The Chronicles of Home



Swap It Like It’s Hot 2.0

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Swap It Like It’s Hot is back for round two and we’re even bigger and badder than the last time!

You can see my last Swap It Like It’s Hot project here: a bamboo bathmat turned wood-tiled mirror.  
This time I was sent a lovely collection of items by Alice of Thoughts from Alice.  I received a little metal platter, an owl statue, and a wooden bowl.
I already shared how I turned the wooden bowl into a gold-leafed, engraved bowl in a post I partnered with Dremel on, but today you get to see how I used all of the pieces…except the tray…because here’s what happened.
This may shock you, but it turns out gold leaf doesn’t make everything better.  I thought the tray would look great with a layer of gold leaf, but once I’d applied it, it just felt all wrong.  I’m going to try to remove it with mineral spirits to take it back to its original finish, which was so much better.  You’ll have to stay tuned on that one – I ran out of time to get it restored before today.
But here’s the rest of it!
Easy jewelry organization system from The Chronicles of Home
The owl figurine was so darling I didn’t do a thing to it other than hang some of my most-worn earrings from the little eye holes.  
Easy jewelry organization system from The Chronicles of Home
From first sight, all I could think of was using the owls as a jewelry holder.
Easy jewelry organization system from The Chronicles of Home

I’m still loving how the bowl makeover came out, but then I am lately smitten with anything gold and glittered.  Except, apparently, small trays…

Easy jewelry organization system from The Chronicles of Home

Easy jewelry organization system from The Chronicles of Home

You can read about how I made an organizer for my earrings in about five minutes HERE and how I organized the rest of my jewelry HERE.

Now be sure to head over to While They Snooze and see what Sarah did with the items I sent her!

For all the Swap It Like It’s Hot projects, click the links below.





Comments

  1. i love that owl tree and it really is perfect for your jewelry! beautiful photos!

    • Those owl eyeballs were just begging to have some poked through them, right?!

  2. So cute! Love your ideas with them! :) and completely different than the one I had. Love your jewelry station…and those earrings too! ;)

    • I am so curious – what were you picturing?

      • Well, when I was choosing items to go together, I flipped that bowl over and put the silver tray on it and then the owl thing on top of that. I was thinking it could all be secured together somehow and maybe spray painted to be a Halloween or fall decorative tray or jewelry holder like you thought of ;)

  3. oh my gosh! So fancy! I LOVE that bowl with the j. I’m dying from all these makeovers. So.much.amazingness.

    • Evenings are my blog reading times these days – can’t wait to check everyone’s projects out! And thanks for the nice comment!

  4. Love what you did with the bowl and the owl statue. It’s perfect for earrings! I’m admiring your jewelry collection too :-) Glad to be on the swap with you!

    • I do love a colorful bauble… :) I’ll be catching up on all the posts later – can’t wait to see what everyone did!

  5. Love what you did! I love owls and the owl ear ring tree is perfection!

    • I love owls too – actually already had another little owl stand in my jewelry area where I keep rings. The new piece was a perfect fit.

  6. This looks so pretty Jennifer! you have a beautiful jewelry collection as well. Love that bowl you made. Gold AND glitter = the way to happiness :)

    • Well thanks! And I agree – gold and glitter are rarely a bad match in my book.

  7. That is the most precious earring holder ever!! Love it!

    • The cutest, right? My daughters keep trying to steal it. My 3 year old’s FAVORITE thing to do is move my animal figurines around the house. She prefers to cluster them together in obscure places that are difficult for me to find into shiny brass safari vignettes.

  8. Loooove it all Jen. Im sorry the tray didnt work out as youd hoped. The bowl is just awesome:)

    • So it goes sometimes, right? Who knew there was something I would NOT love liquid gold leaf on?!

  9. What a great transformation! I need a little corner of the world for all my jewelry! This is the perfect inspiration. Stopping in to see what everyone came up with. ~Michelle

    • Thanks, Michelle – that little jewelry nook was the very first thing I did when we moved into our house last January :) I was so excited to have space for such a thing!

  10. I was kinda obsessed with that bowl when I first saw it… and I would have been in the golf leaf fixes everything camp with you… apparently not? The owl is just where it should be! No makeover necessary!

    • Shocking, I know – good lesson for me. I actually really liked the tray as it was and just overthought it. The things Alice sent me were just too pretty all on their own!

  11. Hi fellow swap buddy! The bowl looks amazing, totally looks like you bought it that way (sign of fabulous DIY skills!! :) ) The owl statue is too cute and agreed perfect as is!

    • Ooooh, awesome, so glad it looks like a purchased piece! I think you get the awesome DIY award on this one though…that was a rough place to start :)

  12. I am also OBSESSED with your bowl. Love the little owls too. x

    • Thanks, Danielle! I am so into owls, I loved that little statue instantly!

  13. You know what’s perfect?! That we have the same first initial and I love the own figure so…you can send them to me. AMAZING, right?! Seriously, this is awesome and I know that the tray flop will only mean you flip it into something even better. :) SO glad you did the swap again!!!!! xoxoxo

    • Hey, hands off my bowl, lady!

  14. Super cute bowl! I know everyone else wants it but you should give it to me because we share the same first name. ;)

    • This is true…but then we also share a name with like half the females born between 1975 and 1990 :) So I will probably just keep it. Maybe I will make a whole bunch of them and send to them everyone as gifts!

  15. I love the owls and of course I love anything with gold-awesome job!

    • Thanks, Melissa! I have the same kind of love affair with gold :)

  16. Wonderful! I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – love the Dremel project! Even your taste in earrings is perfect. :)

    • You are the best – thank you for all the nice comments!

  17. Love those owls! (though I do feel a little bad for them, having earring poked through their eyes ;))

    • I know, slightly barbaric, but those holes were just begging for something to be shoved through them!

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