Mason Jar Organizer

As I think you can tell from past projects, I love distressed wood. We were also recently given six jars of apricot jam in mason jars. Thanks to some hungry roommates, three of them were emptied pretty quickly. I of course was holding onto the jars waiting for the right project. Then I saw this on Pinterest, the perfect project. 

So, ideally, I will eventually turn this into an herb garden. Easily accessible fresh basil is a dream of mine. But I'm waiting on the other three jars and some tips on growing herbs from my mom. So for now, it will be a craft supply organizer, because you can never have enough places to store buttons if you're a crafter. 

Supplies: A piece of wood, mason jars, metal pipe clamps (found at any hardware store), a drill and three screws.

You'll first want to cut the piece of wood to size if it's not already. Ours is 19 inches long.

To be honest, I have no idea what Chris is doing in this picture, but the sparks looked awesome, so I kept it in the post.

When you have your piece of wood cut to size, lay out where you want your jars. Ours are about 2 or so inches apart.

Then you'll want to adjust the clamp so it fits tightly around the lip of the jar. We kept the metal rim part of the lid on the mason jars so they'll be able to screw off easily. You'll see what that looks like later. 

Before attaching the clamps, loosen them a bit so you'll be able to put the jar back in. Position the clamp so that the screw can go threw one of the cutouts rather than the solid metal, like in the picture above. 

When all of the clamps are attached, add the jars and tighten the clamps.

There you have it - a mason jar organizer. It's stylish and useful, which I love.

See how keeping the metal rim from the mason jar lid makes the jars easy to remove? This is great for quickly emptying and refilling the jars. 

How do you stay organized? Also, if you have any indoor gardening tips, please let me know and help me make my dream of fresh basil a reality! 

Industrial Clothing Rack

Or, a mobile closet.


I have been living for the past few months with no closet, so all of my dresses, skirts & jackets have been crammed into a drawer. Having to iron things before putting them on has not been pleasant, so I pushed for this project to jump ahead in our queue of projects, luckily Chris agreed. 

I was inspired by this closet solution, so today we worked on making a simpler version.

This project cost us about $100 and took an hour or so to make.

You need: a piece of wood, galvanized pipes (two longer 5' pieces for the side and one shorter 3' piece for the top), the connecting corners for the pipes and the bases - all of these things are from Lowes (or major hardware store. You will also need wheels or some sort of feet for the closet, bolted screws and a drill.

First, cut your piece of wood to size and sand the edges.

Then we chose to stain our piece of wood. It would be awesome to use an old piece of distressed wood though, which you wouldn't need to stain. 

To prepare the pipes, use steel wool to get off any marks and polish the metal.

Chris used his drill to attach a wheel to each corner of the piece of wood. 

 After that, he flipped it over and placed the bases for the pipe. He used the top bar as a guideline for how far apart each base should be.

Once they were in the right spots he marked them, then drilled a hole where each bolt would need to go.

Ok, we're getting closer to a closet and moved the parts inside.

Connect the top bar to the sides using the elbow connectors.

And attach the sides to the bases. You'll need to hold the bolt with pliers and use the drill to screw the bolt in.

Now you have yourself a mobile closet! I, of course, rushed to try it out.

The nice thing about this too, is you have a great place to store your shoes.

And you may remember, this matches our curtain rod, so it fits in with the room decor nicely.

I just love how this turned out and am so happy to finally have a closet! It's the little things, right? How was your weekend? Work on any projects?

Key Holder Using Old Keys

Chris & I had a busy weekend of DIYing and estate sale browsing. We take on so many projects that it seems like a normal day for us is two for most people. Anyway, we got a lot done. Here is a quick project, but later this week we'll be posting part one of a bigger project.

Do you often lose your keys? I definitely do. Well, not lose, but misplace. And Chris tends to leave his keys just about anywhere. So, thanks to Pinterest, we were inspired to make a key holder - with old keys!

You need: old keys (you can get some here), a piece of wood (distressed, if possible), screws, pliers and a drill

First, if your piece of wood is too long, cut it to the size you'd like. We made ours about 8 inches and used 4 keys.

Using 2 plies, bend the bottom of the key upwards to create a curved hook.

Once you've done this with all four (or however many you choose to use) keys, attach them to the wood.

And you're finished with the front!

To hang your key holder without using string or visible hooks, use a drill to create holes in the back of the piece of wood.

Then you'll be able to put nails in the wall and simply hang this on them.

And there you have it! A pretty cool looking place to hang your keys, or anything that you need in a handy place. I love the rustic look of this so much! It is indeed possible to combine style with function.

Vintage Spool Necklace Display

Hello! We spent the long weekend visiting our good friends, and their cute little pups, in New Mexico. We ate delicious food, caught up with our friends and explored both Albuquerque and Santa Fe. New Mexico is beautiful! The trip was fun, but we had no time to DIY, but I do have a project from a few weeks ago for you. Also, here are some Instagram pictures from the weekend. 

This project was originally posted on Oh, Sweet Joy!, a local Boulder blogger who I met when I moved out here. I took over one of her Handmade Monday features with this necklace display project made from vintage spools. 

First, the supplies: A piece of plywood, a picture frame, screws, a power drill, a staple gun, fabric and vintage spools.

Once you choose the picture frame, you will need to either find a piece of wood that fits in it or cut it to size. 

When the wood is cut to size, cover it with the fabric of your choice! Cut of the extra and use a staple gun to secure it. You can also try using hot glue. You're also going to be using the staple gun, or hot glue, to secure the fabric covered piece of wood in place as well. 

Once that part is finished, get your spools and lay them out where you'd like them to be. I chose a zig zag pattern so I could have a place both my long and short necklaces. 

Once you are satisfied with their placement, use a power drill to secure. 

Hang this the way you're hang a picture - I used wire on the back of the frame.

And you have your finished necklace holder! The last step, of course, is to hang your necklaces on the spools.

If you have some old spools and necklaces to hang, this is a great project. I love making things that are practical for organizing our home as well as pretty to look at. Let us know if you try this out!