Goodwill find: Bracelet stand! [Before and After]

I haven't posted in a while. I really want to photograph and post about our newly painted and wallpapered living/dining rooms (bye bye poop walls!) however I haven't been able to coordinate photographing and sunny conditions. It's been gloomy.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this fun small victory. I was dropping off some old clothing to our local Goodwill the other day, and decided to pop in. I don't know why as I never, ever find anything good. But I spotted this hand towel stand immediately:

It's the perfect jewellery stand/bracelet holder thingy! For $2!

I've seen other bloggers turn hand towel stands into bracelet stands before (can't remember where off the top of my head) so this is by no means innovative. But I do need somewhere put my bracelets! My dresser top is a hot mess! The bird cage I'm currently using to house my necklaces and bracelets is actually the worst thing ever. It has so many jagged edges in the design that everything gets tangled up in.

This little guy has a marble base (sweet!), however it's covered with a giant rust stain (boooo!).

I tried a baking soda poultice...lemon juice and baking soda...the stain wasn't budging.

So out came the spray paint! Rustoleum in Gloss White for the base, and a coat of Design Master Modern Metals in Champagne Silver for the top just to brighten things up.

And voila! A place to rest my bracelets. When they're not having a party on my arm.

An organized dresser + excited me

Wowza! A few weeks ago I sent off an email with a link to my powder room makeover to Lindsey at Better After (www.betterafter.blogspot.ca) and to my extreme delight she featured it this past Monday (here)! I was super excited because 1) I love her blog and think she is the most hilarious person ever, and 2) I got like 50 times as many hits in one day than I have the entire time this blog has existed!

I received such kind and lovely comments on my blog, and as a result I've found so many more amazing blogs written by such extremely cool and creative people. I really haven't left my laptop alone for three whole days! The internet really has TOO MUCH cool stuff on it.

:)

I wanted to show-off some bedroom progress, specifically our dresser top! It's primarily me that uses our dresser top for things like my jewellery, perfumes etc...so it's taken a bit of a girly turn.

Mirror from Homesense $39.99!

A little back story - our house was robbed a few months ago by some a-hole jewel thieves, you know the kind that case your house for a week and then come in and toss your underwear drawer onto the floor looking for grandma's heirlooms and all your gold chains?

Well grandma's heirlooms they did not find (Booyah! Never keep those things in your underwear drawer) but they did take every single last piece of my jewellery (except for what I had with me on vacation ie. wedding and engagement rings, one watch, one necklace), including all my costume jewellery, fine jewellery, all of my handbags, perfume (some were half empty - weird right?), various other items like my Leafs jersey that husband bought for me our first Christmas :( and lastly my jewellery box.

I guess the only thing I don't really miss is my jewellery box, a big black hulking leather thing that wasn't really doing anything for me anymore. It did house 80% of my sparklies however. Considering I wasted no time using the insurance settlement to re-bling my life, I've been staring a growing pile of jewellery accumulating on my dresser top in a not so organized fashion. So I got to organizing!


I found the antique silver tray at Elegant Garage Sale in Toronto. The little crystal jar with the silver lid belonged to my great-grandmother. It has her initials engraved on the top. I recently liberated it from my parent's basement, where I can't believe it sat for decades. It was suuuper dirty, like I had to soak it in vinegar overnight dirty. 

I've hung my drop earrings from the side of a soap dish, and I've thrown some bracelets in there too. 

This birdcage is from Homesense also, and it's not really ideal to hang necklaces but it looks pretty and works in the meantime. I'm working on another solution for my necklaces.

I just picked up this inlay bone box from Chapters-Indigo on sale for $16.25. It's made from genuine non-endangered bone which is kind of gross but also cool. It holds my random stuff.

I also picked up this Ash and lacquer box for a steal at $7.50. It's not on the dresser but on husband's nightstand. He's a notorious junk piler.

Oh - and I'm planning to do some colourful DIY art for the frames, which I picked up at Real Canadian Superstore. The photo that comes with the frames makes me giggle. It looks like an adult diaper ad. She is so excited it's hilarious, and if you look at her feet you notice her shoe is falling off. Awkward.