Framed Earring Organizer

I was feeling in a bit of a crafty mood the day I made this. Not looking to make something for my jewelry specifically, but just feeling like making something, not food, with my hands. I have a bunch of 4x4x6 frames I used for my wedding table seating. They were not terribly expensive so I had no qualms about tearing them apart for a project, even if it didn’t work. Walking around the house looking for inspiration I finally decided to try my hand at an earring organizer. There are a number of jewelry organizing ideas on Pinterest, but none did quite what I wanted so I had to pick a little from here and a little from there to come up with my final product.

Materials

- Frame (Can be any size and hold any number of photos)

- ½ inch foam (I used foam from the boxes my Lia Sophia jewelry came in. There was a little bit of cutting and pasting that had to be done, but the thickness was perfect.)

- Ribbon of assorted sizes and colors (I went with red, white and black since I still have so much left over from wedding decorations almost 2 years later.)

- Fabric (Try to match your ribbon and frame, and have enough to cover the foam. About 3 times the square footage of the area of your frame.

Tools

- Glue gun and of course glue sticks

- Scissors

Instructions

1. Heat glue gun up. You will be using this often so make sure it’s ready to go and you have extra ammo (glue sticks) on the ready. J
2. Remove glass from frame. You won’t need this for the project so dispose of it properly or put away from some other craft project. Replace the back of the frame.
   
3. Measure the inside of the frame. Don’t rely on the size of photo the frame holds because the actual area you will be placing the fabric covered foam will be smaller than the standard 4x6 or 8x10 photo sizes. (See diagram below)
4. Cut your foam to the size of the frame you measured above.
5. Center the foam on the wrong side of the fabric.
6. Place glue all over the exposed side of the foam and quickly fold the fabric over the glue before it dries. Pull the fabric tight enough that it doesn’t leave bubbles, but not too tight that it squeezes the foam out of shape.
7. Cut the excess fabric off the back of the foam and glue down any loose areas ensuring the front of the foam is flat.
   
8. Cut your ribbons long enough to wrap around the foam and be hot glued together in whichever direction you plan on having the frame sit (landscape/portrait). Play with the different widths and create different patters for your earrings to hang off of. (See diagram below)
9. Lay your ribbons out the way you want them on the foam. If you plan on doubling up on ribbons lay out the ones that will be at the back first.
10. Lay the covered foam right side down on the ribbons. Use the glue gun to wrap and hold the ribbons to the back of the foam.
11. Repeat with any additional pieces you might be overlapping. You can also do lattice/weaving with the ribbons once you have the first set down.
12. Once the ribbons are where you want them, and you frame is assembled, minus the glass, glue your ribbon wrapped fabric covered foam to the inside of the frame and voila!
13. When the glue has dried (which is almost instant) you can hang your dangly earrings and hoops up.
14. Enjoy!