On the Make: Glitter, Reduxed
Monday, August 15, 2011 at 5:16PM 
Special thanks to my clever friend Sterling, for re-christening jewelry and all things girlie and sparkly as "glitter"... let's face it, "bling" was just so tired...
My jewelry collection has been getting out of hand. When I made the Jewelry Tree a while back, I had no idea how much more my collection would grow, or that I'd soon go way beyond the organizational abilities of that bit of craftiness. The thing is, the jewelry tree only holds so much - and that much just isn't enough! I still had necklaces in my closet and a few in some drawers, so I needed to get everything out in one place where I could see it. I did like that my glitter is displayed on the tree, because it really inspires me to change things up every day. But, enough is enough!
I'd tell you all the jewelry designers, but that would take a really long time.
Enter, the window. After trolling through Pinterest and the blogs for ideas, I thought that some sort of a framed set-up would be great for jewelry. Hanging the frame on the wall would make it like a piece of art, and the jewelry would be "framed". As I searched for big frames on Etsy, I instead found a gorgeous array of old windows from a shop called QuirksbyAnnie. (Great name!) Annie's husband salvages old windows from old farm houses being renovated in North Carolina, and then they sell them for crafts. They'll even do custom orders with mirrors or black boards, or whatever you want!
Loving the vintage, weathered look, I requested a 9-pane window with no glass, which measures roughly 37" square, and then ran to the hardware store for a bit of hardware cloth. This is that galvanized wire mesh that has a 1/4" square. Once the window arrived, I stapled the hardware cloth to the reverse side, and fitted the frame with some hooks and wire for hanging - like a big painting. On the front side, I set in nails every so often for hanging necklaces. (I tried doing cup hooks too, but they didn't work as well on this great old hardwood.)
Since the window is old, it's weight is a little uneven. The right side has more bulk than the left, so I had to counter-balance it in hanging jewelry.
The hardware cloth is great for earrings, and when I ran out of nails I used small S-hooks also from the hardware store.
Glitter canister from Jonathan Adler, Astier de Villatte candle, vintage glove mold with hat from Ophelie Hats, vintage Murano glass bird (my Grandma's), and mirrored jewelry box from Anthropologie.
Of course, the beauty of this system is that it frees up my dresser space. I put my two-tier serving plate where the Jewelry Tree used to be, and now the bottom is for bracelets, and the top is for rings. I love that I can see everything at a glance and make selections on the fly! It also looks a lot tidier, but still kind of funky and artistic.
What do you guys think?
DIY, Etsy, craft, glitter, hardware, home, jewelry, jewelry tree in On the Make 
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