Dress It Up!!

Sometimes antiquing and shopping is about looking toward the future. What will it look like in this room or in that light? Is this necklace going to really go with multiple items? Then again sometimes its about finding inspiration for repurposing.

While some may love to by an item that is perfect on purchase, I often look for the items that can be morphed by some paint or dressed up a little to fit a new purpose. My newest find, a birdcage cardholder, was made to look old and as always Shabby Chic. Birds and birdcages seem to be the newest trend, so you should be able to find a similar item almost anywhere. Maybe even a vintage birdcage!!

For this item, I had a jewelry organizer in mind. The three hooks at the bottom are perfect for long necklaces that wont fit in my jewelry box. The height and number of horizontal bars created great hanging space for hook earrings as well as space to clip hair accessories. Of course, I'm a bit of a jewelry collector, so I needed a bit more store-to-display space. 

My project: Play dress up!

Materials:

 rustic twine

green embroidery thread

canvas pennants

bird themed scrapbooking pack

standard hole punch and small circle punch

Step 1: Pennants 

1. Cut embroidery string about 18 inches or as fits your frame/display.

2. Tie one side of and string pennants, leaving about an inch between each. (I threaded from the  bottom up.)

3. Tie off other end and then tie off places in the middle of the string of pennants to secure them as earrings will add weight causing them to shift. (I spaced the tie-offs evenly.)

4. Choose simple post earrings to display on the pennants. These work best as they carry little  weight. (Be careful as you poke the holes. You don't want to bend the post of the earring.)

Step 2: Hanging tags and other baubles 
1. Grab the rustic twine and create simple loops by folding the length in half, knotting the free ends. These will be used to hang pendants, hair clips, and earring tags.
2. Hannging is simple. Pull the loops through punched holes or rings of pendants. Wrap around a  horizontal bar and pull until the knot catches in the looped end. 

For tagged hanging, there is only the added step of hole punching or clipping with the shabby chic clips. (These came with the display! 

This project only took me about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Total cost of add-ons ~ $10.00 and I had plenty left over for future projects! I love how it turned out!! It's a jewelry scrapbook!!! 

    

Another bird inspiration piece came in the form of an earring holder. The shape of it made it difficult to clip and un-clip earrings, so when I moved I re-purposed it as a broach holder/display. It took the place of a dress form borrowed from my parents.

I love displaying in a functional and unique way. I hope you feel inspired! Coming soon....more bird inspired projects!