Jewelry Thief Framed!

Like most women, I own a fair amount of jewelry. And I like to wear it...everyday! Which means that everyday I have to dig through jewelry boxes, trinket boxes, jewelry bags, the purse I used last week, coat pockets and often my bedside table to find the piece I am looking for. I longed for the day when I would have all my jewelry displayed in front of me, each piece gently hanging just waiting to be selected and shown off. So the idea for a pretty framed jewelry board was born!


First I found some old frames, thrift stores and garage sales are great for finding cheap frames. I ripped out the ugly picture, the glass and the backing. The frames were gold and I wanted a softer romantic look so I painted them cream using basic craft paint.
Next I bought some pretty fabric, again I went with a cream base because I didn't want the jewelry to get lost against a busy pattern or dark color.


I used styrofoam board that can be found in the floral arranging section of your local craft store. It usually comes in different sizes so try to fit it as closely to your frame as possible. Err on the larger size, it needs to be at least the size of your frame, anything smaller and it won't work.

Cut the Styrofoam to fit inside your frame SNUGLY. Much trimming will probably be called for and you will have bits of Styrofoam everywhere! I used a knife and just worked slowly so that I did not crack the piece of Styrofoam. Due to the size of my frame, I had to cut two pieces and lay them side by side. My one inch board is thicker than my frame so it will not be flush with the back of the frame but it won't matter for reasons I will explain later. You can buy thinner Styrofoam but I prefer to have ample depth in which to put the pins and know that it will hold the weight of my jewelry.

I used Greening Pins which are quite long. I used the long ones to secure my two pieces to each other. I then used wire clippers to cut some of the pins shorter. My Styrofoam in only 1" thick and I didn't want the pins to poke through the other side. 

Wrapping my fabric around the Styrofoam tightly, I used the shorter greening pins to secure my fabric to the back of the board. I used regular pins to secure any loose fabric at the corners.
 
I then nailed the Styrofoam board to the wall and placed the frame on it. You could also hang your frame but since the fabric covered Styrofoam is not secured to the frame, it could get easily pushed out. Also with the frequency that I am hanging and removing jewelry from my new jewelry board, I prefer to have it securely fastened to the wall and not moving around. The nail heads were quickly covered by the jewelry. And as long as your frame fits snug and your Styrofoam board is nailed to the wall, you shouldn't have any problems with the frame falling off.


Lastly, I used pearl head pins to hang my jewelry on. They work for everything (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings) with the exception of stud earrings. You can also attach ribbon to your board and hang your earrings on that.