DIY Jewelry Organizer

This is one of the many things that has been distracting occupying my time this week. But it needed to be done, and I'm feeling good about life (meaning one paper and almost one test done), so I decided to treat myself to a little craft.

You see, I have a bit of a jewelry problem. In that I have a lot and no real organization system. I bought a cute organizer about two years ago, but it is too short for all my necklaces (you can almost see it underneath in this picture...). The result? This mess...

Embarrassing. But more importantly, it's a pain in the butt to find anything! You can see me attempting to use the jewelry stand, and then everything overflows from it. So I finally decided to do something about it.

Note: Instructions are for the necklace hanger in the back, not the wire stand in the front.

Instructions:
First gather your materials. All my materials came from Joann, mostly because I'm a one stop craft-shopper.

Materials:
-a 17x23in unframed cork board
-about 5/8 yard of fabric (I went with a color from our bedroom color scheme, but I chose a neutral so that the colors of my necklace didn't clash with it)
-push pins (I used about 20).
Optional: a staple/glue gun (though I didn't use one here).

I was very imprecise with the fabric since most of it was going to be hidden behind the board, so I just centered the board across the fabric and started pinning. If you are worried about not being able to secure it all, fold up all the edges and make sure you have enough to pin it to the back side of the board. I had about 2 inches of extra fabric on each side.

I started pinning with the middle of one side, then worked my way around (Note: If you are using a staple gun or hot glue gun, this is where you would staple/glue around the edges, omitting the pins, unless you wanted to use them initially to secure the fabric.) The corners are the only part of this project that might give you grief. I just used my gift wrapping techniques and folded the edge onto itself before folding over to the board. 

Next, start hanging up your necklaces. I started with my longest and then worked across from there so that they were somewhat straight. A perfect line won't really matter because the length/bulk of each necklace will be different (I obviously didn't work hard for a straight line, and you can't even tell when the necklaces are on).

Add all your desired jewelry, and voila! An organized collection. You could store bracelets and watches on here too, I just didn't have room, so I utilized the stand that I already had for those pieces. I kind of really love it. And the hubs enjoys the look of a clean dresser top. I'm looking forward to being able to see all of my jewelry as I get dressed. It's going to make my life a lot easier.

This was so fun, so practical, and best of all, cheaper than buying a jewelry stand/organizer! (I spent around $15 and that was without scheming for a good deal on pins and fabric. If you go to Joann or Hobby Lobby for a cork board, make sure you bring a 40% off coupon with you! They (almost) always have one out there!)