#MakeItMonday -Upcycle a Tin Into a Planner Supply Travel Case

Check it Out!  It's been a super busy year so far and January isn't even over yet!  One of my goals for 2017 is to become more organized.  I'm doing pretty good so far. 

#MakeIt Monday - Paper Bag & Pasta Box Albums

Check it Out!  Today I want to share how I create these super cheap and super easy albums from brown paper lunch bags and recycled boxes.

#MakeIt Monday- Upcycled Pringles Can into a Gift Container

Check it Out!  Last week I shared my adorable and easy to make floral petal butterflies.  You can check out that post HERE. This week I wanna share another easy craft that I used some of those butterflies on.  

#MakeIt Monday - Easy to Make Flower Petal Butterflies

Check it Out!  I really love crafting and lately have been feeling so crafty.  Since rearranging my craft room and better organizing my supplies, I have been getting some projects started and more importantly finished!  So over the next month I plan to get some Make It Monday posts up and maybe a few others in between.  I have a ton of ideas for holiday crafts and gifts, so be sure and come back to check them out!

#MakeItMonday - Playing Cards Mini Album

Check it Out!  I love making gifts for family and friends. There is nothing like giving and receiving a gift that comes straight from the heart and is so personal.  

#MakeItMonday - "Lost Sock" Laundry Room Wall Hanging

Check it Out!  Last week I posted my "Check Your Pockets"  laundry room wall hanging Make It Monday craft.  You can check it out HERE if you missed it.

#MakeIt Monday - Loose Change Bucket Wall Hanging

Check it Out!  I have neglected decorating my laundry room.  

#MakeIt Monday - Make a Business Card Holder with a Recycled Altoids Tin

Check it Out!  As an Origami Owl Independent Designer I have new business cards.  If you have a business you know how important they are. So when I got to thinking about how I would display them at Jewelry Bars and other events, I didn't want a plain old standard looking holder.  

Transformation Tuesday - Lampshade Redo

Check it Out!  I am a huge fan of transforming things.  I get an amazing satisfaction from taking something old, worn out or unloved and making it into something new, lovely and functional.  

Make It Monday - How to Create a Tea Light Lamp from a Wine Glass

Check it Out!  I found some more wine glasses while straightening up my storage building last week.  Since it wasn't a complete matching set, I knew I wanted to repurpose them. And since I have some battery powered tea lights I thought why not turn them into mini lamps! Although I realize that what I found are actually martini glasses, I am positive these lamps can be made with all sorts of wine and drink glasses.  It's all about creating the lamp shade that turns the glass itself into a tealight lamp.  

Make It Monday - Upcycle Glass into Beautiful Decor Pieces

Check it Out!  After our house fire in 2012, there were only a few items that we were able to save.  I had a full 8 piece china set that didn't make it, but some of the wine glasses did.  Not a full set, but odd and end pieces. There were some plates and candle stick holders and other pieces as well.

Make it Monday - DIY Apothecary Jar

Check it Out!  Last week I posted about using jars for storage.  You can check that post out HERE and see how I used recycled jars to make usable desk accessories.  

Thrifty Thursday - Upcycle Jars into Desk Accessories

Check it Out! I have quite a collection of jars.  There are so many really cool varieties out there that can be recycled into something useful.  I love these little jars that had fruit in them and knew they would also be keepers.  I decided to use them on my desk to hold things like paper clips, scissors and pens and pencils.

Make It Monday - Make a Mini Album from Toilet Tissue Tubes

Check it Out!  If you know me, you know I absolutely love making something from nothing.  To be able to turn an object that would otherwise end up in the trash into something usable and attractive is a fun challenge to me!  

Tuesday Tip - Ideas for Washi Tape & Ribbon Storage

Check it Out!  I have become fascinated with the new "planner" craze!  Aside from already using Washi tape in crafts, I have learned it is a must for planning.  I have found some marked down here and there and even won a few rolls in a giveaway.  And thanks to my awesome friend Rose, I have managed to get a little supply of Washi.  Combined with my growing supply of ribbon, it was time to come up with some ways to store my stash!  For this weeks Tuesday Tip I wanna share some of the ways I do this.  

Make It Monday - Create a Desk Organizer from Recycled Materials

Check it out!  I have hit a phase in life where I just want to organize stuff.  I really like having things in their designated places. I have notebooks and pens on my bedside table for making notes and jotting down ideas. But my table is so small, I was thinking I needed an organizer to contain it all.  Of course I checked my "recycle" box and found everything I needed to whip one up.  

Quick & Easy to Make Valentine's Day Candy Bouquets

Check it Out!  Valentine's Day is almost upon us.  I am not one for buying those fancy heart boxes of chocolates.  Not only are they expensive, but my kids usually never eat all of it.  They are typically full of strawberry and maple creams and other funky flavors that no one in my house likes.  So I stick to buying candy that I know will get eaten and they really love. 

Make it Monday - DIY Rope Framed $1 Mirrors

Check it Out!  When crafting, I always love to use recycled materials and I love finding cheap items and making them look well... uncheap!   

Make It Monday - Create Your Own Wall Art with Driftwood

Check it Out! If you know me at all, you know that the beach is pretty much my all time favorite place to be.  It is my life long dream to end up somewhere near the ocean!  The sand, the water, the sun... I just love it all!

#TBCCrafters Craft Hop- Easy to make Jewelry @HouseofGems

*I received the products in this post for purposes of review.  All photos and opinions expressed are my own.

Check it Out!  I love jewelry and I love making my own jewelry. I have found that I can make my jewelry for a fraction of the cost of buying it already made.  From very simple earrings to necklaces and bracelets, the freedom of doing it myself allows for creativity and customization. 

I wanted to share some of the easy jewelry pieces that I have created lately thanks to House of Gems. I received an awesome shipment of supplies from them a little while back. 

As you can see in the above picture I received pretty much everything I needed to get started.  Beads, cording, glue and all sorts of goodies, even a beading tray!

I got these great Ships Wheel charms that I just love and I knew I wanted to make not only some earrings but also a necklace with them.

The first thing I did was gather all my supplies.

• Suede cording
• Charms & Beads
• Ribbon & Cord Clasps
• Fishhook Ear Wires
• Jump Rings
• Eye Pin
• Pliers 

The actual making of the jewelry is super easy. For the necklace, I cut a length of suede cording allowing enough to add my ring charm to the center and have about a 22" length.  I then attached my ribbon and cord clasps to each end of the cording as shown in the picture above.

I added a ships wheel charm to the ring at the end of my cording by attaching a jump ring to it and then to the ring.  I also added a clear bead charm by placing the bead on an eye wire then cutting it and bending the end into an eye.  

To create the matching earrings, I simply attached jump rings to my charms and then to my fishhook ear wires.

Using some of the other supplies I received I created some more earrings.  The ones above are beads on eye wires with a hope charm added to the bottom.  I used blue beads to represent Colon cancer awareness.

These cross earrings are very simple but beautiful.  I used base metal findings to match the charms.

And for my daughter I made the earrings above.  I know, they may seem strange, but she is a huge The Walking Dead fan and these are charms that represent different characters on the show.  I am planning a bracelet that includes all of these charms to match for her as well.

If you are not sure how to use jump rings, there is a great video HERE on the House of Gems site that will show you the right way to open and close them.  They also have a host of other how to videos if you are interested in other aspects of jewelry making.