HOW TO MAKE A DISPLAY FOR EARRING CARDS

Recently a friend of mine invited me to a business group in town and asked me to bring all of my jewelry from my Etsy shop Beadin' By the Sea . Since I'd never had to display my earrings before, I had to come up with a quick way to show them off that was portable, compact and pretty. I made this display in about an hour the day before the meeting. I simply leaned them against a wall at the meeting but you could easily support them with a metal easel because they are very lightweight. I happened to have all of the materials on hand including some beautiful black rayon velvet that I'd been hanging onto for years.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of making an earring display like this but a quick search on Google didn't provide me with any links so I thought I'd share with you how you can make your own.

This is a great display for your jewelry especially if you make your own earring cards that are simply cards folded in half with holes punched in them.

STEP 1: GATHER YOUR MATERIALS

Here's what you will need:

1. Foam board cut to 12" X 18" (you can make 2 from a 20" X 30" piece of foam board)

2. Thin cotton batting or polyester batting (I used thin cotton quilt batting)

3. Black velvet fabric or your choice of fabric

4. Black satin ribbon 1/4" wide

5. Light duty staple gun

6. Scissors

7. Right angle ruler
8. Black poster board or thick construction paper for backing

9. Cutting blade/knife

10. Cutting mat

STEP 1: CUT Layers to make a sandwich

Using a sharp blade cut the foam board to 12" X 18" or your desired size. Round the corners a little to make it easier to turn the corners when covering. It's not necessary to use the square ruler when cutting the fabrics. Just cut the velvet about 1 1/2" larger than the foam board and the batting about 1/4" larger than the foam board. Round the corners of the fabrics also.

3. STAPLE fabric to the board:

Starting in the center of the longer side gently tug on the layers of fabric and staple a good 1/8" in from the edge of the fabric. Take extra care on the corners by gathering up the fabric with your fingers and putting in a few extra staples. It also helps to trim the batting a little shorter here so it isn't so bulky underneath. Continue tugging and stapling about 1" - 2" apart until you've gone all the way around and you have no puckers on the sides.

4. ADD RIBBON TRIM:

I attached 4 rows of ribbon trim across the shorter width of the board. The center of the first row of ribbon is 1" from the top of the board and each following row (center of the ribbon) is 5" apart. Pull the ribbon fairly tight so when you hang your cards they don't droop from the weight. You may have to experiment with this a little. My first board is a little looser than the first one! Secure the ribbon on the back with one or two staples, crosswise and lengthwise for extra hold.

5. APPLY BACKING:

Cut your poster board (for backing) about a half inch narrower on all sides from your finished board size. Round the corners as you did the foam board and simply staple every 2-3" apart. You can choose to skip this step but why not make it look really professional and cover all uglies on the back!

6. YOU'RE DONE!

Admire your handiwork and hang the top fold of your earring cards around the ribbon. They can easily be removed and rearranged because they simply hang on the ribbon.

Now you have a great looking display, that was easy to make, light on the pocket book and will show off your designs beautifully!

If you have any comments or questions please leave one below and I'll try to help you out!