I needed a way of keeping my earrings handy without tossing them in the darling boxes I have been using for a long time. {You can see them there in the reflection — they are little boxes that Habou painstakingly covered in small bits of Christmas cards. They have little “fussy cut” images and sweet messages tucked into them, then lovingly lacquered. I love them. But they are not the best for storing dangling tangling things!}
{You can also see my red engagement ring box. I put my ring in there every night to prevent the grinding of my two rings together, which had resulted in the wearing down of both. I am determined that the next 30 years will see no deterioration of my rings! I do keep my wedding ring on in case there's a fire and the people who rescue us are wondering if I'm married.}
The earrings were just too jumbled that way. Often I would find myself in the morning holding three unmatched earrings, vowing to wear whichever pair I found the match for first.
I've seen the clever craft that involves putting gutter mesh into a frame, making a very attractive earring holder. But I didn't have a frame handy, and I was committing very few crafting ergs to this project.
I tried figuring out how to make a small mirror work,
Finally I came up with the very most lame, low-energy, anti-aesthetic, lazy way of pulling this one off.
Habou said, “You can cut off those little bits sticking out…” Ummm…okay….
The Chief looked at it and remarked, “Maybe you could spray paint them or something?”
Maybe when the spray paint thaws, in the spring, I'll rethink. Meanwhile, this is what I'm going with.
A ribbon.
Poked through some gutter mesh.
I did wash the gutter mesh first, yay me!
Woman of the House says
I do the exact same thing! I keep my earrings in a little blue and white china tray, and there’s been many a morning when I’ve worn the first matching pair I could find. I think your idea is great! I might try it myself. 🙂
Dawn says
The ribbon is very pretty! I think your effect is rustic and girly! And you’re too awesome and have too much important stuff to do to mess with clipping off the pokey bits!
Susan says
I like how it turned out! I did something similar for my earrings years ago using cross-stitching material and a cheap plastic frame. Super easy, popped the material into the frame and cut off the excess. There are little holes already in the material to poke the earrings through and I can put my stud earrings in it too. The best part, they are all easy to see (important for me) and don’t get tangled up!
Anonymous says
smart idea! love your earring collection as well.
mary
TexasRed says
I got an organizer like this for Christmas, except the mesh is in a picture frame. Loving the ability to organize all my dangly earrings.
Kari says
You’re so clever with your danglies! So what about a clever cheap hack for stud earrings….I’m super lazy about having to poke them through the card they come in and then (oh horrors) put the back back on. How insanely lazy am I? My grandma had a cute little earring tree that she just slipped the post into a slot, back and all and then slipped it out again. Any ideas on how to cheaply make one?
Kari
Sue says
I love it! I was going to say that I need one of those, but this post made me realize that I am sadly lacking in earrings. I have lots of unmatched ones that I keep, hoping that the match will show up one day. I should have had one of those nifty things years ago!
Freckled Hen says
I like your creativity and I love your earrings!
Leila says
You are so nice, all of you. Kari — I put the studs in the boxes 😉
Sophie Miriam says
That looks nice. I should do something like that….except I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know where to hang it!
Deirdre says
I would like to chime in here on the earring storage discussion. This is an area in which I have some authority (I'm less confident on questions about how to treat your husband or feed your 5 children… you know, as a single 21 year old). But oh do I have an earring storage system! A total stranger came into my room freshman year to talk to my roommate, took a look at my desk (where my collection is stored), and said, "Oh, you're the earring girl! I heard about you when I was at the National Archives yesterday!" (You can see pictures in an old post I did called "Simple Pleasures" …something something)Kari/Mom – It's true that it's easier to fish through a box to find studs than it is for danglies, but if you want to be able to survey them for the optimum choosing view, you need them spread out side by side. Could you devise something involving thin material covering a sponge or Styrofoam-type object that you could stick studs into? I find that it's very valuable to have a separate little box for earring backs, and that makes all organization simpler. Sue – One time I sadly lost one of the earrings from a beautiful pair that my mom gave to me. It was crushing, and of course I didn't want to throw out the second one! So I used jewelry pliers to bend the hook around into a loop and fastened it neatly – and now that earring is a beautiful pendant I can hang on a chain and wear on my neck! Maybe that could work for some of yours!
skoots1mom says
great idea!
Nil Zed says
I second the cross stitch fabric plan, except just put it in a cheap embroidery hoop. Or, just snip the dangling threads off a project that never got finished, and use that. Not that I would do that. No.
Leila says
Argh, I meant to link to your post, D — <a href="http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2009/02/simple-pleasures-my-dorm-room.htmlhttp://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2009/02/s… />For years now I have been saying, "I just need a pretty ribbon…" but alas, no cubby, just vast amounts of space, what with 9ft ceilings, 20 x 20 perfectly square bedroom, etc.So this is my solution.The best thing about it is that if an earring falls down, it falls on the dresser, not on the floor to be lost in the cracks of the wide pine.It won't make the Smithsonian like some people's solutions 😉 but it works for me!
LJtravelsTHEworld says
I'm glad Dee commented so I don't need to brag for her… her earring ribbon is one of the prettiest dorm decorations ever! (I also believe a comment along these lines was one of the first things I ever said to Dee… wasn't it?)For those of us with more studs and less space, I put all my studs through a ribbon and then the ribbon crumples nicely into any little box. Even if you're like me and too lazy to always put them back on the ribbon, at least the 80% that you never wear are orderly, and the 20% that you wear all the time are easy to find!:)
Anonymous says
First of all you are still my hero, but I am ROTFLOL. Not a bad idea over all.Next I don't have a lot of earring I am alleric to a lot of them and wear mostly gold. The rest are on this cute rack I made ut of an embridrey hoop and an old glittery red christmas sweater.Amy
Anonymous says
I just use a couple of candy boxes (the kind that has the separators for each chocolate.) I should, but don't hang any. Your idea is just another reason to say "necessity is the mother of invention" Very cute.Aleta
Deirdre says
Haha, yours is really cute, Mom. And it was clever of you to do two of them. I definitely would have crammed all of mine onto one and then it would have been unwieldy constantly falling all over the place. It's true that my desk is a major advantage.
Jodi says
I don't think this craft is lame at all, but very clever. I'd like to try it. I have a little earring tree, but it's constantly toppling over. As far as the pokey bits go, perhaps you could glue some beads to them that color-coordinate with the ribbon, or use wooden beads if you're going to spray paint it later.
Leila says
D — I obviously made two b/c Papa got me two pieces ;)Actually, he got three but the third was clearly unsuitable.
Dorathea says
Oh I am so doing this. I have more earrings than I can count, and I'm always losing them or wishing I knew where *that one pair* was.I'll use cross stitch fabric and a hoop because I have extra (it was a headslap moment minutes ago), and I think I'll hang it with ribbon (where to put it without a disastrous avalanche of earrings has always been the trickiest part for me). So nice.Yess! I'm excited.And I really like this blog. Very helpful, funny, and real.
Marlene says
For studs I use a ring tray. The kind that you push the rings into, except I push the pairs of earrings in. They stand up together.And speaking of rings, I took my wedding and engagement ring to the jeweler and had them "welded" together. It makes a stronger ring.
Kate says
Couldn't you nail or staple the mesh to the back of an empty picture frame? I think one of those wire egg baskets, suspended, would make a good earring hanger too. I don't wear earrings, although I love to look at them and buy them for others. I never got around to having my ears pierced when I was younger and at 40+ I think it's a bit late to start the habit. I'd probably just loose them anyway.
Decadent Housewife says
What a clever idea!