February 15, 2011

Upcycled Jewelry Holders

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I'm feeling a little lazy so I decided to pull up an old project I did a couple of years ago before I even had an Etsy shop. I made this earring holder for my sis-in-law for her birthday. She loves earrings but has 3 little girls so they are always getting lost.

I originally got the idea from a friend, who made one of these out of a frame and plastic canvas. She took out the glass and back of the frame and hot glued the canvas into the frame. She then made her own photo anchor out of some thin cardboard and covered it in velvet so she could set it on her dresser. She attached the anchor to the top of the frame. It's very similar to this jewelry holder, found on craftster.org.

I made mine out of an old, empty shadow box. First, I painted it white. Instead of canvas, I got some aluminum screening at the hardware store (this is the stuff you use on screened doors and windows, etc. It costs around $7 for a roll, which is much more than you need). I cut it to the frame size (be careful . . . this stuff is sharp when cut) and hot glue it into the frame. Since the screen was very see-through and the shadow box deep, I decided to make a background. I used some matboard and cut it to the correct dimensions. Then, I glued some scrapbook paper onto the board. For a touch of glam, I added some red and white rhinestone stickers to the background. I hot glued the matboard to the back of the shadow box and glued a picture hanger to the back. I love how it came out . . . the screen makes it look like the jewelry is floating.

One final method is using a radiator grill and S-hooks, both of which can be found at a hardware store. The S-hooks make it possible to hang bracelets and necklaces, too. If you can, use an old radiator grill . . . it'll keep your project "green" and add some visual interest to your completed project. Here are the directions on making one out of a radiator grill, courtesy of the blog Thrifty Tickle and Lost Button Studio:


I like the radiator grill one the best. I just love the way it looks. I really want to make one for myself, especially since I usually only wear necklaces and bracelets. Then again, I am feeling lazy . . . I might just nap instead. ; )

2 comments:

Gena said...

Thanks for feeling lazy - otherwise I wouldn't have seen this great idea! I've been wanting a better way to display my jewelry and I think this is it. By the way, love the new bracelets in your shop! Wonderful way to upcycle book parts!

Anonymous said...

I've been wanting to do something like this with my mother's old jewelry that has been passed down to me. I'll never wear it but would love to display it. Thanks for the inspiration! Now I'll have to look for the time and gumption to actually do it...