Earrings!

When I turned fourteen I finally talked my mom into letting me pierce my ears. Hannah came along "to watch"and then actually got her ears pierced too (which was, I think, Mom's intention all along? at a mere twelve!)

Then, when Hannah and I turned fourteen and sixteen we convinced Mom to let us pierce our ears a second time.

And then, when I turned eighteen, I went and pierced my ears a third time.

For years earrings were the only jewelry I wore. I thought of long dangly earrings (followed by two hoops or a hoop and a stud) were my fashion statement/concession to dressing up.

But... the day I went in to have my 20 week ultrasound with Ezra, I took all of my earrings out. And never put them back in. Until yesterday. Um, yes, from December 2010 to September 2013.

My mom bought all of us girls tickets to a Beading 101 class down at Shipwreck Beads and we planned a girls date for September 8th. So in the week leading up to the class, I pulled out all of my old earrings and cleaned them and sorted them.

Soaking earrings in vinegar works fabulously!
(Unless you forget about them for a week...)

I sorted out all of my broken earrings (and took them to Shipwreck Beads and bought the appropriate hardwear, etc, needed to fix them).

I've also meant to make some sort of earring holder for years now. I had several ideas, but not all of the supplies (or the willingness to get the supplies?) to execute said ideas, so with all of my earrings laying on various shelves in the bathroom, I decided to just make something up. I stuck Ezra in front of the TV and while Isaac napped I snuck outside to spray paint a picture frame. (I've been working on spray painting my dining room chairs, but my goodness, the weather will not cooperate. And of course, the few times it has, Seth hasn't been home to watch Ezra... Poor chairs.)

I then hung the frame up and curled a piece of green Christmas wreath wire around a Sharpie and hung it on the back of the frame (utilizing the hooks on the back usually used to hold in the glass and matting).

The large "loops" didn't work very well, but of course I didn't figure that out until I loaded all of my earrings on. Because I have so many earrings and because some of them are so heavy, I realized I needed to make smaller "loops". The second time around I used a regular ball point pen, so two or three earrings can hang from each "loop" (instead of six or seven, like I did with the big Sharpie shaped "loops").

Until I buy hooks to screw into the bottom of the frame to hold necklaces, I'm using push pins. And I think twisting the wire around something smaller and/or hanging a two rows of wires would actually work even better. But this works for now, so I'm content enough to leave it as is. (It's also really hard to finish these projects with two kids underfoot and I have so many more projects to accomplish first! Being a pregnant zombie for three years has put me quite behind.)