Time for another Junk Revision Challenge and I’m bringing you some awesome Makeup&Jewelry Organization + Vintage RIT Dye Rack!
January is following in the footsteps of the whole of 2015 and hotfooting its way right past us! Or maybe it just seems that way to me? I look at my work load and my schedule and what I need to be working on and it seems before I blink the day is past. And here we are – six days in already 😀
January always seems to bring a flurry and bustle of cleaning and organizing. Maybe it’s partly the new year stretching out like a clean blank slate, a new start, new beginnings. I think it’s a great time to clear out the clutter that invariably happens over 12 months of living and family and happenings.
The Christmas decor gets packed up, leaving behind a trail of glitter and ribbon and snowdust and memories. Organizing just seems a great way to start a new year – sweeping out the dust and cobwebs, scrubbing off the old fingerprints and smudges and fluffing the home to make it warm and inviting. I’m thinking a fresh coat of paint for my walls really MUST happen this month.
My Jewelry and makeup had become a huge mess. I tried keeping my makeup in the travel bag I started out with but as my collection grew it just wasn’t working. Likewise my earrings. I had my ears pierced a little over a year ago and for several months using a soft jewelry bag was all I needed. But then I started accumulating more and they were becoming a jumbled mess in the bag. I knew I needed to do something but I didn’t know what.
Enter this super cute and fun Vintage RIT dye rack!
I bought the rack thinking I might use it for something at the store. Then one day when I was sifting through my dangly earrings something made me think of the small metal rods on this rack and a lightbulb went off in my head. My earrings would hang on those rods perfectly!
My post earrings look sweet lying in the spaces that used to hold the RIT dye packs.
As I stared at the jewelry on the rack I picked up my blusher and eye shadow boxes and randomly stuck them in too. And then I pulled them out and organized them neatly and grabbed my pencils and lipstick tubes and gleefully filled the bottom section of that vintage rack right up!
I was thrilled. And I still am. I’m also thrilled that this fit our category this month so well. Every time I use the stuff on this rack I think ‘I really need to blog about how cool this is’ but then I go about my day and before I know it another day is gone and I didn’t get that done 😀
The metal rack my necklaces hang on is vintage too and we’ve been using it for several years now. It works well but it is pretty big. If I find something smaller that I like as well someday I’ll switch it out. For now it works and our bathroom counter is big enough for it. (I didn’t photograph these in my bathroom because it isn’t photo worthy yet and the lighting is horrid)
Another really cool detail about this rack – where I got it. Some friends of ours are adopting a child who is aging out and needs a home. Foreign adoptions are expensive – like REALLY expensive. So some ladies teamed up and had a big fundraiser – items were donated and then bid on – this RIT Dye Rack was one of the items – donated by the adopting family. I bought it, not only because it is cool and I figured I could use it at the store, but because I wanted to help bring that child home. Praise God, the fundraiser was a huge success and the funds have been pulled together – now they are just waiting on all the paperwork and red tape to be sifted and stacked properly and they will be winging across the ocean to bring their child home. Hallelujah. #oneless
I used the back side of the RIT Dye Rack because it works better for my organization.
I have another cool vintage piece I thought I’d share with you too – this old mirror was found when we went through my Grandma’s things a year ago and I immediately made sure it went in ‘my pile’! I love old mirrors and this one is super cool. It’s big, it stands up on its own, and it’s double sided. I’ve never seen a vintage double sided mirror this large. It goes well with the other vintage pieces I have in our bathroom. (now if the kids would just keep things cleared off the counters!)
Just for fun I had to take a shot with the reflected chandi in focus. Yes, the greenery is still gracing my dining room light. Partly because I have yet to get the dining room table cleared off enough to make a mess on it pulling all that dried greenery down. And partly because I’m still enjoying looking at it! I have all the other Christmas stuff packed away and most of the other greenery went in the trash on Monday. But this light will go a little longer and I have a couple bunches of dried bay that I’m still enjoying. Dried bay leaves last a long time and they can be pretty in decor clear through Easter – just add some Easter touches to it and it looks amazing.
Hello! I was in a quirky mood and the mood lasted clear through the editing and writing process so you get to see a bit of the blogger behind the camera 😉
And that, my friends, is the best organizing I’ve done for awhile. My work room could use a good purging – if you try to reach me and can’t get me I just might be buried in an avalanche of fabric scraps and pieces! My Ribbon Organizer and my Ammunition Box Organizer might be fun posts to check out now too 😉
Happy organizing, purging, pitching, storing, cleaning, and fluffing!
Jill
Now go see what my friends found to use for organization!
[inlinkz_linkup id=596309 mode=1]
What a great story Jill. Thats why i love old stuff, there is always a story to making something cool even better. It looks like we all have getting our jewelry in line! I love your ideas and I too will be buried today in a pilenof pokemon cards cleaning out my son’s room while he is at school 😉
🙂 It does seem we all need some jewelry organization 🙂 I wish the organizing and purging went faster and then lasted longer!!
Jill, what a great find! I like the names of the dyes along the vintage wood. I’m in need of something to hold jewelry and vintage store displays would be perfect.
I like the way the names are on there too! Goes well with my sewing/crafting/DIY theme!
I always enjoy your stories Jill. I don’t remember these crates but this is a great use for it but then you always have awesome ideas. Love the mirror – such a wonderful memory.
Thanks Cathy – I am so happy I thought of using this piece this way 🙂
Jill, that dye rack is awesome!!! Love how you used it to organize your jewelry and makeup!!!! It looks great!! I hope for a speedy adoption process for your friends and the child!!! 🙂
Thanks Keri! I love my organization I created with the rack and it reminds me of my friends every time I look at it 🙂
What a great storage piece ! I like storage where you can still see everything rather than it being hidden away.
Me too Claire, I am so happy with this piece!
This is so creative! I really need to organize my jewelry. Somehow my earings just seem to disappear. Great job! Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks Carrie, I really like how this works for my earrings – I like to be able to see what I have without digging through a box of bag!
That dye rack is absolutely amazing! I would have jumped on it in an instant. Your make-up organization puts mine to shame! As a vintage jewelry designer I’m always on the look out for cool jewelry display pieces. This rack is awesome! Love that mirror, too. xoKathleen
Believe me Kathleen, my makeup before wasn’t anything I wanted anyone to see! LOL! I love how this turned out 🙂
Great idea, Jill. It just goes to show you that you can almost always make an old item into a new and useful one. This is a very convenient and handy way to have your jewelry and makeup at your fingertips.
Yep you sure can! I love vintage finds!
Great idea!!! I love how every little spot can be used for even more organization. I love the new idea for jewelry organization. 🙂 Pinned and sharing!
Thanks Stephanie, I’m so glad I thought of using it for this – I just love it!
What a great purpose for the buy and a great repurpose of it. How inspiring! Love vintage junk as much as you do… maybe just a little too much ;o)
What a meaningful story behind your salvaged dye rack. Prayers for the child and family to be united as quickly as possible. I have kept my makeup in a bag and it’s a pain, so I’m really liking your idea of keeping it out in plain sight and handy to get to. This is such a sweet upcycle, I love how the dye names are engraved in the wood. Thanks for sharing your grandma’s old mirror with us too. I don’t think they make them like that anymore, so that one is a keep and that’s such a cute shot of you in the mirror!! Happy organizing 😉
Thank you so much Amy! Praying our friends can be heading off soon to get their son!
Really nice idea! I am about to start with cleaning and organizing, so I was looking for ideas to store my jewelry and make up. I think that this rack is very beautiful and perfect to be used for this purpose! I really love the way you organize your lovely things. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Lisa – I have used this for awhile now and I just love it so much! It’s perfect for my needs!