Guest post: Earring holder DIY

My friend Nicole is really crafty.  She has tons of talents, including crocheting, embroidering and sewing (can you say Martha Stewart?) but from time to time, she tackles less difficult projects, as well.  Here, she shares with you her most recent adventure in crafting: a picture frame turned earring holder.  No need to fear, this one is as easy as 1, 2, 3 so that even the DIY Dummies among us can do it. 

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I have a friend who is slowly getting into crafting. While perusing a craft store one day she “casually” mentioned that she was looking for something that would hold her ear studs. Not just any earrings—ear studs. Since her birthday is coming up soon I doubt there was anything really casual about the remark, but the gauntlet was thrown.

She knows me too well.

I perused the internet. There are lots of how-to videos posted mostly by teenagers with a little too much interest in zebra prints and bows for my taste. In all fairness, however, the basic idea remains the same.

Here's what you need:

1.              A frame. Not one of those 'invisible' ones, but the kind with an actual frame that you   

          could adhere something to.

2.              Enough fabric to cover the frame. I chose burlap. It's got a lot of holes in it that are 

          ideal for poking studs and normal earrings through. I also learned that burlap is a biotch to 

          work with. It frays easily and gets everywhere. An interesting alternative is a cheap 

          machine-made doily you can spray paint, but really any porous fabric will do.

3.              A staple gun/a regular stapler/hot glue gun/super glue combo. I used a normal stapler 

          and a hot glue gun (just because I wanted a reason to buy a hot glue gun, really).

4.              Scissors.

5.              Paint or beads if you want to decorate further.

Step 1: Get your stuff gathered. 

Step 2: Remove the backing and glass. Don't throw away the backing. It comes in handy later. You're free to do as you will with the glass.

Step 3: Measure out a piece of your fabric. Eyeball it. It just needs to cover the opening plus enough to fix in place. Cut.

Step 4: Choose some place on the back of your frame and staple it in place. Pull tight and do the same to the opposite end. Repeat on either side. A note about stapling: I used a normal stapler because that's all I had on hand. The problem is that you really need to be careful; it's slippery and the staple doesn't always go in the right way. A staple gun would do the trick the first time.

Step 5: Prep your glue. You could of course staple all the way around, but my burlap frayed and I wanted every bit of it to be stuck to the frame. You want it to be durable. It's better to hot glue all around the edges and smooth the loose fabric over it with a card.

Step 6: Get your backing. Decide how you want to frame to sit (lengthwise or on its side). Once you've worked that out, prop your backing and frame together so that it forms a V. You want to be able to reach around and pull off the earring backing when you need to. After you've determined everything, hot glue/super glue the backing's edge. Press it to the frame to form the V. Hold for a minute or two.

Step 7: Back away and admire your handiwork.

Optional Step 8: Go to town decorating your useable masterpiece.