DIY Earring Display Frame

I’m an earring gal. Therefore, I need a place to artfully and efficiently house all of my earrings, otherwise they end up all over the house. Here’s my earring organization solution:

earring-holder

It’s just an old frame, screen door fabric, a staple gun and some staples.

Source List:

  – Any size/style frame (preferably made out of wood and sturdy)

 - Screen door fabric (can be purchased at any hardware store  – one massive roll at Home Depot is $10.00)

 - Staple Gun

 - Staples

 - And of course, a little earring collection:)

Instructions:

1.) Pick a frame. It can be any size and any style. Again, I love these kind of projects because they work for all design styles. I happened to have this old frame laying around the house, and that’s why I chose it. One important thing to note: you will be using a staple gun to adhere the screen door fabric to the frame, so make sure your frame is sturdy enough to stand-up against a staple gun. Wood is obviously your best bet and choose something thick and durable as well.

2.) Measure the opening of your frame and cut out a piece of screen door fabric accordingly. The fabric should be cut one inch larger (on all sides) of the actual frame opening.

earring_screen-door-fabric

3.) Once you have your screen door fabric, stretch tightly across the back of the frame and insert staples into the frame one inch apart. Insert the staples as close to the frame opening as possible, as this will help keep the fabric taut.

earring-staples

4.)  The frame can be leaned against a wall or hung as well. To hang your earring holder, it is best to attach small sawtooth hangers to the frame, especially if it’s large and heavy. With that said, I just poked one very, very small hole in the center of my fabric and used a small nail to hang my earring holder. Be super careful if you are using my method, as screen door fabric can rip. Last but not least, add your earrings.

And then your frame should look somewhat like this:

earring holder after

earring-closeup

And what about necklaces? Don’t worry, I’ve got love for them too. I’ll be showing you my DIY solution for them later this week. As for my inspiration for these handy earring holder frames, my dear friend Kristen thought them up when we were in college. The first earring holders had chicken wire, instead of screen door fabric. Chicken wire can rust though, so that’s when the screen door fabric came into play. So I guess the above earring holder is version 2.0.

DIY No-Sew Curtains

So I must fulfill my promise and show you how darn easy it is to make curtains like these without sewing. For real, they are super simple.

curtains after

 

Items needed:

 - fabric

- one roll of Stitch Witchery (can be found at craft and fabric stores)

 - iron

 - ironing board

- small, thin, damp cotton cloth

 - curtain rod

 - drapery clip rings

1.) Measure your window. Remember curtains look best when they are hung high and wide - you can really create the illusion of a larger window by doing so. With that said, measure how high you want your curtains hung as well as the width of your window. Record your measurements and make sure you take them to the fabric store. That seems elementary I know, but I’ve showed up numerous times without my window dimensions and it’s a big letdown. So don’t follow in my footsteps and remember your measurements!

2.) Head to the nearest fabric store and shop away! If you live in Portland, my personal favorite stores are Bolt,  Whole 9 Yards and The Pine Needle.curtains at bolt fabric

3.) Choose your fabric wisely. Curtains really make a statement, so make sure the color and design are exactly what you want. I like to pull each bolt off the shelf and compare my favorites side-by-side before I make my final selection.

curtain options

4.) Purchase the correct amount of fabric (feel free to ask anyone who works at the store for help in terms of calculating yardage) and also one large roll of Stitch Witchery (this stuff is magical).

5.) This is perhaps the scariest part, especially if you’ve spent a pretty penny on nice fabric. Measure the window one last time and cut (yikes!) your fabric into two equal-sized panels. Even though I have done this numerous times, the cutting part still makes me nervous:). Remember you will be “hemming” both the top and the bottom part of the panel, so account for one inch on both ends.

6.) Fold over 1/2 inch of fabric and iron a small seam all the way around each side of the panel.

curtain fold over

7.)  Then, insert the stitch witchery inside the seam and press down with the iron for 10 seconds in one spot. Slowly move around the entire panel until the stitch witchery holds the seams together. l’d recommend placing a thin, damp cloth between the iron and the curtain panel, to ensure the fabric does not burn.

curtain panel and stitch witchery

8.) Hang the panel on the curtain rod using drapery clip rings (space about 4 inches apart) and TA DA! You have just made a no-sew curtain panel.

curtains after closeup

My favorite, favorite part about making curtain panels is that fabric options are limitless. No more boring beige. And did I mention DIY curtain panels are cheap, cheap, cheap?

I Have a Secret….Shhhhh!

Well, it’s not really a secret.

If you were driving by our house, you’d quickly notice that…we currently are sporting a two-toned house. Yup, it’s all the rage.

exterior house improvement

 

exterior side before

Looks good, right? HA! You see, we’ve been trying to finish painting the house for some time now, but Oregon’s weather has been anything but cooperative. And on top of our full-time jobs, squeezing in painting the exterior of our home has been tricky. With that said, I’m showing you these embarassing photos in hopes that we will finish this weekend, and I’ll have some serious “after” photos to show you. And yes, we are also replacing shingles. Fun times.

The good news is that the front is painted, trim and all. Here’s proof.

 

 

exterior front after

 

exterior house after

How did we pick the color? Well, we saw the color on a house a few neighborhoods away(shown below in the photo), and we knew it was the one for us. I actually slipped a business card in the house’s mailbox (no one was home) and asked if someone could give me some paint information. 

exterior house inspiration

A few days later, the home’s owner was kind enough to call me and let me know the color was Benjamin Moore’s Sharkskin. It’s basically a blend of grey and green and it was love at first sight.

exterior house color

Our exterior TO DO list still includes landscaping, painting the side of the house, painting all the trim (not just the front), replacing a few shingles, and refinishing our original 1925 door. What color will the door be? I have to give you some motivation to come back to Restored Style, don’t I?

I SPY! This & That from Wisteria

So normally I only feature one item when it comes to I SPY! posts, but I just couldn’t pick one from Wisteria. So here is a random collection of all the things I love…

wisteria cooper's draftsman stool

 Cooper’s Small Draftsman Stool from Wisteria

 

vintage file folder

Vintage File Folder from Wisteria

 

Wisteria cage light

Pendant Cage Light from Wisteria

wisteria sail pillows

Sail Pillows from Wisteria

wisteria iron wine bottle holder

Iron Wine Bottle Holder from Wisteria

See, can you see why it was hard for me to choose?! So many good things, so hard to pick just one…