DIY: Jewelry Organizer
Today I'm doing a DIY post! I'm super excited to share this cute little jewelry organizer with you! It's a fun project with plenty of room for creativity and free handing your own ideas to add to it!
Basically, I really wanted a super cool jewelry shelf / organizer, but I didn't want to spend a bunch of money. Plus, I wanted it to fit my needs. I find it's best just to make something yourself when you have a set idea of how you want it to be. So I headed out to Michael's Craft Store and hunted around till I found the perfect thing. A mini crate. The one I found is 12 inches tall, 9 1/2 wide, and 4 3/4 deep. It has 4 - 2"x 1/4"slats along the back and 2 along the side. This mini crate is similar but seems to have 3 slats along the side making it deeper, which might not work. I would recommend finding a shallow little crate, otherwise adding the nails and fixtures to the back of the crate will get tricky.
I bought some paint, pulled out this little nail / hardware kit my Dad gave me years ago and got to work.
Basically, I really wanted a super cool jewelry shelf / organizer, but I didn't want to spend a bunch of money. Plus, I wanted it to fit my needs. I find it's best just to make something yourself when you have a set idea of how you want it to be. So I headed out to Michael's Craft Store and hunted around till I found the perfect thing. A mini crate. The one I found is 12 inches tall, 9 1/2 wide, and 4 3/4 deep. It has 4 - 2"x 1/4"slats along the back and 2 along the side. This mini crate is similar but seems to have 3 slats along the side making it deeper, which might not work. I would recommend finding a shallow little crate, otherwise adding the nails and fixtures to the back of the crate will get tricky.
I bought some paint, pulled out this little nail / hardware kit my Dad gave me years ago and got to work.
Here's the finished product:
It doesn't hold ALL my jewelry, but it holds the everyday / most often worn items. I still have a bowel of bangles on my dresser and some nicer jewelry in a leather jewelry box on the dresser. But I love having all my everyday items displayed on this cute shelf / organizer.
I'll do my best to explain how I got my finished product. But, this really was a process that a winged and made work with what I had on hand, and you can do the same to customize it to your jewelry needs. Get creative!
I'll do my best to explain how I got my finished product. But, this really was a process that a winged and made work with what I had on hand, and you can do the same to customize it to your jewelry needs. Get creative!
Supplies:
Crate 12 inches x 9 1/2 inches and 4 3/4 inches deep
2 bottles acrylic paint in your choice of color - I used Martha Stewart's Metallic Rose Gold
8 - 1 inch small round head nails in color of your choice
2 - 1/2 inch small round head nails in color of your choice
1 - 2 feet piece of Flexible Nylon Coated Beading Wire in color of choice - or other flexible wire. This is what I used:
8 - 10 crimp beads in color of choice (in the bead section of craft store)
9 or more crown bolts in color and size of choice
Sawtooth picture hanger hardware with 2 small screws
Tools:
paintbrush
drill with small drill bit
small hammer
mini screw driver
pliers
wire cutters
a small level is helpful as well
pliers
wire cutters
a small level is helpful as well
Method:
Paint your wood crate your desired color. I did two coats of Martha Stewart's Mettalic Rose Gold. Allow crate to dry.
Using a small hammer and some dexterity nail your first 4 nails into the inside back panel of your crate toward what will be the top. One in the middle of each back slat. Evenly space them apart. Don't let the nails go all the way through the wood, you can get them in there solidly without breaking out through the other end. Drop down 2 to 3 inches. I did 2 inches and evenly nail another row of 4 nails.
This next part is a little tricky to explain and it was kinda just trial and error, but I will do my best. I wanted a wire hanging across the middle of the jewelry shelf so that I could hang even more earrings. I found the smallest nails I could and nailed one on each outer side of the crate, being careful not to nail them all the way through. Then I took nylon beading wire and wrapped it around the nail and tied it in a knot then trimmed the excess wire. I threaded the wire through the middle of the crate and then threaded crimp beads on the wire and used pliers to crimp them down. The crimp beads are used so the earrings don't all slide to the middle of the wire. How many crimp beads you use and how far apart you place them is up to you. Then I wrapped the remaining side of the wire around the other nail and tied it off in a knot and trimmed the excess.
My wire went directly across the middle of the shelf both width and depth wise and I chose not to put anything else below the wire because I knew my earrings would hang down and I wanted to use the bottom of the crate as a shelf for bracelets and other jewelry.
Next, I put in my hooks for necklaces, I spaced 9 crown bolts (they look like hooks with a screw on the end) about 1/2 an inch apart. I used the pointy end of the hook to make an indent in the wood as a measured each 1/2 an inch apart. Then using a very small drill bit, I drilled a hole where each hook would go. Make sure not to drill all the way through the wood! And make sure your drill bit is smaller than the screw portion of the hook. Then screw in each hook. I then did a row of 3 hooks behind the first row, just add a little more functionality.
Look at that, we're almost done! Now flip the shelf over to the backside (I didn't paint the back of my shelf since it will be up against the wall). Place your sawtooth hangar in the middle with equal distance between each end of the hangar and the end of the shelf. Drill a small hole where the screw will go on each side, using a mini screw driver, screw the small screws that come with the sawtooth hangar in place to secure the hangar.
Now hang your shelf and get to organizing!
My wire went directly across the middle of the shelf both width and depth wise and I chose not to put anything else below the wire because I knew my earrings would hang down and I wanted to use the bottom of the crate as a shelf for bracelets and other jewelry.
Next, I put in my hooks for necklaces, I spaced 9 crown bolts (they look like hooks with a screw on the end) about 1/2 an inch apart. I used the pointy end of the hook to make an indent in the wood as a measured each 1/2 an inch apart. Then using a very small drill bit, I drilled a hole where each hook would go. Make sure not to drill all the way through the wood! And make sure your drill bit is smaller than the screw portion of the hook. Then screw in each hook. I then did a row of 3 hooks behind the first row, just add a little more functionality.
Look at that, we're almost done! Now flip the shelf over to the backside (I didn't paint the back of my shelf since it will be up against the wall). Place your sawtooth hangar in the middle with equal distance between each end of the hangar and the end of the shelf. Drill a small hole where the screw will go on each side, using a mini screw driver, screw the small screws that come with the sawtooth hangar in place to secure the hangar.
Now hang your shelf and get to organizing!
Love, Luck, and Happiness!