Another 90’s hit

In the 90’s I had a crafts company and I’d do craft shows with table displays (I later decided I preferred making a bit more money working in biz and would keep my crafting for myself, family and friends).  One of the items I’d stumbled across for display is something I continue to use and make as gifts, an earring holder.  You may have seen this elsewhere as friends and crafters have been making them for more than fifteen years that I know of.  But, just in case you haven’t, here’s another so-simple-anyone-can-do-it project that is actually quite useful.  I have one niece who doesn’t have one yet (it’s one of those items that’s so perfect as a gift you run out of friends and family who don’t yet have one) when I craft that I’ll add more pictures.

  1. Frame – you can put your earring holder on a wall or stand it up with a one, hinged two frame or triptych frame setup.
  2. Plain black plastic window screen (or grey or colored pet screen which is a tad pricier) available at any hardware store.
  3. Staple gun
  4. Glue (I’ve used a hot glue gun, might venture into other glues as I move forward)
  5. Ribbon or solid hem tape

I tend to use wood frames that I can paint to my liking – I’m showing you black with gold sprayed over it. Simple but works where it is. The cat is a Faster Plaster mold that I don’t think is made anymore. Such a pity as I still like it – made many Christmas ornaments from it one year. I have mold making compound – might have to make additional molds myself.  But I digress, back to the earring holder.

 

Cut the screen a bit larger all around than your frame – you can trim it once it’s stapled on. Screen is inexpensive enough that you shouldn’t scrimp and end up with a too short end. Staple the screen to the back of the frame as close to the edge of where your glass would sit as you can  (above I’m pointing to that edge with a knitting needle). I staple by following a cross pattern, noted below. You’re stapling around to always pull from the center, keep it taught. More stapling around results in a more durable earring holder. Since you place earrings on and off pretty much daily, don’t just rely on glue. Trim the screen. Hot glue (or other) your choice or ribbon or solid hem tape over the stapled screen edge so the back of your holder looks nice. Ribbon should not be as wide as your frame as you don’t want it to show. Use something like a plastic knife to really press your topping ribbon flat to the stapled screen (remember, hot glue burns fingers). 

If you like, add ornamentation to the frame or pin ornamentation to the screen. Remember that you’ll also have the earrings themselves.  Mine’s on the wall, in easy reach where I hook earrings up and off no problem. For those dressy post earrings I might wear only a few times a year, I take the screen off the wall and place the earring on. You can also use one for pins that you rarely wear.  I’m all about ease – so anything I regularly use I want to hook on and off leaving the frame on the wall. I wouldn’t place pins I regularly wear on it as the reaching the frame and hooking and unhooking the pin is a tad too much effort.

You can create wall groupings by color if you have a huge earring stash, or by pins and earrings on smaller clustered frames.  You can also use double hinged frames to create a display on a dresser or close to wherever you dress. I have one of those “master baths” newer U.S. homes are built with and my jewelry is kept close to my mirror.  Would never have worked in the teeney bath of my previous house – there the earring frame adorned a portion of the bedroom wall.

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