Make-it-Monday: One Earring

Is there anything sadder than losing just one earring?

Um, yes.

But losing an earring is a special kind of frustration. It leaves you with one perfectly functional, yes useless, piece of jewelry. I have a graveyard section on my jewelry tree devoted to earrings who lost their mate. But thanks to some creative thinking (and clever suggestions from the Internet) I'm slowly repurposing them.

My favorite way to use an old earring is to turn it into a necklace. It's ridiculously easy to do this with hook earrings. Go to Wal-Mart, Michaels, or JoAnn's, picked-up some silver chain, jump rings, clasps, and a pair of jewelry pliers. It took me all of five minutes to turn my pretty earring into a pretty charm. Voila, new life for an old earring!

IT'S ALIVE!

Got a solitary post earring? Try using it as a thumbtack for your corkboard.

(Photo by Cup + Penny)

You can also attach a brooch back to an old earring - wear it on your lapel like a champ. Or glue it onto a headband for a little extra sparkle.

Really, just about anything can be bedazzled it with old jewelry. I took a spin through Pinterest, and found some really great ideas. For most of these, all you need are pliers, wire cutters, and metal adhesive.

(Photo by georgiapeachez)

(Photo by georgiapeachez)

(Photo by theresamariejewelry)

(Photo by Ryoan)

(Photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

(Photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

(Photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

"All this is great, Galen, but what if I just don't want to lose my stuff in the first place?" Well, if your earring comes off while you're at home, you can try to find it using the hose attachment on your vacuum cleaner. Put a pair of pantyhose over the nozzle and run it over the floor. When you get to the earring, the pantyhose will trap the sucker for you (this also works for contact lenses). Thank the lovely Gillian for this tip - she's the one who taught it to me!

I once heard someone say that for post earrings, you can put a dab of eyelash glue on the backing. It'll give you a boost of holding power. You'll have to clean your earrings every time you wear them, though - be sanitary, ladies!

UPDATE: Tune-in next week when I show you how to make your own necklace in less than ten minutes. I guarantee you'll spend more time assembling your lunch than your jewelry.

Make-it-Monday: Hemming (No Hawing)

Hello, my lovelies! Did everyone have a good week? I missed you all, but I can see that Mandi kept you entertained while I was away - thanks, Roomie!

Sometimes, you just need a vacation. Mine was only mental (have to hold down the fort; can't go running off to the beach or anything) but it was very nice.

Since my last post, two of my favorite bloggers came through Atlanta and hosted events at Manuel's Tavern. I got to meet Deb from smitten kitchen, and Mark from Mark Reads and Watches. More on that in the days to come.

Today, we're hemming dresses. I have two purple numbers from The Clothing Warehouse that needed a little love. First up, the prairie dress.

I cut off the bottom ruffle when I wore this for opening night, but I've yet to sew a new seam. Luckily, with my machine, it took no time at all. I just wound a bobbin full of purple thread, stuck that sucker in place, and went to town.

My prairie dress is now fully wearable, with no threat of unraveling!

The other dress required a little more creativity. It's a very stretchy material (some sort of polyester blend?) so I needed a stitch that can stretch. Well wouldn't you know it, but my sewing machine comes programmed with 27 stitches - and a few of them are stretchable! I decided to take about four inches off the length, so I cut off three.

Then I folded the bottom up a half-inch, and sewed a straight seam across the bottom.

But I wasn't done. See, this darling purple garment is full of holes - big and small. I'm pretty sure some moths had dinner on this dress. I hate the look of visible patches (especially on such a busy fabric) so that was out. What saved the day was a little product called Stitch Witchery.

It's a thin, fabricy material that comes in a spool, like ribbon. When you heat it up between two pieces of fabric, it melts and creates a permanent bond. I imagine this stuff is killer for hemming. But I also hypothesized that it could also work to fill in the gaps left in some of the larger holes. And it did.

Instructions:

1. Get two pieces of cloth wet. Place one of them in your ironing board.
2. Lay your fabric down on top of the wet cloth. Make sure the hole is on top of the wet cloth, and that the iron won't touch ANY part of the fabric that isn't wet. 
3. Place a piece of Stitch Witchery over the hole.
4. Lay a same-sized piece of matching fabric on top of the Stitch Witchery. Make sure to line them up well. 
5. Place the other wet cloth on top of the patch. 
6. Press an iron (set to wool) atop the patch for about 10 seconds. Since this dress is rayon, I found I needed a little less time - like 6 seconds.
7. Flip the garment over, and press the other side.

This method worked really well. I hit a few snags - the washcloths needed to be rewetted a LOT, and occasionally the iron would take some of the sheen off of the fabric (boo). But overall, it was a success, and repaired all the big holes. I won't say it was quick (overall, I spent about three hours on the project), but it was effective.

Make-it-Monday: The Art of Giving

Today, I'm highlighting the creative efforts of my darling Little Sister. Remember her?

You remember.

She is a great gift-giver. Two years ago, she got me a replacement Beauty and the Beast lunchbox after my old one (the one I used in preschool) was lost.

Lunch as old as time.

This Christmas, she got me a gorgeous faux-fur circle scarf, and a beautiful vintage necklace.

It's just the most.

Isn't it lovely? It's quickly become one if my favorite accessories.

Yesterday, I went to my parents' house to watch the Superbowl, and Lil' Sis further proved that she is the Ultimate Giver.

When I walked in the door, I found this gift waiting in the office:

Love the bag, BTDubbs.

But when I opened it, this was all I saw:

The floor? Well what do you know, a string...

Follow the cotton thread road!

It lead me to the hall bathroom.

I continued to the living room - but oh no! There was a fork in the road! Which road to take? The left, or the right? I veered to the right, and the trail stopped behind the TV.

Okay, fine. Left this time - behind the couch. 

Up the stairs! I flipped on the light and saw this little white note on my pillow:

The fan! I flipped the switch, and after a moment, another message fluttered from the blades.

I scrambled back down the stairs, shouting, "But there are TWO CARS!" We dashed into the garage, and I saw the note perched on the dash in the Corolla. I flung open the door, and the light burst on to reveal the writing:

I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

GUH, sometimes being right is SO HARD. Fine, I cut my losses - to the van! And this time, finally, I saw the prize.

The final gift was wonderful - the ENTIRE Muppets collection from OPI! - but the scavenger hunt was the best part. Count on Lil' Sis to take gift-giving to the next level.

That, dear readers, is how you make a present into an experience.

Make-it-Monday: New Year's Cards

Now that they've all been sent, I can squeal about how adorable my New Year's cards were this year! I found them, of course, at Papyrus.

And they're Kate Spade, so they're super classy.

Last year, I made a bunch of bird ornaments to send for New Year's. In fact, I made way too many. So along with the cards, everyone got an ornament (or two). 

I love getting and sending mail, but I can be awfully lazy about it. I'm a bit ashamed that it took two weeks to get my New Year cards in the mail, but somehow it takes a lot of strength to go to the post office. Maybe I should invest in my own scale so I can just weigh my letters in private. then again, I could just put on pants, build a bridge, and get over it. 

In other news, my opening night was swell! We had a full house (our second so far) and the afterparty featured more cheese than my body had room for. If there's one thing leaking at most opening night parties, it's cheese. Not so at Actors Express! Today and tomorrow are my days off, so I will be doing a lot of chores. Sadly, it's dreary and rainy outside - if it were sunny I could at least play Cinderella ad pretend that my forest friends will help me. But on a drizzly day like today, I think I'm on my own.