Gettin' Crafty

Don't let the title of this blog post fool you. I'm not especially crafty or domestic. It's not that I don't appreciate those skills, I just don't find as much joy in doing those activities as others. I don't sew other than out of practicality, i.e., the occasional pair of pants that need hemming, and even then would be prone to ask my mother or mother-in-law first, or even go to the alterations place, before picking up a needle. Buttons I do - but that's about it. Fortunately, I have a wonderfully talented and generous mother-in-law who has made almost all the drapes and most of the pillow in my house. I get compliments on them frequently, and its' all because of her. I am most grateful.

What I do love is making something old into something new. I'm a big fan of thrift stores and craigslist and yard sales. I love to find a piece of furniture that someone else has given up on entirely and give it new life. Paint is my friend - primarily because it brings me near-instant gratification. I lose interest in long-term projects, but those only-gonna-take-me-a-few-hours projects are my best friends.

So, after recently amassing a ridiculous number (pretty much tripled my collection) of cute, dangling earrings (for less than $2.00 each at - of all places - SteinMart!), I realized I needed one of those fun picture frame earring holders. I found some online that were custom made for $50+! Yikes!

Then I found these easy how-to instructions and decided to take a stab at it. As you can see from the pic, it didn't turn out to shabby.

I decided to skip the step of painting an old frame and purchased a new one on sale instead. Then I had to track down some screen netting like what you would find in a screen door. Apparently, you have to buy this is large quantities, so if you're in the market see me. I spent $7 at Lowe's for a large role, and have a ton left over. I originally planned to staple the screen to the frame, but our staples were two large and would have pierced through the front of the frame. Instead, I opted for the hot glue route, which worked fine. I attached some black fabric to the back, again using hot glue, and ta-da. A finished product. I would have preferred to somehow made it so I could have inserted the original frame back to stand it up like you would a stand-alone frame, but it wasn't going to work that way. However, it looks great just propped against the mirror on my dresser.

Super fun project, and didn't take long at all. For more like it, or just for inspiration, check out one of my favorite blogs - DesignSponge. It's also listed among my favorite blogs links. You can also follow Grace Bonney, the blog writer/creater, on Twitter - @designsponge.

I especially love Wednesday when she posts reader-submitted DIYs and Thursday when she features reader-submitted before and afters. Good stuff and great inspiration.