So, I was looking at the tangled mass of jewelry I have been meaning to sort for months now and honestly the only thing that came to mind except "do it tomorrow", was that famous line from the movie Star Wars. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!
Even though I already have two large jewelry boxes filled with my more precious pieces, I still ran out of space. Now I have a heap of costume jewelry in two plastic pails....lol, I know, how sad is that. Where's my "can do" attitude?........oh there it is. "Lets do this!"
Now where do I start.........
First I picked out all of the broken jewelry and pieces that were either tarnished or missing a part of the set (earrings, bracelet, earrings) and put those in a pile.
Next, I took out all the jewelry I hardly ever wear or don't like so much anymore. Oddly enough this was not as hard as I thought it would be. Perhaps because I am donating these pieces to people who will love them.......I must say that this thought really helped me to earnestly purge all the stuff I needed to. Okay, so now I have another pile for donation as well. The only pile left now is the one I am keeping.
These are keepers. Now all I have to do is find/make something to store them!
The final thing I did was to put all of the earrings, pins, watches, necklaces, bracelets and sets together in their own respective piles. This makes it easier to find what you want in a pinch. I also decided to put all the dressy pieces together and all the casual and everyday wear pieces in the same area for easy access.
TIP: If you craft, you can save broken jewelry for beads to use on various craft projects in the future. Save the clasps for costume jewelry repairs. Store them with your craft projects so they are handy to use and easy to find.
Where Am I Going To Put All This........
When I finally got through with all of the sorting I started to brainstorm ways to organize and display my jewelry. I decided NO MORE BOXES for me so off I went to browse the web for storage solutions to my ever expanding costume jewelry collection. I had no idea what I was looking for but I knew that it had to:
1. Be light weight and not bulky
2. Allow my jewelry to be seen and showcased (c'mon they are too beautiful to hide)
3. Be functional and not hard to maintain
4. Must fit my personality and lifestyle
And Now To Preserve My Jewelry....
Here are the most valuable lessons I have learned during research for this project. Some of these tips I knew before but was not actively following as much as I could have. Its on now though! These simple tips will keep my pretties looking great! (ahem....especially the ones I just released from the plastic pails)
Don’t place one piece of jewelry on top of the other (especially jewelry with intricate detail or stones). Improper storage can lead to scratching and other damages.
If you must stack them, place a felt square or wool felting between the pieces to prevent them from rubbing together.
When storing sterling silver, place them in zip lock bag and include an anti-tarnish strip (sold at jewelry stores). Sterling silver is likely to tarnish improperly cared for so change the strip every 6 to 9 months to keep your silver jewelry sparkling and ready to
Well, all I need to do now is decide which display idea I will use. Am so excited! I really like the idea of having the jewelry on display as part of the decor, I think perhaps it would even result in me wearing them more... What do you think?
I am definitely incorporating something like this. Instead of wood though, I think I will draw the head and torso on foam core and cut it out with a utility knife. I can buy a finished wood base at Walmart........ I saw one similar to the one used here last week, imagine that. Its meant to be!
This is hard core DIY, check out the tutorial at the link above. This is such a fresh and beautiful piece but since I am horrible with measurements and can see me pulling my hair out while working on this, I am going to pass on this one.
This innovative bracelet holder was made from the cardboard roll from an empty paper towel. Here is a link to the tutorial on how to make it. http://fashion.onblog
These acrylic jewelry holders are so chic and modern. I especially like the fact that they are transparent. The jewelry is the star here and not the holder. These displays are great creating an illusion of more space and airiness in your decor, which I really appreciate.
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To be honest, I only included this because its gorgeous! I don't think this would be a practical solution for everyday pieces. Its perfect for jewelry that you wear every other week though. Hmmmm, if I went with this idea I would probably only wear the jewelry on the arms and the neck area since it is the easiest to move and fix back. For that reason only I will have to be content with just admiring this piece.
Wow! I really like the look of this! I would need another storage unit in addition to this though to fit all of my pieces.
Would you believe this is the bottom part of a rake for gardening....how clever!
I really like this and the idea below. This person has lots of pieces like me and there's a place for everything in one central area. Plus it looks good. Thats what am talking about!
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How cute is this for your rings! Find it at
