Getting Organized, Part 1

Last week I was infected by a strange bug. It took over me and left me feeling odd and not like myself. It caused some bizarre symptoms too. I suddenly wanted to clean instead of nap. I no longer wanted to continue the love affair with piles that I nurtured so carefully during my pregnancy. I actually wanted to get rid of stuff instead of save it.

The most notable symptom of this bug was the overwhelming desire to organize. Deep inside I am a very organized person. I like to clean, I like to put things where they go and have a place for them. Going to The Container Store is like Disneyland for me. But mostly I keep this desire to organize bottled up inside, thickly padded by the desire to sleep, read, watch TV and get on the computer when I have free time.

This week was different. I DID SOME STUFF. So I'm going to highlight some of the super-mom, ultra-organized, crafty person projects I did that left me feeling very impressed with myself.

Part 1: My Jewelry Holder.



I bought a jewelry holder a few years back at one of those teeny-bopper jewelry stores. It looked vaguely like a wedge of cheese married a carousel. It had a tray for bracelets. It had little hooks to hang necklaces. It had little holes to hang earrings from. It was just right. Except that it also had three legs. Let me tell you something about three legs: Three legs is the reason why chairs and tables and everything else has four legs. Three legs suck. Three legs tip over and dump all your jewelry on the floor every time a slight breeze passes your dresser. So after the eighteen thousandth time of cleaning up my jewelry and putting it all back on my jewelry stand, I decided to come up with a better idea. So I ripped off my sister's* jewelry holder idea, made a few adjustments, and this is what I came up with:






The nice thing is, it filled an empty spot on my wall as well as creating a neat, easy-to-access place to put all my jewelry. Here's the How To in case you're interested:

1. Go to the craft store and get a poster frame with your 40% off coupon (mine is 22x25"), some ribbon to match your room decor (1 1/2" and 1/2" widths), spray adhesive, quilting tacks, a roll of cork board, and some push pins. You can also buy some fabric to cover up the cork board if you don't like the look of cork board. Just don't go with a crazy pattern as your jewelry won't stand out against, say, paisleys or plaid.)
2. Remove the glass and cardboard backing from the frame.
3. Carefully place the glass somewhere your husband won't step through it. Flat on the garage floor, for example, is not an ideal spot. Don't skip this step. Especially if you have plans to use the glass for another picture whose glass has broken. And especially if your husband has a habit of walking around the garage barefoot.)
4. Spray both the back of the cork board and the cardboard backing with spray adhesive.
5. Lay the cork board on the backing crooked.
6. Realize that spray adhesive bonds instantly and you won't be able to adjust the cork board.
7. Carefully try to peel the cork board off the backing.
8. Realize that working with cork board glued to cardboard with spray adhesive is about like trying to work with wet crackers.
9. Find a chisel and remove the many pieces of cork board left sticking to the cardboard backing.
10. Go to the craft store and get some new cork board.
11. Con your husband into helping you lay the cork board down. Just tell him you heard somewhere that it's easier with two people.
12. Fight a bit about whether or not a rubber roller is needed to smooth down the cork board. (He will be right about this, of course, but you can get by without one).
13. While you are fighting, go fetch a broom and dust pan to clean up the glass shards from the glass insert you didn't prop up somewhere out of the way.
14. Fetch some tweezers and apologize profusely as you remove glass shards from your husband's feet.
15. Lay out the stripes of ribbon across the front side of your cork board. How many to use and how far apart to place them depends on how much/what kind of jewelry you have. I recommend laying your jewelry all out side by side on the cork board so you will know.
16. Secure the edges of the ribbon with quilting tacks.
17. Every 3 inches along the smaller ribbon, place a dot of hot glue. This will keep your ribbon from sagging when the earrings are hung on it.
18. Hot glue the ends of the ribbon to the back of the cork board/cardboard backing.
19. Place clear push pins just above the wide ribbon, every inch or so, for bracelets, watches, and necklaces.
20. Mount the frame on the wall and hang up your jewelry!

Voila!






*(The credit for this idea goes to my sister, Jennie, as do all good ideas I have. One of the best benefits of having an older sister is that someone else weeds out the bad ideas and passes on all the good ones!)