Happiness is organization- Even if it is just jewelry!

Getting my jewelry organized was something that I had wanted to do for years!  And last year, I finally did it!! Now all of my jewelry is in one spot and is well organized! And it is right in my closet along with my clothes.  So when I pick out my outfit for the day, I can pick out my jewelry too! I was so happy when I first got it up that I kept going in my closet to look at it. It is always the small things in life that make me happy. No more tangled necklaces, no more time wasted looking for the match to an earring, no more wondering where that bracelet ended up- it is all where I can see it and wad free!  And to me- being organized is happiness.

All I did to make it was buy pegboard from Lowe's.  When I bought this a year or so ago, they sold pegboard with holes in two sizes.  One with smaller holes and one with bigger holes (no matter how many times I have asked how they measured these boards, no one could tell me the what the two hole size differences were distinguished other than small and large).  Originally, I bought the ones with smaller holes and found screws from Lowe's that screwed perfectly into them.  I spray painted the pegboard white and then hung it up on my wall.  That simple!  And I can move the screws around wherever I want to fit my different necklaces, bracelets, rings and the kind of earrings that clasp closed.  For earrings with hooks, I just slip them into the holes like the picture below shows.  

 After I made mine, I decided that they would probably be much prettier if they were framed.  So, this year for Christmas, I decided to make my mom and both of my sisters jewelry pegboards as their Christmas gifts.  The problem was that Lowe's, and every other store that I have checked, does not sell the smaller hole pegboards anymore.  They have all been discontinued.  And I could not find an affordable screw that fit into the giant holes in the pegboards that are currently being sold. But while I was at Hobby Lobby one day, I came upon a fabulous find- wooden pegs that fit into these holes perfectly!  And they were very affordable!  And even better, I realized that lots of smaller hardware stores will sell smaller, left-over pieces of pegboard at great prices.  I bought a few small pieces for just a couple of dollars at one in my parent's home town!  My dad and I used a jig saw to cut the pegboard to fit an oak wood frame that he had made many years ago.  My mom did not want to get rid of it because it was pretty and he had made it.  But she also didn't have anything to put in it for her wall.  So, I decided to use the frame to make one for her.  The wooden pegs that I bought were natural wood color and so was the pegboard.  We spray painted them both white, but you can often get either white or natural wood colored peg board. To paint the pegs, I took an old cardboard box and poked holes in it with a screw driver.  Then I put the pegs in the holes and spray painted them.  We ended up having to glue the pegs into the pegboard with wood glue in order for them to be able to hold the jewelry up.  So, with the pegs, we lost the ability to move the jewelry around like you can with the screws. I might eventually come up with a solution for that, but for now- they are just glued.  Here is how my mom's turned out.  She loved it!

And I also made one for each of my sisters.  Here is the picture of one of them.  I did it in silver and white to match her closet.  And when I did hers, I still had some of the smaller pegboard and so I used the screws with it. The screws did not look very pretty being silver, so I used the same technique with the cardboard box to spray paint her screws white.  My other sister's was white with a chocolate brown frame.  On both of these, I used old frames that my mom had given me.  I just sanded them a little bit and then put a few coats of paint on.  And now all of us have very organized jewelry!

And I think the very best part of all is that working on these while we were visiting my parents gave me some very special time with my dad.  It took me back to my childhood. When I was growing up, we always had some kind of project going on.  My poor mother was wonderful to let us use the kitchen table as a work space! My dad was a great wood craftsman and he could build just about anything.  Along with that comes a lot of experience with cutting, painting and staining.  So, I was so thankful that I got to have some time with him to do some of those things.  And he even shared some great tips with me!  One thing I learned was that when it comes to spray paint- frugal is not better.  He laughed at my cheap spray paint.  And he showed me the difference between how well my cheap paint covered the picture frames compared to how the more expensive paint he had covered them.  His took two coats.  Mine would have taken about 5!  It just shows that we are never too old to learn from our parents!  And that cheap paint is not always the best deal. 

I love to organize and to create things that are pretty.  And even more, I love to do these things with other people who love it.  This time with my dad was very special, especially since he is the one who ingrained in me the love for creating things in the first place.