Have I got a fantastic organization project for you this weekend!  You know how you’ve been kicking yourself for not getting all your beautiful jewelry under control?  Well, I hope my Friday Reorganized post will inspire you to finally do something about it.

I used to bury all my worldly gems in the top dresser drawer… or, er, on top of the dresser.  I soon had too much jewelry and not enough space to hold them all AND I had a difficult time finding the right earring or necklace I needed for my outfit.  Don’t even get me started on lost earring partners.  It was a mess!  Since I don’t have a lot of surface space in my bedroom, I thought the most logical thing to do was to hang my jewelry.  ALL of them.

First, I organized my earrings.  I am one of those people who firmly believe that an outfit is never complete until my ears are adorned.  Sadly, my collection is looking a bit pitiful at the moment.  Guess that means sh-o-o-o-o-pping!  Ahem, again, I digress…

These organizers were quite simple.  I took an Ikea picture frame (this one was VIRSERUM), removed the glass, and wrapped the masonite board with some gift wrap paper that I picked up previously from Michaels on clearance.  I really did intend to use it as gift wrap, but as I needed something jazzy for these organizers, I naturally gravitated towards this roll already in my collection.  Then I screwed in some eye hooks on the left and right insides of the frame (I only had brass ones in my toolbox and they’re barely noticeable once hung up) and threaded some wire through the hooks.  Make sure the hooks line up evenly on each side as you won’t want your wires to be lopsided – your earrings will just slide down to one side!

Then hang your pretty earrings!  It is such a refreshing change to be able to see all my earrings at once when I get dressed now.

Now, you might be wondering how I organize my post earrings.  No one ever thinks of those in jewelry organization, do they?  Instead of wire for one of the rows, I tied a length of organza ribbon.  The posts just pierce through the sheer material and hold in place with the backing.  You can also use lace or mesh.  I prefer it to be ribbon (as opposed to cutting a strip of fabric) as the edges are nicely finished.  I got this spool of organza from DeSerres, also on clearance.  It was $0.77 for a spool of six feet.  I didn’t use the entire spool, of course.

The wires are also great for hanging my small collection of headbands and brooches.

Using the same frame and gift wrap idea, I made another board to hang a few of my hats.

I used drawer knobs for hooks.  These ones were purchased from Dollarama for only $2!  Oh, and that’s $2 for a pack of FOUR.  (Yes, you may shower me with accolades for being such a savvy shopper.)  A hint about these knobs: you won’t be able to use the screws that come with the knobs because they’re too long for the board.  Replace them with 1/2″ machine screws from Home Depot.

Organizing my necklaces was the easiest of all these.  No drilling or measuring.  I had an old corkboard that was inherited from Mr. M.  Neither of us were using it anymore and it was just collecting dust in a corner.  So I cleaned it off and painted it out completely in white.  Imagine how it looked before: cheap pine aged to gold with the natural boring brown color of cork.

Then I stuck clear thumbtacks into the board (also not being used because we stopped using the corkboard) and hung up the necklaces!  My necklaces are no longer tangled and I can see them all at a glance.  I even made space on this board to hang up some bracelets, rings, and a watch.  Now my drawer is empty and ready to occupy other delectables from my closet.

The best thing about my earrings and necklaces boards is that can easily add more to them without needing to look for a new system to accommodate a growing collection.

So, that’s it!  What do you think of my organization approach to my jewelry and hats?

Total time: Roughly three hours to do all the boards.  A lot of the time was spent in hanging everything.

Total cost: Corkboard and thumbtacks = free as they were existing.  Ikea VIRSERUM frames are normally $22, but I got them on sale for 50% off.  The striped gift wrap was on clearance for $2.66.  The wires, hooks, and paint were remnants from other projects.  The drawer pulls were $2 for all four.  After taxes, this organization system cost: $29.86.  (The non-sale total would be $57.12, plus the cost of wires, eye hooks, corkboard, thumbtacks, and drawer pull screws, if you don’t have all those.)