Earring Storage Solutions

I don't usually wear a lot of jewelry mostly because bracelets and things get in the way at work... also any kind of dangly earring gets tangled in my long hair. However I still have a small collection (worn when I have my hair up) that needs storage. I have an old plastic earring book but that's beginning to fall apart. Earlier I altered a frame to use for storing my hook earrings and this weekend I put together a quick project to hold my post earrings.

To make both you need the following supplies:
-Frames in desired size ( I got mine from the dollar store. 8x10 and 5x7 )
-Round Pencils
-Felt Scraps
-Glue Gun
-Small Saw
-Lace Trim (about 1/3 yard for each band)
-Duct Tape

I'll start with the frame for hook earrings because its the easiest. All you have to do is remove the back of the frame, stretch the lace over the opening and tape it in place with duct tape. Be sure to keep it as tight as possible otherwise it will sag when you add the weight of earrings.

Then carefully replace the backing and you're good to go. I played around with some of my art supplies to make a decorative backing but you could just as easily leave it plain.

To make the post earring holder the first step is to cut the pencils down to the length of the frame. I don't have any pictures of this step but I bundled them together and wrapped them with painters tape to help prevent splintering while I cut. Then I used a small hack saw to cut off the eraser end.

Run a bit of hot glue along the pencil and attach it to a small rectangle of felt. Cut the felt so that it is just slightly longer than the pencil. Run glue along the other side of the felt and wrap it around the pencil so its completely covered.

                                   

Repeat until you have enough pencils to fill the opening in the frame. Place them in the frame so that the pencil is inside but the extra felt hangs over the edge on each side. Keep them as close together as possible and try to keep the felt seam to the back.

             

Back View

Front View

Once you have them all in replace the back of the frame. 

The color of the pencils shows through but I kind of like that. The thickness of the felt made it slightly hard to close and I'd like to add a few more clips on the side to hold it down.

To store earrings all you need to do is push the post in between two of the felt rolls.