A Necklace Becomes A Bracelet - Quick DIY

A $2.00 Rue21 necklace becomes...

a brand new bracelet!

I redesigned this necklace into a bracelet by simply shortening the chains on both sides.  

Lay the necklace across your wrist and gauge how loose or tight you want the bracelet to be.

Using my jewelry pliers to open the links to remove the excess chain then reattach the lobster clasp and the jump ring to the chain ends.

You now have a new bracelet!

It only took about 5 minutes to complete this super quick DIY. 

The necklace was so inexpensive, I had to buy more than one (LOL!). Layering the two necklaces was an idea at first but I thought of the matching jewelry suites from the 1950s and 1960s and got inspired to make a bracelet.

Do you ever give your jewelry a makeover? Tell me all about it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Thomasina

The Beach Fixes Everything

Hello Everyone!

Spring is almost here and I am so happy. It was a very long and cold winter. Warm temps and the  bright sunshine are a very welcome change.

I saw these signs in Marshall's the other day. "The Beach Fixes Everything" is the story of my life. I have always felt relaxed, calm, zen, creative, and focused when I am at the beach. 

There is something soothing and awe inspiring about looking out across that endless span of water.

A plan for a roadtrip to the beach is in the works. I cannot wait.

When I saw these cute beach themed signs, I thought they would look great in my home office but I know I can definitely made them myself. 

A very easy DIY: 

a piece of wood or thick paper, draw with a light pencil the lettering, two paint colors or markers and presto you have this sign for free or a lot less than the $7 to $10 dollars they were priced at.

Thank you for reading my blogpost.

Thomasina

DIY Necklace Display - Basket Weave Placemat

I am using this basket weave wall hanging "thingie" to hang my many necklaces on. Yes, I looks a bit crazy. Yes, I have a LOT of necklaces from Rue 21 (their $2.00 sale on necklaces is the Best). 

But believe it or not, my necklaces are on display, organized and they do not become tangled.

Since I can see the different pieces, I don't forget what I have. 

This DIY is just repurposing something I already had. The loops and spaces in the basket weave are perfect for attaching the jewelry display cards.

My dream is to have glass cases like at a store to display my costume jewelry. Until then, whenever I see something I can hook onto, drape across, etc. I will repurpose that item into a DIY jewelry display. 

Comment down below if you have any more inexpensive or free jewelry display ideas.

Thank you for reading my blogpost! 

Thomasina

If you have questions or comments, you can also email me at Thomasinawords@gmail.com

DIY Sea Shells and Sand Display

This is a very quick inexpensive way to bring home a tiny bit of your beach vacation.

All you need is a few shells -ones you have collected from your relaxing walk on the beach or you can buy a bag of shells.

I was browsing around in The Christmas Tree Store and I saw a small net bag full of beautiful small whole shells. Usually the shells I find on the beach are fragments. But I still love the broken shells for their special charm. 

Next you need some sand from the beach and a clear glass jar or bottle to hide your display. 

Pour in your sand. Layer in your shells and presto! Your own beach display for your desk or table top. 

I saw sand and shell displays at the beach for $6.99 and up. You can make this in under ten minutes for free or very little money. 

Thank you for reading my blog post. 

Comment below if you have ever made a beach display before. 

Hollister Antique Metal Blue Ribbon Necklace

A close up of the Hollister necklace I purchased recently on a super clearance deal:  50% off the markdown prices of $4.99 - $2.49!!! The regular price was $34.95. I love finding deals like this on the clearance racks.

Strange thing - I was looking through the bin on the bottom shelf of the clearance section and the marked down necklaces were "hidden" underneath a pile of underwear. Lesson: Always take the time to dig through the piles in the sales section.

Of course I had to buy two necklaces (and the matching bracelet) LOL! I think it is because I am a Gemini why I always feel the need to buy two of almost everything.

I would describe the necklace as antiqued bronze metal, rhinestones, and  two colors of blue ribbon/threads weaving in and out of the metal chain links.

OK let me explain whay I bought two necklaces. Besides the amazingly low price, I will alter one necklace and as a result I will have two similar but different necklaces. The two necklaces can be worn separately or stacked for an even more strong statement necklace style.

I'm excited to start wearing this necklace with my knit or sweater tops.

Here is a past blog post I wore about a gold chain necklace that also had a lot of tiers in it's design.

Thank you for reading!

Tommy Bahama Necklace - A Mermaid Would Love This

 I was browsing in the Tommy Bahama store in Crabtree Valley Mall, I took a quick snap of this stunning sea life theme necklace. Any stylish mermaid would definitely love this piece as a part of her accessory collection. It is definitely a big statement necklace.

 The colors are so perfect: smooth blue for sea water and textured gold for the sparkle of the sun on the waves. I searched the store's website and unfortunately necklace wasn't available anymore.

Inexpensive this necklace is definitely not. I believe the price was over $100.00 (just glanced at the tag and I did get sticker shock LOL!) and if I understood the sales associate correctly Tommy Bahama does not mark down their merchandise??

There is an Tommy Bahama outlet in Tanger Outlet store in Myrtle Beach, SC and the prices were much more reasonable. The outlet store had a 30% off sale going on recently.

Since there is no way I am going to pay that huge amount for costume jewelry, I took a picture so I could gather all the elements of the necklace and make it myself. I'm pretty confident I will be able to easily find the sea life pieces when I visit the shops down at the beach. The basic gold chain and the beads are most craft stores.

This is not difficult necklace to make if you have all the parts because all you are doing is just attaching the "charms" to a gold chain with jump rings.

I love when I get inspired by an expensive item in a store, study the different pieces it is composed of then construct my own version using what I have at home or inexpensive items.

Let me know if you decide to make a necklace similar to this.

Thanks for reading!

Easy Quick DIY - Turquoise Pendant Necklace

DIY Necklace

The materials I used:

 A cord from a broken necklace.

 A pendant from a long pendant belt . I never liked that belt and hardly ever wore it so I decided to take it apart and make one of the pieces part of a necklace.



Instructions:

 Loop the chain around cord and attach to pendant. I have a set of jewelry pliers I got from Ross. You can use any kind of pliers

That's it you are done! Very simple and very quick.

 If a piece of costume jewelry breaks or I just don't wear it anymore, I will look at the different elements of the jewelry and imagine how I can put it together to make a completely different piece.


With most of my costume jewelry collection, if piece breaks, and I can't put it back together to repair the original piece, I will reuse the parts to make something new and different.

When I am shopping the costume clearance section or thrift shops, I will not only look for items I will immediately wear but for jewelry I can take apart to make new pieces. Just think, the new piece of jewelry is unique. You have just made an original piece no one else will have.

You don't always have to spend money to have "new" things to jazz up your accessory wardrobe. Recycle, Reuse and Remake inexpensive jewelry into a completely new piece of jewelry you designed yourself.

Enjoy your  "new" necklace.

Another easy to do  DIY post -  A framed jewelry necklace holder.

Thank you for reading!

Beach Frame Of Mind

I saw this framed photo art in a store and I thought this is a great idea I can do for very little money.

Buy a calendar from the dollar store. Get a frame from the same store for a dollar. Only two dollars spent for the entire project.

Find your favorite picture from your calendar and cut it out to fit your frame. Presto! You have almost this exact same type of art for a tiny fraction of the price. 

I love going into a store, finding an item I can deconstruct in my mind then go home and make it with items I already have.

Thanks for reading!

Easy DIY Bulletin Board Earring Holder

This DIY is super easy. All you need is a bulletin board, pushins and magnets. This bulletin board has two sides to it. One side is cork for push pins and the other side is metal for the magnets. Having the earrings out on display makes it easy for me to quickly grab a pair of earrings to match my outfit and coordinate with necklaces and bracelets.

I didn't really organize the earring on this board but I love how I'm able to see what I have at a glance. I made my own earrings cards with paper and cardboard squares. The earrings are attached to the board with the pushpins and the magnets. My dream would be to find a huge wall length bulletin board and display my jewelry collection on it. Or glass display cases like at a jewelry store but this is very expensive and would take up a long of space.

Here my wonderful jumble of earrings. I am able to wear them a lot more often since displaying them on this board. When they were hidden in a several different jewelry boxes, I couldn't see what I have. The earring display board can be set up on a dresser or table or hung up on the wall. This kind of display will not take up a lot of room. I think I will organize this earring collection by gold, silver and color in the near future.

Here is another DIY blog post - Easy DIY Framed Mirror Necklace Holder 

How do you organize your earrings?

Thank you for reading!

Easy DIY Framed Mirror Necklace Holder

Easy to make!

 All you need is a mirror with a frame or border that is soft enough to insert push pins. Insert your push pins in the frame and your done. A quick and easy DIY necklace holder for your necklaces.

You will have your necklaces on display and you will have a convenient mirror to see how they look as you try them on.

Do you think you will make this DIY project?

Thanks for reading!

Colored Pencils Organized In A File Folder Tray

RoseArt and LightMark Colored Pencils

I got an idea about how to organize my colored pencils. Lay them in a single layer in file folder trays. When the pencils are displayed in this way, it is so much easier to see the exact color pencil I need. No more sorting through pencils in a cup. This idea is best for sitting at a desk. The trays can be stacked on top of each other no problem. Be careful not to tilt the tray forward as the pencils will roll out.

The idea came to me from watching a behind the scenes featurette for the movie Kick Ass. I believe it was the artist who was the inker for the the comic has a really long drawer in his drawing table that housed all of his pencils and pens.

Thanks for reading :)

Cassette of the Day- Patsy Cline Sings Songs of Love 3-16-14

She had such an amazing sounding voice. My favorite song of the moment is Crazy. Yep that is a cassette. Yes I STILL play music on my cassette player. It works just fine and brings back happy music memories.

The other items pictured : Forever 21 mirror compact, a little stone turtle (I LOVE turtles) and a glass atomizer that I fill with water to mist my face to moisturizing my skin and a stone base clock holder that I DIYed into a display for a rhinestone piece .

Have you ever listened to music on cassette?

Thanks for Reading