High Five

Several kind people have been "pinning" some of my blah to TADA! ideas on Pinterest. Holy smokes, my projects are worthy of a pin?! Thanks guys! And for you who found me through Pinterest, welcome to my blog!

One of my most popular "pins" is the necklace and bracelet rack I made using paper towel rolls. This is the reason I have a new batch of jewelry organizing ideas this week, whether you'll use it at home or if you're participating in a craft fair. 

Today, I'm making a TADA! ring display using these blah materials: cardboard, wood base, a pencil, scissors and hot glue. 

I trace my hand on the piece of cardboard.

Then cut around it.

Oh, we'll need paint and a brush, too.

Paint the hand and wood base {I bought this at the craft store for less than $1.00}. Make several coats.

Attach the bottom of the hand to the wooden base with hot glue. Allow to dry. Then add your rings! TADA!

Remember this when cutting out the hand: make some parts of the fingers skinny to fit different-size rings.

You can make a bigger version with a larger piece of wood and more hands.

Sending high fives your way!

Hanging Tough

Happy Wednesday! Before we get to today's project, let me share with you what I picked up from the news stand yesterday:

It's a special edition of Domino magazine! Domino was a shelter magazine that was shut down a few years ago, leaving a lot of fans like myself devastated. The pages were full of ideas on how to have a beautiful home by celebrating the lived-in look, finding beauty in the mismatched collection of high and low or brand new and thrift store finds (unlike those perfect homes you see in many magazines). Even if they came out with a book, and the editorial staff moved on to launch on-line magazines, I can't help but miss receiving a copy of Domino in my mailbox. This issue definitely turned my week from blah to TADA! 

Now on to today's blah to TADA! make-over. It's another jewelry rack idea.

Blah: Two hotplates {it protects the dining table from a hot-bottomed pot or serving dish} that I rescued from the trash. They're made of wood. One side is covered in a sheet of photographic paper. 

 The other side is covered in cork.

After a thorough cleaning, I gave both sides a new outfit using this Toile-inspired sheet of scrapbook paper and a slathering of white glue. I let the glue dry and smoothed out the bumps.

On one of the hotplates, I added a few nails in both front and back side.

Using a hammer/nails or wood glue, attach the two pieces to form an inverted capital letter "T". Folks, this is now a jewelry rack! TADA!

Remember Monday's project where we made some cardboard backing for handmade/vintage jewelry? All we need to do is add a hole on top of the cardboard using a hole punch.

 Insert the cardboard into the nails.

What did I tell ya? Jewelry rack!

Use longer nails to hold more items. 

Both sides of the rack can hold jewelry. When one side is running low on inventory, just flip the rack. One side {facing customers} is fully stocked and the other side {facing seller} can be replenished.

You can make something like this with excess wood from another project or brand new wood from the hobby shop or hardware store.

Hey craft fair, we're ready for you!

Jewelry Tray

It's all about jewelry storage and display all this week on blah to TADA!

If you're a ring collector like me, this nifty tray is a wonderful way to keep track of your baubles. Will you believe me if I tell you, it's made of tissue paper rolls?

Yep, it's another tissue transformation made up of an empty box and rolls. Here's how it's made:

With a pair of scissors, trim the tissue box {about half of its original height size}. Nestle the cardboard rolls inside the box. You'll be able to fit 6 rolls in a standard-sized box. By gently squeezing each roll, the circumference can become smaller. They should fit snugly and not attempt to pop out of the box.

The tissue rolls form the ridges of the jewelry tray.

We'll need these tools to make the tray presentable: sheets of felt {in the same or in contrasting colors}, scissors, a glue gun and glue sticks.

Remove the cardboard rolls from the box. Wrap the box in felt {fabric or paper are your other options} and secure it to the box with hot glue.

Now, it's time to secure the cardboard rolls to the box and wrap them in fabric: 

• Cut a strip of felt {Width: same as box's/Length: at least 2x the length of the box -- two or three strips of felt may be hot glued together to form a long strip}
• Using hot glue, attach one edge of the felt strip to the inside of the box.
• Closest to where the felt is attached, glue one cardboard roll to the bottom of the box. Drape the felt over the roll. At the point where the felt touches the bottom of the box, add some hot glue to keep the felt in place. 
• Add another cardboard roll and glue this at the bottom of the box. The felt strip is sandwiched between the covered cardboard roll and the newly added cardboard roll. Drape the felt over the roll and add some hot glue where the felt touches the bottom of the box. 
• Repeat this process until all cardboard rolls are covered and snugly attached.
• Tuck the end of the felt strip between the final cardboard roll and the inside of the box. Finish with hot glue. 

Use a ruler to aid in aligning and gluing the felt in between cardboard rolls.

TADA! A jewelry tray made of humble materials.

Use it display you products at a craft fair.

Or keep it in a drawer for your personal use.

It's not exclusive for rings -- earrings and 

bangles can hang-out here as well.

Also, experiment with paper towel rolls to make a larger tray. Hope you liked our project today!

More Craft Fair Ideas

Happy Monday Lovelies! 

One of the most popular posts on blah to TADA! is my craft fair and jewelry display ideas.

This bangle and necklace rack is made of 

tissue paper and paper towel rolls! 

This rack for earrings is made of cardboard and paint. 

If you're an entrepreneur selling your wares at fairs or an organization nut who needs inexpensive ideas to keep jewelry, you can definitely use these.

I have a few more ideas up my sleeve, beginning with this one:

blah: cardboard boxes saved from the pantry

Cut the boxes into squares or rectangles, cover them in pages from an old book or gift wrap scraps, and curve the corners with scissors or a craft punch.

Make some holes with a hole punch, then use these as cardboard backing for the accessories you'll be selling.

Such as brooches or flower pins...

Or earrings...

Also these dainty hair clips.

They can be used for necklaces or bracelets, too.
{Just cut a slit above the hole}

Note: I didn't open a shop; this label is for
demonstration purposes only

It's TADA! to add the name of your shop.

Note: I didn't open a shop; this label is for
demonstration purposes only

And it's even more TADA! to add your website, contact information and write the item's price so it's easy for both you and the customer.

I've got more suggestions and I invite you to visit all this week. It's a date? See you tomorrow!

A Surprise for my Shoes

Several plastic food containers were fighting for room in my cupboard. Instead of banishing them to the trash, I turned them into stencils. Here's one more project to end the week:

 Clean and dry the blah containers.

I chose a design from the web and printed out a copy. 

Cut around the plastic container to yield a clear, flat sheet. Lay the sheet on top of the design, and trace it with a marker.

 Cut out the stencil with a sharp pair of scissors.

This will be useful to update another blah:

A shoe bag I picked up at the dollar bin of Target

a few years ago.  It's cute as is, but a little

decoration won't hurt.

I positioned the stencil at the center of the shoe bag and kept it in place with tape. I added some silver paint with a small foam brush. 

I applied 3 to 4 coats of paint in a brushing and dabbing motion. Then I let it dry for a few hours before gently removing the stencil.

 As much as I tried to be careful, the final design didn't come out with a neat edge.

To clean up the excess paint, I used some Q-tips and nail polish remover.  Good thing, my shoe bag is made of colorfast plastic.  

Here's a classier version of my original shoe bag.

TADA! 

I think I'm ready to plan a summer escape!

Have a wonderful weekend my dears!