Crafty Idea

How can you tell if I have a lot on my mind or I am feeling overwhelmed? I am either crafting or organizing or both. The night before I left for a year’s deployment to Iraq? Reupholstered by dining room chairs. Before you become super impressed know that it just takes a screwdriver, a staple gun, and some fabric to accomplish this. But only I would think this was a necessary task to accomplish at a stressful crossroads in my life.

What’s been bugging me lately is finding forgotten but usable treasures in my house that have gathered dust. I decided to tackle the top of my dresser that is usually a tangled mess of jewelry. I feel naked if I forget to put on earrings, but I have been wearing the same pair lately because it’s easier to just grab what’s on the top of the pile again and again. I sorted and cleaned, and made a not small pile of items I plan to sell or give away. Some costume, some nice, and a fair amount made by me.

But I needed a new system to keep it from becoming a mess again. Enter framed chicken wire! I had two of these from a previous project, and thought they’d be an easier way to keep dangly earrings (a fave of mine) from returning to pile form. A little paint, a string of beads to make it fancy, and now it’s hanging next to my dresser. It looks like this now:

I got the frame (chicken wire already installed) at Michaels, who don’t seem to have this one in stock any more. Google “framed chicken wire” and you’ll find lots of sources. Now on to tackle that t-shirt drawer…