Colleen is Creative

If you are having trouble thrifting trays like the one I used in my chalkboard tray tutorial, I have good news! I saw some similar ones at The Dollar Tree last time I went. So, go! Stock up and get painting! No excuses now.

This was a project that my old Craft Mondays group did, but I couldn’t go that week for whatever reason, so I had to do it on my own. It took me forever, but I finally did it.

(Based on this necklace holder.)

Click on any of the pictures to see them larger.

Heh, it looks like I’m posting here once a month now. Oh well, I just haven’t had much time for crafting lately. I was motivated to finish this necklace holder that I started months ago though because my son started pulling all of the necklaces I have off the top of the dresser/desk and onto the floor daily. He also liked pulling all of the pins out of the shadow box I kept them in, which frightened me – I was afraid he’d poke himself or leave them on the floor for my husband and I to step on. So yeah, I needed to finish this necklace holder so I could put together my jewelry wall. Here is the tutorial.

Supplies Needed:

• Piece of wood
• Paint in at least 2 colors
• Paint brushes for as many colors as you have
• Painters’ tape
• Tea cup hooks
• Cabinet Knobs
• Drill
• Picture hanging kit

I started off with a piece of scrap wood that I found in the garage.  Just like with the lost socks board, I had my friend cut a mitered edge around this piece of wood too.

1. First, I painted the top flat part white, and then made a zig-zag like across the wood using painters’ tape. I wasn’t too worried about making a perfect zig-zag, I just made sure to line the top points up.

2. For some of the points, I was able to use the cut edge of the painters tape, and for others, I needed to cut the tape at an angle. Tip – The points made with the flat cut edge look better.

3. Once I had the tape going across the wood, I painted the line white. I read that this would make the zig-zag lines more sharp, so I used this project to test it out. Once the white paint was dry, I painted over that with black paint.

4. Once the black paint was dry, I took off the painters’ tape to reveal the zig-zag. Unfortunately, I guess I didn’t wait until the base white paint was completely dry before I started making the zig-zag out of tape, so some of the base white paint came off. Whoops. Nothing that can’t be touched up though!

5. To make the next line, I put tape over the existing line, using the fact that I could see through the tape a little to my advantage.

6. I’m not really sure how to describe this next step other than “Make evenly spaced lines, using flat cut pieces of tape.” Hopefully that’s enough. I just eyeballed it, so… I don’t really have any tips. Just pull up the tape if it doesn’t look even when you lay it down?

7. This set of pictures happened way after the first set, so I completely forgot about painting the line white first. We can think of this as a control to see if it really makes a difference.

8. Once that line is dry, you can move onto the next one. Repeat until you have painted all of your lines. Once you get a few in the middle, you can start making two lines (top & bottom) at the same time, so the project will move faster.

9. I’ll tell you now – painting the line with your base color makes a difference. The lines are much more crisp!

10. See the difference? The middle line wasn’t painted white first, and the others were. Blotchy middle!

11. Once your lines are done, paint your edges. Painting them now will save you from having to touch them up, which you would probably have to do if you painted them first.

12. When the edges are dry, if you’re going to put the tea cup hooks on the bottom like I did, then mark where you’re going to drill the holes. I used chalk to mark mine because I could easily wipe it away.

I didn’t take pictures of the rest of the process because it was pretty self-explanatory. I marked where I wanted the holes for the tea cup hooks and knobs, and my husband drilled them. Make sure you start the drill on the front of the painted board – we did it from the back and some of the wood chipped. It ended up not being a big deal because the necklaces hide it, but still; something to note. I nailed the picture hanging things from the kit to the back of the board so I could hang it on the wall. Then, I screwed in the hooks & knobs. Hang it on the wall and you’re done!

Ah, look at that dresser top – so nice and clean! Now, I just need to find a small piece of screen or chicken wire or something to put in that empty round frame. Once I get that, I’ll have an earring holder, and I can clean up my poor vintage kitty earring tree. Best of all – my son can’t reach my necklaces…for now!

Hope you like the tutorial, and if you make one, I’d love for you to share the link!

I had a child-free weekend with my friends back in Rochester last weekend, and it was wonderful! I went to Marya’s house and we scrapped our hearts out. I worked on my son’s baby book (he’s almost 2, I know…let’s not talk about it.) and I also finished a mini album I started back in 2007. Yeah, I know. I’m not good at getting these things done in a timely manner, it would seem. The only scrapbook I’ve finished on time was John’s first (and only) army album for the year 2009.

I saved my waitressing book that held bills, money and my notepad that I took orders in, and decided to sew some pages to fit in it so I could have a mini album. I’m not even sure why I had these pictures, but I figure I’ve had them so long, I might as well finish the album!

This job was really important to my development as an adult. It’s funny to think that, I mean…it was just a waitress job, but it helped me with time management, prioritizing things, and not taking crap from people. Because people who eat out can be jerks and they don’t need to be…and I’m not going to take it. Ha. I also learned a little Spanish, as the restaurant was located in a suburb of Miami. At one point, I knew how to say steak, chicken, and breaded/unbreaded.

This particular spread features pictures at Denny’s, where we went to eat after staff meetings. Janet was a makeup artist, and Valerie was from the midwest. I don’t remember anything else about them, haha. I don’t keep in touch with anyone from back then. Maybe if I did, this album would’ve been finished earlier?

These two pages were originally a traditional 12×12 page spread. When I decided to make this mini album, I had to disassemble it to fit in the book. I was Flanigan’s (the name of the restaurant) Barbie for Halloween. I used the fabric from another co-worker’s shirt to make a halter top and ruffle for my skirt.  I remember this night being really slow, haha.

Also slow…Christmas time. Guess an Irish-themed Seafood Bar and Grill isn’t the place to go for Christmas, ha. We had a staff lunch, and I made an elf hat out of the left over fabric from that shirt I cut up at Halloween. I barely had enough left over…the hat was really tight!

You know what the place to be on St. Patrick’s Day is? AN IRISH THEMED SEAFOOD BAR & GRILL, ha. I didn’t have to work that day, but I went in to say hi to everyone. I was thirsty, so I asked for a coke, and I got it with a little something extra. Scratch that, a lot of something extra, ha.

The last page is just a pocket of comics that I drew on my lunch break. I need to buy a white out pen so I can write that on the “blackboard”. One of my coworkers would write out the script, and I would draw them. Good way to pass the time. The pockets on the right just hold my cheat sheet for the market prices of seafood and the beers, because I don’t drink beer. I know nothing about beer. Like, seriously. Gross.

It’s such a small album, I can’t believe it took this long to finish, but I’m glad it’s finally done! What do you think of it?