Earring Holder

Remember this forehead-slapping post when I learned that I could wear any earrings by simply exchanging the cheap hooks for sterling silver ones?  Well, once that tragic woe was remedied, I started to think anew about my jewelry system. 

Last year I showed you how I made some hangers for my necklaces so that I could see them, and therefore, wear them.  Well, it worked.  I'm not sure of the longevity of my system {I think I can do better}, but I know I love being able to see at a glance what I have.  However, I was still throwing my earrings into a jewelry box I'd had since middle school and then searching for a matching set when I wanted them.  Surely I could do better than that! 

This is what I came up with. 

Earring Holder Tutorial

Supplies:

Picture frame {mine was 8x10}

Spray paint {optional}

Glue gun

Plastic canvas

Directions:

I found this frame at Goodwill.  I looked through all the frames until I found one in the 1/2 off price tag color that was the right size. 

Spray paint your frame in several light coats.  For some reason I can't figure, my paint did a weird crackly, wrinkly thing on the frame.  I've never had that happen before, but since it was going into my closet, I didn't care.

Remove and discard the contents of the frame {I did this after painting}, unless you want a not-so-very-good representation of a Norman Rockwell-esque picture for your bathroom wall where the girl is saying, "I have found a tub, but I'm tired, so I will sit and stare at it," and the boy is saying, "I have found the top your your head, but I'm tired, so I will sit an stare at it" and the dog is contemplating the clear soap-made orbs above him, wondering if they hold the meaning of life.  If you like that kind of thing, keep the insides.

I had this plastic canvas on hand for a sewing project for Ella.  Plastic canvas is really cheap, and Ella loves sewing on it with yarn.  It comes in different sizes and is found in the embroidery and cross stitch section of your local craft store.  Just cut a piece to fit your frame.  Regular scissors worked just fine here.

Glue your canvas in place.  There were staples already in the frame, so I used a couple of them as hooks to hang it.

Here you are.  A simple earring holder.  Notice the paint weirdness?

Hang up your creation.  You might want to hang it using two nails so that it stays put when you're taking off or putting back your earrings.

It is a good size for me.  There's room to grow {ahem, hint, hint, Handsome Hero}! 

As for those earrings with posts and backs, you could use this same method for those, but it isn't very practical if you hang your frame like I did.  It could work if you lean the frame against the wall or mirror so that you could easily access both sides, or maybe you could take the lazy way like I did.  I found a dish I really liked at Homegood's for three dollars and put them in there with a couple of rings, a pendant, and a pair of my granddad's cuff links.

 

The whole project only took ten minutes outside of drying time, but it has made a big difference to me.  The earrings are very easy to take out and put back - it's not wobbly at all.  I still need to find a way to hang up either pins or bracelets so I can get rid of one of the trays cluttering the dresser top.  Speaking of, I would like to redo this dresser some day, but really, in the list of priorities, redoing a dresser that is inside my closet is pretty low.  Like on the bottom of the list, below adding curtains to my laundry room window, where I will be the only one who sees them.



In terms of cost breakdown:

Frame - $1

Paint - already had, but $3 new

Canvas - already had, but $.50 new

Dish - $3

Total= $4 for me, or $7.50 to go from scratch

Not bad!

The Pacifier

With the third kid, you'd think we would have seen it all {for those of you farther along in the parenting journey than we are, feel free to laugh}.  After all, we have a boy and a girl with vastly different temperments and personalities.  What was there new to learn?

One word:  Pacifier.

Have you any thoughts about pacifiers?  As some of my Southern friends would ask, are ya fer 'em, or agin 'em {you have to pronounce that phonetically.  Don't worry, you'll get it}?  I never had to give this much thought.

Ella and Jack didn't use a pacifier.  Ella sucked her thumb {and stopped doing so on her own, so we never went through a struggle there}, and Jack holds his hand in a very awkward and uncomfortable-looking position and sucks his three middle fingers.  He's odd.

Nate uses a pacifier.  I'm not sure how I feel about it, but what can I do?  It's magic!  Stick that thing in his mouth and you have instant peace and quiet.  He literally looks like he's getting a fix.  It's slightly disturbing.

As I have watched Nate's reaction to the pacifier, I have realized something that could be paramount to our national security.  This could have global ramifications.  Picture it:  we send a package loaded with pacifiers to the leaders of Al qaeda, and we immediately acheive world peace.  They'd open the box, stare for a bit at the contents and look questioningly around at each other.  Then one brave soul would try one, and the others would watch as he entered a state of unimaginable bliss, and they would all clamor to try it.  As they lay down to take a nap, we'd come in and arrest them all and they would just look languidly at us, lulled by the supernatural power of the pacifier.

They're that powerful.

I am not, however, sure that I want Nate attached to one.  I've written a pro/con list for the go-fier, as my brother called it.  He's odd, too.

Pro:  He'll use it for awhile, and then when it's gone, it's definitive.  You can't throw out a thumb.  Unless you're the mafia.  Then you could do that.

Con:  I have to remember it.  I have to always have it around.  I hate that.  Remembering diapers in two sizes is hard enough.

Pro to the Con:  I could always put it on one of those little clips that attach to his clothes.

Con to the Pro to the Con:  If I have to remember those clips, too, or remember to take them off of his outfit, I might go insane.

Pro to the Con to the Pro to the Con:  I could treat it like we treated the other kids' blankies.  They were not allowed to have them at all times.  They were only allowed in places where they were confined, like the crib and carseat.

In short, since at this point I don't really have a choice, I guess I'm okay with Nate using a pacifier.  Isn't that big and mature of me? 

But I'm not going to call it a nook, or binky {what?} or go-fier or a soother, and you can't make me. 

So there.