Pretty Earrings On Display

Earrings are my most-commonly-worn bit of jewelry, aside from my wedding ring.  I wear them almost every day.  I have my favorites... and an increasingly substantial collection at this point.  For years I've kept them in a few little boxes which left something to be desired as an earring organizational system, I must say.  It was the hand-beaded earrings my friend Val makes that finally prompted me to come up with something better.  Those earrings deserved better.

One-of-a-kind Grateful Dead earrings from my Valpal!  I couldn't allow them to get stored in a tangle in some box....

So, earlier this year, I scoured the internet for DIY ideas for an earring rack/holder that would:

       1) make it easier to find both halves of the pair I was looking for,
               2) allow me to see and enjoy all the rest like artwork even when not being worn, and
                       3) be easy and cheap to construct.

In the end, I hit big on all three with this picture frame turned wall-mounted earring rack.  

The dangly earrings just hang from the grid.  For the post earrings I don't take the backs off.  There is still just enough post to stab it into the corkboard even with the backs on.  

I found a large wooden picture frame we didn't have hanging up anymore and discarded the backing board and glass.  Matt helped me stretch a section of wire grid, leftovers from a garden project, across the back of the frame and secure it with a series of staples.  

I love the fact it makes my earrings part of the art/décor in our room.

At Matt's suggestion, I covered the back of the frame with a strip of felt to protect the paint on our bedroom wall from the snipped edges of the metal grid.  

The only item I ended up purchasing specifically for this project was the corkboard squares I added along the bottom for stud-style earrings.  They came in a four pack from the craft store.  I used three, cutting the middle square to fit, and securing them together with packing tape.  I didn't attach them to the frame, really, but just nestled the corkboard between the backing metal grid and the edge of the frame.  Snug as a bug in a rug! 

The whole thing cost just a couple of bucks and an hour of time.  It thrills me beyond measure.