I had a DISASTER of a mess with my necklaces, anklets, earrings, bracelets. It was BAD. We're talking in a box all just dumped in. I could never find my earrings that I wanted and when I did find the ones I wanted, I could only find one of them. I HAD to solve this issue. First I bought a little "lady" thingie with a skirt with holes in it that my earrings could go in. That wasn't a good idea because my lever backs could only go around the bottom of her skirt and I have lots of lever backs. I gave up on that with my frequently worn ones. My necklaces, anklets, and bracelets had good storage (in the office/craft space) on my desk but it was at the other end of the house so not practical in the morning when getting ready for work. I needed something new. I scoured the web and found LOTS of frames with screen or fabric or whatever behind it. I found things that hung on the wall over towel rods. Those all were interesting to me but not exactly what I wanted and there was no way that all I have would fit on those!
So.... I had an idea to use a frame with chain and hooks. I searched high and low for a frame I wanted to use. They were all too expensive. We're talking $20 or more. I didn't want to spend that. I'm cheap! I knew we had base board moulding in the garage left over from one of the many houses we've built so I asked hubby to cut me some. He measured the bathroom wall (where it was planned to go) and cut some boards for me. We used plain old elmers school glue to glue it up. I added squares of muslin saturated in the same glue over the corner joints at the back just to give it more stability. I wanted to use wood joiners but the moulding is MDF and it was too hard to push or hammer the joiners into. Glue it was. I filled in the joints with wood putty and sanded it smooth. After several coats of hammered finish rustoleum (it's what I had on hand), it was ready to be marked and drilled.
I marked 1" marks across the bottom of the front for my cup hooks and 2.5" marks on the inside (1/4" from the front/back so it was centered) and had hubby drill holes for me to add the eyelets and cup hooks. 15 hooks, 10 eyelets, and 80" of chain and it was done! I LOVE it and wasted no time hanging it up and adding all my sparklies. :)
Materials (this is for MY specific frame, your needs may vary):
10 1/2" eyelets (1 baggie)
15 1/2" cuphooks (3 baggies)
80" chain (I used all but 4" of it!)
Frame that's been painted or whatever you want to do to it.
How to:
Mark where you want the cup hooks to go on the front. I spaced mine 1" apart centered on the bottom. I used my centering ruler to get the first one in the center and then worked out from there.
Mark where you want the eyelets to go on the inside. My frame is 1/2" deep so I put the dots 2.5" apart (starting from the bottom) 1/4" deep. Do this on both sides.
Get your
Open the first link on the chain using chain nose pliers. Don't just pull the chain open, it won't close nice and pretty if you do that. Attach the first link to one of the eyelets you screwed in. Stretch the chain across to the other side so it's tight but not too tight. I did one more link from totally taught. It was easier to close the link on the other side. Open the link where the eyelet is on the opposite side, remove the excess chain and attach the link to the eyelet. Continue for the rest of the pairs of eyelets.
We hung mine with just nails into the wall in the corners. I didn't mess with anything fancy since it's not that heavy.
DONE! Now go make it pretty. :)
Too much work? I can make you one. Pricing is done on a per project basis since frames are different sizes and prices and all that. Oh, and I'm out of moulding!
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| These are all the tools required once the frame is put together and drilled. |
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| All put together. Now to hang it and fill it up with pretties. |
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| All prettied up. |
