Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Getting organized

My life is hardly organized (and for a newspaper editor, I'm not sure that's a good thing), but I've been trying to do better.

Here are couple of things that have helped me out lately.

• Shoe rack = Scarf rack
Instant organization!
When we moved into our house about three years ago, one of the things the previous owners left behind was this metal shoe hanger/rack on the inside of the closet door in the master bedroom.
I love scarves! I mean, I really, really love scarves! So, one day, I decided this might be a better place to  put them, instead of keeping them in a random bag in the coat closet that I had to search through each time I wanted to wear one.
They're now up, out of the way and visible enough to choose whichever one tickles my fancy.
As an added bonus, I can still store shoes on the rack when necessary.

• Jewelry hanger
Seriously, how fabulous is this? (From TJ Maxx)
Whoever invented this little beauty deserves a bear hug, at the very least. I spotted a similar contraption in Cato and surfed around on Amazon, but accidentally ran into this hanger for $12.99 at TJ Maxx. I LOVE that all my jewelry is visible so there's no digging through a jewelry box to find what I'm looking for. And, I know you were wondering, there are just as many clear pockets on the other side.

How do you stay organized?

Monday, July 30, 2012

Inspired by 'the Kate'

Several months ago, maybe even a year ago by now, I found myself constantly "liking" or "repinning" some amazing hairstyles on Pinterest. It didn't take long to realize that most of those hairstyles were from The Small Things Blog. Since I made the connection, I've been following the blog through Google Reader and I get oddly excited to see each and every one of Kate's posts.

About a week and a half ago, I took a picture of "the bouncy curled under" to my hairstylist. We chopped off about five or six inches and went for it!

I will say, it's a little shorter than I intended and I am by no means an expert at styling it yet, but I'm pretty fond of my new haircut. However, I must warn you, these are all self portraits and you don't see the whole 'do.

Excuse my lack of makeup.

My pretty flower to hide my unruly bangs is from Three Bird Nest.

At work, with a little curl.

Alright, so you've seen enough of me now. Have a good Monday!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Red, dangly earrings

The hubby and I took a trip to the local craft store a few days ago and I picked up some new beads, findings, pendants and chains.

However, given a few hours to "bead," as my husband calls it, I didn't work with any of those things today.

Instead, I finally organized all my beads, etc., and then decided to make a pair of red, dangly earrings.

I've had these red beads for a while (a couple weeks or so), but I wasn't quite sure what to do with them. I also wanted to try my hand at making some earrings that would actually dangle a little bit more than the others so far.

So...here they are:
What do you think?

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Pinks and purples

Nothing too fancy, but here are a couple of jewelry items I made today. Two pairs of earrings and a bracelet.

I'll most likely wear the earrings myself, but the bracelet was constructed with a special person in mind :)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

My new hobby

So, I took a jewelry-making class yesterday, and I think I may have found a new hobby. And by new hobby, I mean pretty much my only hobby ... unless fantasy football counts.

First off, to give credit where it's due, I took the class with two friends at BeJeweled Boutique. If you're in/near the Louisville-Lexington-Central Kentucky area, I suggest you check it out.

For a small fee, we learned how to make a bracelet and a pair of earrings. Here's my bracelet:


I basically copied its style from the example the teacher showed us, but I chose Kentucky blue as my main color.

I reached a little further outside the box when designing my earrings:


I started to make earrings to match the bracelet, but I think these bottom beads are so beautiful (and I wear a lot of brown) that I just couldn't pass them up.

One of my friends who took the class with me was a super sweetheart and gave her earrings to me (she doesn't switch her earrings out very much, so she knew she wouldn't wear them):


The beads are very similar to the ones I used, but in a beautiful blue color.

I enjoyed the class so much and loved having something to show (and wear!) for my work.

My husband has suggested I find some sort of hobby for a while now, so I think I've decided it's going to be jewelry making. I ordered a bunch of supplies on Amazon this morning, and picked up a few things at Michael's during a shopping trip today.

I couldn't wait for my supplies to come in, so I pieced a few things together this evening.


These aren't too crafty, but I found the pendants at Michael's on sale today (2 for $5). The black pendants came as a set, and I just thought they'd make lovely earrings. Not to mention I was in the market for new black earrings. As for the bird pendant, my husband picked it out and spotted the chain to put it on. I took off three links from each side of the chain to adjust the length and decided not to waste them so I made earrings.

We'll see how long it lasts, but for now, I'm enjoying my new hobby. :)