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Please excuse a bit of a different post for Friday this week. Having been without my computer for most of the week, I didn’t keep up with my blog reading/bookmarking enough to be able to put together an Inspiration Week post for today!
After a few months of becoming painfully aware that the current state of jewelry “organization” was woefully inadequate (e.g. things piled into a small, vintage lotus bowl and stuffed in an organizer in my closet), I knuckled under and did something about it last weekend! A few years ago I had made a jewelry organizer from an old frame (hanging on the right), which worked for a time and still is in use now. But, not only did it need to be updated (new paint job), but I had outgrown it. I don’t have a huge costume jewelry collection, but it’s large enough and if I don’t have it out in the open I forget what I have.
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So I decided to make a two piece set to house all my jewelry that could be hung to store it (necklaces, hook earrings, non-bangle bracelets) as well as a place for all my brooches. I used the smaller frame I already had and another I had picked up at a yardsale a couple months ago. Both were painted with a glossy black paint (leftover from painting our dining room chairs), and then I stocked up on silver tone nails, hooks, wire and window screening to add the storage capacity to each.
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The larger frame got the screening for storing pins as well as a series of hooks to hang necklaces on from the bottom edge (tacked to the backside of the frame). The smaller frame was fitted again with wire (suspended between nails) to hold earrings. For less than $15, I have loads of storage space for my jewelry! For the first time in years, I’ve got almost all of it out on display so I know what I have and can actually wear it. lol.
How do you store your jewelry? Do you have an elaborate system, or something much more simple? I’d love to hear your ideas!!!
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Hey Casey! That’s such a good idea – me and some of the girls in our office here in London are cooing over the idea, and I think at least two of us are planning to head right out this weekend and try something similar!
Thanks for the inspiration!
RGx
I love the picture-frame idea!
A friend of mine left me her collection of huge, gaudy, mismatched earrings before she passed away. She intended for me to take them apart and use the pieces for art projects, but some of them were made by the daughter of a mutual friend, and, anyway, I didn’t want to dismantle her earrings. I’ve been meaning to get a shadowbox with a hinged door, and paint it up in honor of her, to make a case for them.
This is such a cute idea! I’m always fishing around for earrings in my jewelry drawer. It has little sections, which started off great, but now I have too many! I also like that it can be decorative wall art.
Love this idea, Casey! I’m lucky enough to have a huge jewelry case built into my vanity table, but having all the pretty baubles displayed seems fun.
Oh I love your version of this – the black is so chic!
My own jewelery is in trays that lock together, and so far this has worked fine for keeping things separate – but now I’m finding I need that drawer space for other things (like winter scarves, and dressy socks). I’ve definitely considered the frame idea for display, especially for necklaces and hook earrings – and I love your execution, particularly for the brooches. I may just have to find myself some cute frames!
Any ideas as to what to do with stud earrings though?
It looks great, well done!
I store most of my jewellery in a cute lacquered set of drawers – you can see them here:
http://orangesapples.blogspot.com/2009/04/happy-easter.html
Plus I have a flower shaped thing that was meant to be a photo holder for storing my earrings on too, I really should take a picture of that!
This is a wonderful idea. You’re right – it’s best to have it on display otherwise we forget what we have. I need to do something similar. Thanks for the inspiration!
I just spent the morning cleaning and I didn’t end up with any solution for my currently hideous and ineffective jewelry storage (aka a crammed cardboard box). This is great, functional and decorative! Thanks Casey.
Love these! I commissioned a jewelry rack from my talented woodworker of a dad, but also use frames with burlap for earring overflow.
What a great idea! Love your blog too
My jewelry is in pretty much the same state as yours was before your little project. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with it all. I do something like this but I have cats. To them the wonderful dangling things would be a toy. lol
HA! I just cleaned out my jewelry box last week. I don’t really ever wear jewelry except once in awhile. I think you may be on to something with this display so you can see it thing. Maybe that is why i never wear mine. I also have several items that need to be repaired or sized. it is such a pretty display too. nice idea. i like it.
I keep mine in an intricate system of jewelry boxes and vintage padded boxes. I DO like the frame idea though because I have some beautiful stuff and it would look lovely as an extra decoration.
you made removable art! hehe.
Cute idea! So creative! It also looks pretty on the wall.
This is great! How simple! Hummm…..this could be just the thing I need to kill two birds with one stone – get my stuff out of the drawer/jewelry box and wall art in the bedroom. Thanks for sharing this little project.
Love,
Mom
I love this!
What a great idea! I may have to do a little thrifting myself this weekend. I have so much jewelry now that sometimes I forget exactly what I have, this would be great to rotate pieces out on and display all my bits and bobs I’ve accumulated. Have a great weekend!
I have a beautiful antique Japanese jewellery cabinet I got as a present from my mother a few years ago. The only thing I don’t store in it is some of my chunkier necklaces – they go in a small box next to my jewellery cabinet.
I love your method though – sometimes I do forget what I have squirrelled away in there!
I keep all of my jewelry in small plastic bags (I know—not so great for the environment) — but it keeps them clean and easy to see, plus I very rarely have to detangle/polish things. My larger bangles are kept in Pyrex mini loaf pans, and as a whole the jewelry is sorted into boxes by necklaces, bracelets, etc… and I have a bedtime ritual of choosing my clothing for the next day plus what jewelry I’ll wear…it makes sure I wear the diversity of my collection (my grandmother was quite the jewelry fiend, and I’ve inherited much of her passion and love for jewelry). I’ve had the goal of taking nice pictures of my jewelry to put in a powerpoint for archival purposes and tell some of the stories that come with places I bought this piece, or what my grandma said with this necklace…I’m getting there. I do love your display, though—so pretty!
Great job!! I have a similar set up for my earrings
I do something very similar! I have a black wood frame which I put a sheet of cork board into (from an old bulletin board). Then I pushed white-ball tipped pins into it and hung all my jewelry from it (earrings and necklaces are hung from pins, and brooches are pushed into the cork). I thought i had a photo up online somwhere, but can’t seem to find it now
Great job! I’ve been meaning to do this myself. If mine baubles aren’t out on display, or at least very easily accessible, I forget to wear them too. Though seeing a piece again after months of forgetting about it is like a happy meeting with an old friend.
Such a cute idea!
xox
Just love it, must try it. Have you used a fabric base for pinning your brooches? or are they just resting on hooks or nails?
My sister has a ring of cardboard (basically like you would have for doing a pom pom) and has holes around its edge to put her dangly earrings through, but the cardboard ring goes over an old antiquey bottle. It’s very easy but quite and effective look, especially with the lovely blue colour of the bottle.
that’s very nifty
That is PERFECT!
Who wants to hide their jewlery in a box now?!?
Tanks for the idea, my spouse is always complaining on me that I´m to unorganized but thats because I want to enjoy my jewlwery every day, eaven those days when I don´t wera it!
This will be a must in our new house!
Thanks so much for sharing this great idea! Your post inspired me to make my own version of it:
http://sindyintulsa.blogspot.com/2010/04/crafty-thursday.html
Sindy
sindyintulsa.blogspot.com
Martha Stewart recently made a similar Jewelry Organizer Frame on her TV show (April 13, 2010).
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/jewelry-organizer-frame
This is a very creative idea to store jewelry, if you don’t mind I will adopt this idea for my new room in London.
Thanks for the inspiration! Love it!
xoxo Sandra
I tried the jewelry frame idea and love it! However, hook earrings don’t seem to want to stay on it that well. Did you have that problem? I mean, they are all on there now but I feel like if I breathe on them too much they will come off since the hooks don’t always bend enough to go over the wire. Just wondering if anyone else that tried this experiences something similar? Love it, though!