Whatever. I can be crafty. Sorta. (DIY necklace holder)

The oldest kid (12) has amassed quite a collection of earrings and necklaces. She rarely changes her earrings and almost never wears the necklaces. Nevermind all that, what we need is a place to display them all that isn't in a wad of chains shoved into a jewelry box. I gifted her the jewelry box awhile back when she started having jewelry, and she's outgrown it. Obviously I have a standing jewelry armoire as well for all the jewelry I never wear. So we looked and googled and pinterested until we found a good solution.

So we started out with this thread rack from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I specifically went to the store vs. ordering online, because some of the reviews sounded like when shipped they fell apart. The store was running a sale when I was there, so I got this for less than $5.

http://www.joann.com/30-spool-thread-wood-rack-w-legs/9080607.html

 She decided she wanted it the teal color we used on her DIY bracelet holder, so I spray painted it in the garage...in 15 degree weather. Wasn't quite as terrible as it sounds, with the garage door closed and gloves, it didn't take long so I didn't freeze to death. And here is how it turned out. I obviously didn't do the best job with the spray but in theory, we can take the necklaces off and touch up the spots in the spring.

It turned out pretty great and since it's not really that heavy and it'll be holding necklaces and not...bowling balls, mounting it to the wall wasn't a big deal either. I'm a huge fan of the 3M Command Strips and I'm forever trying to figure out where else to use them. So I'm using the velcro type picture frame hangers for this project. Here is her dresser area before we hung this. The jewelry box on the left is where they all used to live, and you can see the DIY bracelet holder there as well. I recently bought her a jewelry tray at TJMaxx to hold her many earrings, so she'll pass that jewelry box to her little sister once she's fully cleaned it out.

The dresser BEFORE

She recently cleaned up the dresser top...like two days ago..so it's looking pretty nice. And now with the jewelry a bit more under control, maybe it can stay that way for longer.

The dresser AFTER

I need to clean up the shelf above her dresser also...I really never understood that kids are basically packrats. Never wanting to throw things away or donate or clean out. They NEED everything!  I'm mostly kidding, my girls don't LOVE getting rid of things, but they do enjoy the new clean space after they do.

loaded with necklaces

There are 60 posts on this thread rack, which hold a lot of necklaces. I could see adding a second one, and repositioning them so they look right in the space, or even adding a third if it became necessary. It was a pretty easy project once I acquired the rack. Maybe now she'll actually wear some of these necklaces, now that they're visible and easily selected.

Band! Concert!

Last night was the oldest's first band concert of the year. I wasn't sure how that would work out because she caught a nasty cold over the weekend and stayed home sick on Monday, but she was back to school yesterday and feeling pretty good. So off to the concert we went. They played three selections and they did very well.


First up, Tambora!

Sophia Band Concert - Tambora! from Melissa Anderson on Vimeo.

Next up, Hidden World

Sophia Band Concert - Hidden World from Melissa Anderson on Vimeo.

Last selection, Union March

Sophia Band Concert - Union March from Melissa Anderson on Vimeo.

School photos

Fall school picture days have come and gone. I thought for sure I blogged about it, but alas, I have not. The 6th grader had picture day the 2nd week of school, the 1st grader, the next week...not even into the groove of things and pictures are taken. They'll take spring pictures again in March or April of course, and i'll have to get a few of those also.

The oldest. Almost 12. New Glasses.

The youngest. Just turned 7. Shy with the photog.

Happy Birthday kid!

So the first grader turns seven today. SEVEN! We had a party for her and a few friends on Saturday at a local paint-your-own-pottery place. Her cousins (and sister) came and the three non-family friends we invited came too. It was pretty great. We haven't really thrown her a party since she turned one and it was time. I try not to go overboard with parties, and we haven't with her, but she's the second kid so she sort of was getting...shorted. The oldest had a party at one, six, seven or eight...and so she'll have another this year too probably. But the youngest...she came along when the oldest was nearly five, so..she just didn't get parties after that one year mark. So we thought she was due.

Painting her ladybug

We had seven painters, so we asked them to stick to the $6-$10 price range on the pottery they selected and they were all very accommodating, choosing a penguin, ladybug, cupcake box, bunny, duck and kitty. I thought for sure they'd never get done painting in time to get to presents and cake, but in reality they painted super fast and the party was essentially over after an hour (and we had an hour to go). So we passed out the goodie bags and the girls played with those items while we waited for parents.

Happy Birthday cake (with her cousin)

Party goers

She got some great gifts and had a great time with her friends. The cake was delicious in spite of my having to ask the bakery to change her name from Laxi to Lexi. It should be a rule in cake and engraving...allow the customer to PRINT the words they want.  And Sunday she and her sister put together the two Lego Friends sets she got, and we got out the Doh Vinci set and she's decorated a cute little vanity/storage piece.

All in all a great weekend. And then Sunday night her nose started getting stuffed up (and her sister's too) and she woke up feeling awful on her actual birthday. I drove her to school so she could sleep in a little...and she threw up in the car just before we got out. So home we came and she's been relaxing and watching TV and waiting patiently to open the rest of her presents from us tonight.

Happy Birthday kid!