it look antiqued. I like candle warmers, but I'm not a huge fan of candles in my home. I don't care for the fire part. But it really is SO pretty, i couldn't resist wanting to make it. But i couldn't make it because i wasn't able to find the mirror spray paint. I have tons of glass vases that sit in my kitchen windows because i don't know what else to do with them, but now i'll be fixing them up nice and pretty :)
But really, the things that really made the whole trip worth it was spending time with all of my parents. My step-mom Cindy is one of my favorite people in the world. She's always so easy to talk to when something is bothering me, and she's the last person to judge. She's such great example. I love her. With my dad....i'm probably considered a daddy's girl. We're complete opposites though. We have different ways of looking at the world as well as how we do things, but we both want those around us to be happy. I love my daddy though. I got to spend hours just sitting around talking with him. And then my mom :) i love her too. I was able to go over to see my mom when she wasn't busy. I actually got to attend church with her, which is something i haven't done in a very long time. I can't even remember the last time... But it was nice. I enjoyed her ward, and i loved going to her Sunday school class she teaches for the 12-13 year old youth. It was fun seeing all her work she's done in her garden too, and cooking with fresh picked vegetables from the garden was so yummy.
So, that's about it. It was a great visit, but i'm glad to be home. I've been cooking, and cleaning, working on some crafts, and enjoying Husband. I'll be posting a craft i made in the next day or two that i'm pretty excited about, so that's something you can look forward to from me soon.



Oh, and P.S. Happy 1st Day of Fall :) I love this time of year!

Best Taco Salad Ever

While we were on family vacation to the Outer Banks this year, everyone in the family took turns making dinner over the week. We were warned ahead of time by several months so we could make plans. Since Husband is such a fan of my Taco Salad (its one of his top 3 favorites to request when i ask him what he wants for dinner for the week), and it feeds so many with just one recipe, i figured it would be my best choice to go with. It turned out i was right too, everyone was happy :] ...at least they said so anyway. After getting back from vacation i promised i would post the recipe, but procrastinator that i am, i still haven't. I'm sorry.

Taco Salad
1 lbs. hamburger (i use ground turkey though)
1 taco seasoning mix
1/2 bag Doritos
1 bag salad mix
1 can Black beans (drained)
1 can Kidney beans (drained)
1/2 bottle Catalina dressing (i use the fat free kind)
Shredded cheese

Brown the hamburger meat and cook with the taco seasoning according to directions. Poor the Doritos into a big salad bow and crunch them a bit, but not into crumbs though. Poor in the bag of salad and the beans and cheese, and then mix in the Catalina together with everything. Yummy!
This does make a lot for 2 people. The chips will get soggy though, so it doesn't do well for leftovers. When i make it for just us, i don't include the chips and salad in the big bowl, i put them in our individual bowls and mix it all together then. So for leftovers, i send husband to work with sandwich bags of chips and salad so he can heat the mixings and not have soggy stuff.
Let me know if you ever give it a try. It really is amazing stuff :)