Earring Magnets

This is a project shared by my mother--the queen of creativity.  She's also just as bad as me about throwing anything away so she had a drawer full of button earrings that were as outdated as shoulder pads.  So she took the earrings, removed the posts, attached magnets to the back and repurposed them.  Aren't they beautiful?

Outdated pins and vintage buttons would also look amazing as refridgerator magnets.

Growing Up Shelf

I wanted a shelf in my daughter's bedroom, but true to character I didn't want to pay for it.  So I hunted the garage sales and came up with these two possibilities for a couple of bucks each.

Can't you just picture roosters on these gems?  I bought both because I wasn't sure what size I wanted in the room.  Eight long coats of paint and $6 for new glass drawer knobs later and I had a great shelf that could grow with my daughter.  The glass knobs will hold her necklaces long after the dolls have been packed in boxes.  Total cost for the project $10 with a shelf leftover for another project.  I could have spent a lot more for some beautiful glass prismic knobs and it would have been like hanging a piece of art, but it wasn't going into MY room!  Repainting a shelf and changing out the hardware is a quick and easy project with nice results.

Jewelry Displays

Okay,  so there's been a little time between posts.  Mainly that's because I've been off looking for stuff secondhand.  It's remarkably time consuming but equally fun.  It's amazing what you can find when you dig in and go for it.  I've got several projects underway and I'm asking all my family and friends to turn in their great projects too so I hope this blog will give you more great ideas from more creative brains than mine.

This one is a no brainer--I think.  I only own the cheap costume-type jewelry, but that doesn't keep me from feeling like a celebrity when I pick out my accessories in the morning.  I shopped my house and a couple of garage sales and came up with some beautiful ways to display my jewelry.

I have my earrings hanging on tiered plate holders and yes, the plate holder does double duty and is used at parties for actual plates.  The other one is a tiered bowl set for fruit.  I picked up the glass bowls, dishes and a funky rotating mirror that reminds me of a disco ball at garage sales.  My bracelets, rings and pins are all displayed like pieces of art.  I used fabric left over from my curtains (when I shortened them) as the backdrop.  I have mine in an entertainment center shelf, but it would look beautiful on top of a dresser too.

Magazine Wallets - Eclipse Style

I made these a while ago and I'm just getting them posted.  I'm a couponer.  Whew--finally out of the closet on that one.  Anyway, I love food coupons, those loyalty cards that earn you free sandwiches and burritos, and gift cards that come free with a purchase.  They take up too much room in my wallet, but I have to carry the darn things around or I never use them.  Hence--the coupon wallet.
It's made out of scrapbooking paper, but can also be made out of magazine pages, family photos or whatever paper interests you.  This is one I made in honor of the New Moon movie opening--which leads to another embarassing admission that I am a Twilighter.  I'm also a Harry Potter and Fablehaven fan so I guess I'm at least 20% geek.  My sister (Team Jacob) uses hers as a full on wallet.

Thanks to a great tutorial I found from my friends at Craftster.com, this wallet came together pretty easily.  You just need an 8 1/2 x 11 double sided sheet of paper and a plastic sheet protector.  I tweeked mine with an additional credit card holder, but that's completely optional.  Hope you like it!!

Grown Up Prom Dress

I loved Nicole Kidman's wardrobe in Bewitched.  Although I'm not normally that romantic of a dresser, I was especially taken by the full skirts she wore in the movie. (Not my image--owned by the studios and all that.)

I decided to embrace the full skirt by making a special occasion skirt out of an old prom dress.  I picked the prom dress up at a thrift store for $8.

It's a bad picture, but the dress was burgundy and had a stretch-velore top with a satin skirt.  This transformation took more sewing skill than I possess, so I enlisted my mom.  She helped me remove the top, create a waistband and shorten the skirt by approximately 10 inches.  I LOVE the end result.  Now I have a grownup special occasion skirt.



Skirt Reboot

Skirts are so easy to bring back into this decade and we've all kept skirts way longer than we probably should have.  This skirt I picked up for $4.  It's a designer skirt that hit at that unflattering 3 inches above the ankle.  I loved the fabric.  It's a velore with sequins sewn into the skirt.  The detail work was beautiful and definitely worth trying to make it more wearable for now.  Because I liked the finish on the bottom of the skirt, I opted to remove the top layer and replace the waistband. 

Hope you like it.

Halloween Costumes

I'm using my family and friends to demonstrate that the best costumes are often the cheapest.  They just require a little imagination and, to keep them as inexpensive as possible, be on the lookout year round for things you can pick up for pennies at garage sales that could be a costume contest winner once you put your spin on it.

FLOWER POT:  So clever.  She put a plastic cup on her head, poked a hole in the bottom for the flowers, then wrapped her ponytail around the cup.  Add a cardboard flowerpot to hang around your neck and you have a clever costume that took more time than money.

RED NECK:  This would be an easy costume to pickup at a garage sale.  Old hunting gear and a mangled wig.  So easy.

VIKINGS:  These take a little crafting skill, but were pulled together using fake fur fabric, cardboard and aluminum foil (gotta love aluminum foil). 

MALIFICENT:  This is where found items meet store bought.  She purchased the dress at a thrift store.  It was a prom dress.  The head dress was a sewing miracle (the talent part) to create an amazing costume for $30.  The best part?  She plans on selling the head dress on ebay.  My bet is that she'll be ahead money in the end.