Picture Frame Jewelry Organizer

I came up with this idea by mixing something I saw at an Ikea and on Pinterest.  Ikea used items from the bath section as hooks, but it was meant to be tucked away in a closet and I wanted mine out in the open.  Using the hooks would have made this stick out off the wall too far and I would probably have bumped my head on it.

The Pinterest post used ribbon to hang the jewelry, but it sagged from the weight of the necklaces.  This organizer uses metal rods cut into the sides of the frame to hold the jewelry.  

To make it, I bought a picture frame from Ikea and removed the matte and glass frames. I covered the remaining board with a fabric that I found from JoAnn Fabrics. I taped it so it would lay flat, though I am sure there are more permanent means I could have used. 

I marked the back of the frame with the places that I needed to cut to make room for the metal rods, which I got from a local hardware supply store.  To measure, I just took one of my longer necklaces and draped it from the wire. After I had my measurements, I cut away the wood frame to make about a 1/4 inch notch in each side. 

You can see that I had to remeasure here a
few time. Whoops!

To hold the jewelry I could have bought clips, but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun (or as cute!). So, I used 18-gauge wire and a pair of round nose pliers that I had to make S-shaped loops. I closed off one end to make the loop and made a few different sizes to accommodate thicker jewelry, like bangles. Once I had all of the clasps that I wanted, I slid them onto the metal rod. 

Small loops for all of my necklaces.

Larger loops for rings, bracelets, etc. I also added coiled
spacers, seen on the left, for a bit of decoration.

I placed the rod into the notched sides and put the back on the frame. Voila! Now, just add hanging attachments and you have a cute jewelry organizer!

Total Project Cost

Picture Frame $25

Metal Rod $3

Wire for rings $3

Total cost $31

The total time required for this was around an hour, but it is adorable now that it is done! Let me know what you think!

Love Letters

I love (ha!) this! I found a similar idea for DIY lettering on Pinterest and decided to make my own version. These are cardboard letters from Wal-Mart that I painted and covered in jewels from Michaels. I bought the value pack (The Big Bling) to make sure I had enough, and I have a ton left over, so I may make some more.

The "O" is red because I have come across lettering that has a red heart in its place and really liked it, so I tried to duplicate that idea here. 

I also really like that the letters are not uniform. The red "O" and the different patterns on each letter make the arrangement more interesting and give it character. 

Ok, on to the details.

First, I put out newspaper and brought out my paint supplies.  I mixed a few colors to find shades that would work well with the gems. To make them easy to paint, I put pushpins in the back so I had something to hold while I painted and to prevent the paint from sticking to the newspaper. 

After I was happy with the color (it took a couple tries!), I placed the gems on each letter so I knew how each would look. The original design that I saw was uniform, but my gems were not. The bag had a mix of sizes, so I decided to go with it and make the letters a mixture too.

Once all the letters were covered, I started hot gluing the gems in place. This requires careful hands because it is very easy to knock the gems off. Though it might have been easier to design as I glued, it was often necessary to move gems around to eliminate gaps, particularly with the "V," above.  A strategy that I used to prevent this was to glue the gems on the perimeter first, so they held the others in place. 

Once I was done, I cleaned off the strings left behind by the hot glue. No matter how clean I try to be, it's inevitable that my projects look like they are covered in spider webs once I'm done. I also flipped the letters over to make sure all the gems were securely glued on. 

To hang them up, I trimmed an upside-down "v" in two spots on the back of each letter. This allowed me to place them with finishing nails and also keep them even. Though, now that's it's done, I realize that I could have just used Command Strips, or some other quick adhesive. Oh well!

And there you go! Cute DIY Lettering. 

Total project cost -

$3/letter, $12 total + 

$20 for The Big Bling gems ($12 w/ 40% off coupon), $4 for one third of the bag + 

$4 for red gems + 

paint, which I already had (about $1 per color otherwise)

=$20

Not bad! Let me know what you think in the comments!