I love some good earrings with character. I make most of my own because I rarely find what I’m looking for in stores. As a result, I have a good number of earrings in my collection and it is constantly fluctuating. I remake pairs that I don’t wear and I add pairs when I find beads that just speak to me. Yes, I spend way too much money on beading accessories, but the point of this post is to show you, how I have found is, my favorite way to store them.
I have seen different versions of this type of earring holder. This is my version. Now, I have no clue where this frame came from. It is so old that I honestly cant remember. I do know that it was in a box of stuff when we lived in Belgium and after we moved back to the states I remember I kept moving it around in the house until it found its purpose. I have tried making this out of 5 by 7 frames and it does not work as well because it only gives you 2 rows for dangly earrings. That’s not enough space for me. Out came my tools to make something simple but very useful. Here is what I used.
Measure the number of rows you want compared to the height of your earrings and how much space you have to work with. Ear wire earrings are the best type to use on this, btw. My top wire is about a half inch from the top and each wire is approximately 2.5 inches apart because my earrings are all between 2 and 3 inches long. It’s ok for the earrings to be longer than the wire gap because when it leans at an angle against the wall, the earrings will hang down behind the lower wire.
Here is the back. I used 50 lb picture hanging wire and just some random screws from my mystery hardware box. Make sure that the screws you use are not longer than your frame is thick. You don’t want screw points coming out the front. You need screws with a dome or round head because the bottom of the head needs to be flat. Otherwise if the head is angled it wont hold the wire down. Even the few ounces of weight from earrings plus the weight of the wire will pull the wire lose.
Measure and mark holes your holes, screw one screw between the wire strands, twist the outside end of the wire with the needle nose. When tightening the second ends, use the pliers to pull the wire taut while tightening the screws. A tighter wire keeps the earrings from sliding to the center. It only needs to hold a few ounces but the tighter, the better.
This is how the earrings hang on this frame. I usually have a small floating shelf up that is just big enough for the frame, but I am restraining myself from hanging anything to make less work when its time to prep walls for paint.
Here is the finished product. In my experience, a smaller frame than 8 by 10 is hard to work with, but a larger frame could definitely work. I might actually experiment with that in the future. For now, this keeps my collection neat and organized, but keep in mind that it is not kid friendly. One bump from a kid or if it gets knocked flat and you will be picking earrings from all over the place. I recommend keeping it high away from tiny hands. That’s why I like the floating shelf. I can place it as high as I want.