DIY Jewelry Holder

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017 Caitlyn4 Comments

For many years I’ve kept my jewelry in a cosmetic travel bag. I think a big part of my reasoning was that I was always going to be moving again, so I didn’t want to bother with jewelry holders. Eventually though, enough was enough, and I decided it was finally time to pull my jewelry out of the travel bag. Inspired by a pricey (but super nice) jewelry holder, I decided to make my own. I went to the Salvation Army and bought an old $4.00 picture frame as my base. Then I bought some cup hooks, eyelets and cork board and got to work.
In the above supplies you can see my glue gun, but I was actually low on glue sticks after my air plant holder project, so I ended up using some wood glue and a staple gun for adhering the cork board. Other items I used that aren’t pictured were black paint, a paintbrush, round nose pliers and velcro damage-free hanging strips.

To start, I removed the backing from the frame and measured enough cork board to fill three spaces within the frame. I didn’t notice until after I added the cork to the frame that the cork board edges were visible when looking at the frame from certain angles. I wanted a cleaner look, so I ended up painting the edges black, something that might be easier to do beforehand if you decide to make something similar!I added cup hooks along the bottom of the frame for necklaces and bracelets, and added eyelets with some round nose pliers for hook earrings. Be careful to choose a thick frame if you make this project so the wood doesn’t split from the cup hooks. Mine split a little, but I just reinforced it with wood glue and painted it black. Once everything was in place, I added the velcro damage-free hanging strips to the back of my frame and put it on the wall. The last (and most exciting) step was adding my jewelry. I don’t have too many stud type earrings for the cork sections of the jewelry holder, so I might tuck a little picture of Lily in the middle cork section of the frame for now. I like the frame a solid black at the moment, but it could be fun to expand the project by changing the paint color or adding fun designs with washi tape. I love that this was an easy, inexpensive project that looks pretty nice. The best part is that I can finally see what jewelry I have and start wearing more of it again!

xx Caitlyn

Thrift Store Challenge

Thrift Store Challenge Round Two & New Challenge

December 2, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

Hey there everyone! It’s December 1st already, and that means it’s time to check in with you on the second round of Little Snail Thrift Challenges. Challenge two was to find something related to the kitchen and use it in a project (original post here). I found loads of ideas on pinterest that I wanted to try and/or adapt, but the only one I actually got around to was wood burning a wooden spoon.I basically copied the design from this pin I found, but I found many other cool ideas for wood burning wooden spoons that I want to try out, too! (Take this one of kitties, for example, these sunflower ones, or this one that has a bee on it!)

I love the idea of creating personalized wooden spoons for friends and family as gifts! Here are a few links to some other fun thrifty kitchen-related projects I’d like to try:

Teacup Bird Feeder
Pretty Vases Out of Tin Cans
Shelves from a Silverware Drawer
Picture Holders/Place Card Holders/Coat Hooks out of Forks
iPad/Cookbook Stand Out of a Cheese Board and Scrabble Piece Holder

Were you able to participate in this month’s challenge? How did it go for you? For the third Little Snail Thrift Challenge, visit your local thrift store with the winter season in mind. What can you find that can be touched up to add warmth to your days? Is there a picture frame that could become brighter with light blue paint and snow-like glitter? Or some pretty fabric that could be used as a pillow case? Maybe a little snowflake that could be used as a brooch? The due date is January 1st, but as always, you’re welcome to email me, post on instragram or twitter, or leave a comment with your ideas or questions in the meantime! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #littlesnailthriftchallenge!

I can’t wait to see what you come up with this month!
xx Caitlyn

Thrift Store Challenge

Thrift Store Challenge: Update & New Challenge!

November 1, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

It’s already November 1st, and that means a few things: October flew by, the holiday season is on its way, and also our first Thrift Store Challenge is finished.You may remember a couple of weeks ago I started out the first challenge with the items above. I used the basket as a container for all of our mail because I couldn’t find anything that I could use that wasn’t super expensive. Although I haven’t gotten to it yet, I intend to transform the spice rack into an acrylic paint holder (I’ll post pictures when I make it!). And though I haven’t found an “upgrade” for the little clock yet, I did find a use for the Suntory Whiskey bottle and the big clock. I put a handmade paper flower in the whiskey bottle–easy and pretty!

Before: the big clock

When I first came upon this clunky hunk of a clock at the thrift store, I nearly passed it by. But once I took it on as part of the challenge, I got to thinking long and hard about what I could do with it and started to get excited about its potential. I decided, first of all, that I hated the look of the numbers, so I tried to sand them off.

Despite my best efforts, a faint outline of the numbers remained. I had gotten an idea to use the clock as a birth announcement for a baby with a space-themed room, but with the stubborn numbers remaining on the clock, I had to re-imagine my design. Inspired by vintage colors and some tattoo designs, I set to work with my wood burner. When I was satisfied, I used watered-down acrylic paint to fill in the planets, stars, numbers, and a little portion of the letters. I thought the numbers turned out looking much better than they did originally!

Next I stained the wood and let it dry before adding a glossy coat. All that was left was reassembling the clock pieces and getting a battery. I just loved hearing the satisfying tick of the clock when the project was finished. It was fun making something for a friend.

I really enjoyed hearing a few stories via email and Facebook about your approaches to last month’s challenge. This month, find something related to the kitchen and use it in a project. Bonus points: relate your project to Thanksgiving! The due date is December 1st, but please email me, post on instragram or twitter, or leave a comment with your ideas or questions in the meantime! And don’t forget to use the hashtag #littlesnailthriftchallenge!

Good luck!
xxCaitlyn

Projects · Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List: Make a Fire Pit

August 21, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

We finally got around to making a fire pit in our back yard, and I’m super proud to say that it cost us exactly $0. That’s right, we didn’t have to pay a cent to make it!Some of you who know me have probably heard me talk about the work we’ve been doing on the front of our house, specifically describing the hours I spent pulling rocks out of the side garden. While it was a huge time investment to gather so many rocks, we were able to put them to use when we made our fire pit. We were able to use some stone borders from the front garden as well.

Chad dug the pit, and we worked together to cut out roots and arrange the stone border.

Once that was done, we added some dirt back into the pit around the sides of the border for support, and then sprayed everything down with water to help sink the border down and stabilize it.

For the last step, we took some of the rocks I had pulled from the front garden (yes, even after this project we still have leftover rocks!) and arranged them around the fire pit as a border.

We tried a little fire right after that, but then I had to go to work. Unfortunately we’ve had a lot of rain since then, but we’re really looking forward to having a bonfire and whipping up some delicious s’mores soon!

Have you ever been able to up-cycle something for a project in your yard?

Projects · Tried

Thrifty Finds!

August 17, 2013August 17, 2013 CaitlynLeave a comment

Today Chad and I went to a huge garage sale at a big church in Grand Haven near our house. We got really lucky and found this awesome set of sturdy, quality knives!