Ring Eastern Star Take

Another dud fortune, unless the ring has something to do with the game of ring-around-the-rosy I've been fighting all day.

Today's confusion centers around a jewelry storage/display unit from Pottery Barn Teen that I've been trying to copy. The plan was to make a grouping of these over the dresser in my bedroom, along with a mirror so I could try out different pieces without dancing back and forth between the dresser and my vanity.



I like the original PBTeen concept, pictured above, but wanted to perk it up some. (And I thought I could do it a little cheaper.) I think PBTeen had the right idea with neutral fabric (best to show off a wide range of jewelry) but I didn't like the white shabby chic frames, especially not up against my pale green bedroom walls. Hobby Lobby helped, with a nice eclectic selection of five frames in great colors.

After buying the frames (and the cork board and the fabric) I realized I had a problem. The frames were really too small for my jewelry. I don't wear dainty little bracelets and earrings like the photo shows. I'm into necklaces, and an occasional brooch. And since I have a thick neck, the necklaces are very long. So long that they can't be pinned within the frame's borders successfully. Damn.

I thought for a week, and decided that would be OK, provided I bought a long, skinny frame and let several necklaces cascade over its border. Good idea, except long, skinny frames started at $40 -- the cost of my other five frames combined! I went ahead and bought a frame anyway (since I had already invested so much in this project!) and came home to start working.

I wanted to get the placement nailed before I did much more work, so I pulled out some graph paper, measured everything, and started working. And damn it, nothing worked!!!!! Everything I tried looked boxy and ugly and all wrong. This, after $80 in frames, plus fabric ($5) plus cork board ($20).

I could cry.

I went back to the bedroom and opened a few of the dresser drawers to pull out some necklaces, and really started bawling. There, tucked away in a drawer, were the Ruben Toledo illustrations I removed from my copy of The Bombshell Manual of Style -- the ones I wanted to put above the dresser to begin with!! I've pasted the book's cover below. It might give you an idea of how fabulous the interior illustrations are.




So now I want to use the illustrations, but I also want to make the jewelry thing work. The problem is that I only have 72 inches of wall to play with. I don't have enough room to make everything happen, and I can't decide what to sacrifice.

It really boils down to what I want to happen in this room. Do I want to see these wonderful pictures, which make me smile every time I look at them? Or do I want to see my jewelry collection on display (as opposed to lost or broken or tangled) serving as a reminder that I should actually wear the stuff?

Am I romantic or am I practical? Do I want a place to dream, or a place to launch me into my day? And why, why, why can't I have both in 72 inches of wall????

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While surfing for Reuben Toledo illustrations I did find this wonderful limited edition Pleasures perfume bottle he designed for Estée Lauder. I don't buy much perfume, but this is very, very tempting. Maybe I need more perfume in my life. After all, the Bombshell Manual has a whole chapter on perfume.