By: Inter Valley Health Plan

Feb 18, 2014

Fashion jewelry is becoming more popular than ever due to its affordability, availability, and attractiveness. If you have a large collection of jewelry, you may find that your jewelry has outgrown your jewelry box. You may spend 20 valuable minutes every morning digging through your jewelry to find what you are looking for, or worse yet, you may have lost some of your favorite pieces because they have been knocked to the floor by your cat or toddler. One solution is to pay hundreds of dollars for a jewelry dresser or armoire. Even if you are willing to spend that kind of money, do you have the space for another piece of furniture? If you are looking for another solution, you can easily and cheaply make your own jewelry holders at home.

For your necklaces, all you need is a cork board and some attractive tacks. If you are lucky, you may be able to find wood-framed cork boards at your local thrift store. You can paint the frame any color you wish and even paint the cork itself, although it will take several coats because the cork will absorb the paint. Another option is to cover the cork with fabric. If you can’t find a cheap cork board, you could buy a large frame from your thrift store, take out the glass, and place cork inside the frame. You can purchase cork itself in rolls, squares, and strips. Once your cork board is ready, find a convenient and attractive place on a wall to hang your board. You will need to use a drywall anchor and find a stud in the wall, as this board will be heavy. Once your board is up, a craft store should have some large, attractive tacks. Arrange the tacks on the board however you wish, allowing room for the necklaces you want to hang there. Now you have an attractive, easy-to-access display for your necklaces.

For your wire earrings, go to a thrift store and find a medium-sized frame. If you want to paint your frame, you should look for real wood. Once you have your frame, take everything out of the frame, including the staples that hold the backing on (use caution in pulling out the staples). If you want to paint the frame, scuff up the wood a little with sandpaper so the paint will stick. The next step is to add the holders. You can use skewer sticks for this. Turn the frame so the back faces up and measure from one side of the frame to the other. Measure your skewer sticks so that their ends will lay across each side of the frame. Cut off the sticks to fit inside the back of the frame. When you have determined where you want to place the sticks (you may want to allow room for longer earrings while placing less space between sticks for shorter earrings), use a strong glue to glue the ends of the sticks to the frame. After the glue has dried, apply at least one coat of primer to the frame and sticks. When the primer is dry, you can apply the paint color of your choice, applying as many coats as you need. After everything is dry, securely hang your holder on the wall.

Now you can enjoy admiring and finding your jewelry with ease! Tangled masses of jewelry and lost jewelry will no longer be a problem.