A Small Snippet

if you happen to follow me on Pinterest, then you will know that i began pinning ideas for Jewelry Organization over 2 years ago.  i have been thinking for so long about how exactly i wanted to organize my jewelry, what to use, how it should look, and then last week, i decided that i needed to just stop thinking, and just start doing.  so i came up with this system along the way, and i’m really happy with how it all turned out.  and best thing is…it only cost me around $20.

the initial inspiration came when i found this earring holder a few months ago at a garage sale.  i think i paid $1.00 for it, and after a quick coat of spray paint, and some cream burlap attached to the back, it was as good as new.

i have since searched for one like it so that i could link it for you, cause its pretty awesome, but i honestly have no clue where its from, or how to find one like it.  however…i think it would be VERY easy to make something similar.  i know that Hobby Lobby sells open frames (you know…the ones without glass), and with a coupon, it would not cost much at all.  or even one like this could look amazing: 11×14 Barnwood Reclaimed Wood Open 11×14 Frame.  you could attach metal strips or even easier, wood strips, running horizontally, and drill small holes in the strips to hold the earrings, and voila…a homemade earring holder just like this one.

if you didn’t want to bother with the strips, you could even just hang your earrings from the burlap, or use decorative Hobby & Craft Metal Sheets and hang your earrings from that.  (if i were making one, i’d use the metal sheets.  i love how those look, and its so simple!)

for the rest of the project, i went to Home Depot and bought 1.25 inch wide decorative moulding.  you know, like the kind you find with the baseboards and crown moulding, in the really really long strips.  the kind i picked is priced by the yard, so it cost me a total of $11.00, but i bet you could possibly find moulding that is even less expensive.  i had the man at Home Depot cut it to the sizes i needed, eliminating a step in this project that i really didn’t want to do myself.

i had 2 pieces cut to 19 inches each, for my necklaces (which ended up being long enough for 12 hooks each, giving me room for a minimum of 24 necklaces) and one longer piece that measured 32 inches (long enough for 10 widely spaced hooks for bracelets.)

i also bought brass plated cup hooks in two different sizes.  the smaller hooks were 5/8 inch, and i used those for all the necklaces and some of the bracelets.  they came in a box of 100 for around $4.

the ones i bought are very similar to these:  5/8 Inch Brass Cup Hooks, 100 Pack.  the 6 bigger hooks were 1.5 inch, and those hold my wider, cuff style bracelets.  i got 2 for $1.16 at Home Depot, but you can also buy them in bulk packs if you need more: 1-1/2-Inch Brass Cup Hooks.  i used a total of 6.

once i had all my supplies, the first thing i did was measure exactly where i wanted each hook.  after a little bit of math and some playing around with my necklace sizes, i decided that i wanted each hook for my necklaces to be 1.5 inches apart.  i began my row of hooks 1 inch in from each end, leaving room to place a screw later on to attach it to the wall.  i also wanted the hooks running horizontally down the middle of the main part of my moulding (not including the decorative edge).  that halfway point was at 3/8 inch from the top edge.  so i ran a line at that mark horizontally, and then marked where each of my hooks were going to be on that line.  i was able to fit 12 hooks on each short piece of moulding, giving me room for a minimum of 24 necklaces (not doubled).

i did the same thing for the long piece, except i placed the hooks 3 inches apart to account for the width of my bracelets, and left 2 inches on each end.  i was able to fit 10 hooks on my long piece.

i began to screw in the hooks by hand so as to make the holes for each hook before spray painting.  i considered using a drill, but i couldn’t find our’s, and i am not one who likes to just stop and wait and put a project to hold, so i just figured i’d power thru.

but…my skin was stripping and my fingers were killing me after just a few hooks…and they weren’t really going in as straight as i would’ve liked (although, once it was all said and done, you’d never notice that those first few hooks are a little off.)

thankfully, the Hubs came home in the middle of my quest to make holes, found the drill, and in about 2 minutes flat had all the holes drilled for me.  so…although totally possible to make all those holes by hand with the hooks, i would highly suggest using a drill if possible.

once the holes were drilled, i painted the moulding.  i used my favorite gold spray paint, cause i happened to have it on hand, and i’m also on a gold kick and want to spray paint everything gold!

once they were dry, i screwed in all the hooks (much easier now that all the holes were drilled).  one quick note about the hooks…because the depth of my moulding was very slightly smaller than the length of the hooks, i had to be careful when screwing them in that they didn’t pop thru the back of the moulding.  so i didn’t quite tighten the hooks all the way, but it didn’t make one bit of difference in the way it looks or the way it functions to have the hooks not quite flush with the moulding.  that will make sense to you if you are using moulding like mine.

to hang the moulding on the wall, we bought long drywall screws.  i painted the heads of each screw in the same gold spray paint so they would blend in.  (here’s a tip for painting screw heads.  place a piece of newspaper on the grass, then stick your screws into the ground thru the newspaper.  they stand upright, and the newspaper protects your grass from the paint.)

we used a screw on each end of the moulding to attach it to the wall.

i decided to hang my longer necklaces higher, and then my shorter necklaces right beneath them, and then the bracelets underneath the whole thing.  make sure when you are figuring out where to hang your moulding, that you take into account the length of your longest necklaces.

i realized after the project was completed that i probably could’ve used all larger hooks for the bracelets, instead of some smaller and some larger.  it works for now, and i’ve doubled up a lot, even on the smaller hooks, but the larger hooks are probably better, since bracelets tend to be wide.  you can see the difference in how much the larger hooks hold as opposed to the smaller hooks.

but for the necklaces, the smaller hooks are perfect, and there’s plenty of room to hang multiple necklaces from one hook:we hung the jewelry in our master bedroom between our closet door and our bathroom door.  in a perfect world, i would’ve hung it in my closet, but there was not wall space in there to do so.  however, its so functional, and i’m finding that i’m actually wearing my jewelry more often because its so easy to access right out in the open.  i think it’d also look great in a bathroom if you have the wall space.

so there you have it.  a quick, simple, and inexpensive project that brings loads of organization!

happy weekend!

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y’all…this recipe…

i’ve tried for YEARS to find the perfect recipe for banana muffins.  every time i make them, i use a different recipe, and have never found one that is quite right.  but a few weeks ago, Bella and i were playing around in the kitchen, and we came up with this recipe…and THIS.IS.IT.

they are totally clean and made with whole, nutritious foods.  they are moist, and flavorful, and sweet without being too sweet.  i love being able to pack these for snack times for the kids at school, and i feel like paired with a fruit or some protein, this is a perfect breakfast or even lunch for Berkeley…and me!  and i love the addition of the oatmeal versus just using all flour.  i think the oatmeal makes these so satisfying and filling.

this recipe is so super simple, and you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients already on hand.

(sometimes i add in an egg, sometimes i don’t.  i think the only difference i notice is that with the egg, the muffins might be a bit more moist.  other than that, i’m not sure you’ll notice a difference. but they are plenty moist without they egg too, because of the applesauce, yogurt, and bananas.  )

in a food processor, process the oatmeal and the flour…

until finely ground:

add in the rest of the dry ingredients, and pulse a few times until mixed:

mash the bananas until lumpy:

combine the rest of the wet ingredients with the bananas:

add in the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined:

pour mixture into greased muffins tins. (i use coconut oil to grease.)   i always use a large ice cream scoop to fill muffin tins.  it makes it so easy, and less messy:

this recipe usually yields 15-18 muffins.  i typically fill them fairly high:

bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

these don’t last long in my house, and Canaan informed me the other day that these are the best muffins i’ve ever made.  i’ll take it!

i’m thinking this exact same recipe would make a wonderful loaf of Banana Bread too.  you’d just have to bake it longer.

here’s the recipe card for you:

enjoy!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!  it’s been a busy weekend over here, so please excuse the iPhone pics.  i just wanted to pop in really quickly to show you a few Valentine’s Day ideas, before the day ran away with me!  Jake and I celebrated last night with a fun dinner out with some friends…

which gave us tonight to hang out with our favorite little Valentines:

for a yummy fondue dinner:

i used this recipe, and it was super simple and super delicious.

and then for dessert, i saw this brilliant idea on Pinterest, and it worked perfectly to satisfy the various likes and dislikes of my family.  (i.e:  my children who don’t like chocolate, but parents who do!)

i placed small mason jars in my crockpot, and filled each individual mason jar with different flavors:  peanut butter chips, milk chocolate chips, a combo of milk chocolate and peanut butter chips, caramel, and white chocolate.  fill the crockpot halfway up the mason jars with hot water (be careful not to get any water inside the jars.)  turn the crockpot on high, and in about 30 minutes, give them each a stir, and all of your sauces will be perfectly melted and warm, and ready for dipping!

and, for fun, i have to show you the adorable Valentine’s that my kiddos’ passed out this year.  it was the first time in a long time that we didn’t do DIY Valentine’s, and i have to say, i really really really loved the simplicity of just placing an order and having them arrive on my doorstep!  i still wanted them somewhat personalized, so i had my kids pick these out from Pear Tree Greetings.  if you aren’t familiar with Pear Tree Greetings, then you might want to be.    i have absolutely fallen in love.  because…its kinda DIY…but WAAY easier!  you basically choose your design, but then you can completely customize colors and fonts and pictures and make the designs 100% your own.  so you still get personalized items, and you get the feel of creating them yourself, but without all the hard work involved!

they have an amazing selection of Kids Valentine’s Day Cards, and we quickly found the perfect ones for each kiddo.

the whole theme of Canaan’s classroom this year is mustaches, so when we found these, there was no question that they were the ones he was going to use:

i find it soooo difficult to find big boy approved Valentines…ones that aren’t too little kiddish, but still pretty cool.  there were a slew of different ones on Pear Tree Greetings that were big boy approved, but when we saw these mustache valentines, we knew they’d be perfect!!  because…when you put the lollipop in your mouth, the placement of the mustache makes everyone laugh!

Bella is much easier to please, and there were so many that she could’ve chosen from, but since Bella and i have a thing for French Macarons, once we saw these, they were also a no-brainer:

and since we weren’t DIYing the actual cards this year, i decided that we could put our energy into making some French Macarons to go along with her cards.  however, about 1/3 of the way thru the recipe, with an oven full of cracked cookies, and a kitchen covered in a huge mess, i was massively regretting that decision.  but we powered thru…and they ended up being the perfect accompaniment.

i finished up a fun little project this week that’s been on my to-do list for the last few years, and i’m excited to give you the details sometime soon.  here’s a little sneak peek:

i miss y’all, so hope to check back in soon!

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