October 14, 2009

Do It Yourself: Jewelry Displays That Make Oriental Trading Company Look Expensive!

With my first jewelry party less than 2 weeks ago, I have been thinking long and hard as to how to best display and organize my jewelry for the event. A few weeks ago I was browsing through Oriental Trading Company's website and came across this little number: After factoring in shipping and handling, it would have cost me $25 for these two little guys (that's $12.50 a piece)! Knowing we could do much better, the Hubs and I headed to Home Depot and Lowe's for some dowels and base material. We bought one 1" wide by 3 feet long dowel and another one that was 2" wide, in addition to a husky piece of thick plywood. The Hubs started by measuring the dowels to ensure we get 3 full pieces out of each (with the horizontal top piece totaling to 14"). Next he drilled a hole into each as a way to insert the perpendicular dowel to hold the larger piece horizontally (like our makeshift saw horse?). With his new laser saw toy of a thing, he cut the base into 5"x5" pieces. With a little glue and patience, we had ourselves three new jewelry displays! Boo Ya!
Add a little bit of what I have been working on for my Jewelry Party and you have yourself a jewelry display!
And after doing the math, we saved $27.50 (considering that we made 3 that would have cost us $12.50 each from Oriental Trading Company) AND didn't have to wait for them to arrive in the mail! Plus the gratification of knowing you made them yourself is pretty much priceless:) So, the next big question is whether or not we should paint them? I certainly don't want any paint chipping off on the jewelry, though know a stain or final coat of gloss could take care of that problem. But what color? Or is the natural wood look sufficient? We will at least sand them to ensure no one gets a splinter, but is that enough? What would you do? Also, congrats to Laureen for winning my latest necklace giveaway, and an especially THANKS to Celeste for hosting it! Look out for ANOTHER Bead Up giveaway happening later this week :)

8 comments:

  1. Very nice!!! may have to copy your idea =)

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  2. You said buying these stands would cost $25. Later, you said you saved $27.50 by doing it on your own. Is it just me or is that impossible? hahaha. Either way, nice job on the DIY stands. They look great!

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  3. I see what you are saying Nilsa, and I updated the blog -- if they would have cost us $25 for 2, meaning $12.50 each, then the three we made would have cost us $37.50 - though we only spent $10 on the supplies, thus saving $27.50. Am I making sense? Heheh...

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  4. I like this alot. if my hubs were handy at all. i would totally do this. although i am still crushing on the tree thing!

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  5. Fantastic idea! Congratulations, very well done:)

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  6. Great job. They look soo professional. I love the unstained wood too.

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  7. I am just now seeing this and I love it! I would paint it and maybe even add felt so that they slide on smooth and do not damage your pieces at all! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  8. I am totally going to buy the stuff to make these this weekend to use with jewelry collection. I have been trying to figure out how to store my jewelry so that I can see what I have and find it fast. Love these. Thank you so much for sharing.

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