Crafty Crafty

I have no jewelry box. All I have is this tiny earring box I bought in London on my study abroad, so all my necklaces get shoved into a drawer, and I always forget about what I have because I can never see it. So today I thought I'd make something pretty and functional-- my two favorite adjectives. 

I knew that a tack board was the way to go, but I didn't want the ugly brown color to distract from my jewels. I got the idea to wrap it in a fabric that would go with the rest of my bedroom. And because I'm a blogger, I wanted to share with all of you how to make a pretty, yet functional "Jewel Frame". 

I got the tack board and fabric from Ikea (Tip No. 1: don't go to Ikea on a Saturday afternoon. It's the stinky, crowded pits). You'll only need half a yard of fabric for the 22.5"x15.5" board, cut 3 inches larger on each side than the board. Ikea only sells one size, but I found it big enough to fit my very limited collection. The materials cost me about 10 dollars.

Simply put, I wrapped the tack board in fabric like a present, so that even the wood frame is covered in fabric. All I used was hot glue to do so. This is really really easy, and looking at the picture of the finished product would mean that you wouldn't have to read the rest of the post... so I'm placing that picture at the end. :D

Start by placing a bead of hot glue down the inside of the frame, on the edge of the tack board.

And place a bead on the frame itself.

Do this one edge at a time, gluing down the fabric into the edge of the frame. If you just wrap the tack board ignoring the edge that the frame creates, you wouldn't be able to put tacks in the finished board very effectively. Trust me, I thought about this extensively, standing in Ikea for 30 minutes in the check-out line. Also, make sure the fabric is tight across the cork-- a bubble wouldn't look too great.

Once you do all sides, it'll look like this:

For the back, just glue down one side at a time, folding the corners and gluing them down really well. I didn't want to put glue on the actual frame on the back, like I did on the front, so that I could screw the hanging eyes in without going through a layer of hot glue. I just did hot glue on the back of the cork, and it held fine. 

 

The Ikea tack board comes with hanging materials, the eyes and yarn. But I didn't like how flimsy the yarn was, so I just used the wire that most picture frames use. Tip No. 2: When screwing in the eyes, make a hole in the frame with a nail and hammer first. It's much easier than just sitting there trying to screw in a framing eye through fabric and wood.

Viola! And it's done. It took me about 30 minutes to make, and I have to say it feels great to look up and see all my jewelry all nice and pretty like. I used clear tacks (that came with the board) to hand up my necklaces and earrings, Stud earrings I stuck right into the cork, and placed their backs in my old, little jewelry box. My rose brooch is just pinned into the fabric layer. I love it love it love it. There is nothing like showcasing everyday things to make you and your home more beautiful. 

Then again... It also looks like I have no jewelry! I'll just buy some more I guess...