Tutorial: Jewelry Display Board

The summer is here and it's festival season. It's time to pack up and take my show on the road. Setting up for an outdoor show presents a unique problem that I usually don't have to deal with when doing a home party... WIND! I needed a way to display my earrings, pendants, and hair accessories. Those are the things that I usually have a large quantity of and don't always need a formal display like a bust or mannequin.





I wanted something that could hold a lot of items, look nice enough to use for a home party, able to be pre-loaded for quick set up, secure enough for an outdoor fair without being blown to bits, and able to be reconfigured for anything I might want to display in whatever way I wished to display them.



I made two display boards, each using a 2' x 2' piece of plywood covered in a natural colored fleece remnant from the fabric store (stapled on the back). I put a couple of ring hooks on the back for easy hanging when needed, or I can put them on easels.

I also added "hinges" on the back by using heavy duty self-adhesive velcro strips. Laying the boards face down on the floor side by side, I took the soft half of the velcro strip, cut it in half and added each half to the back top third of each board, near the inside edge. The other half of the velcro strip (the spiky half) was left in one long strip and pressed firmly into place over the soft halves of the strip. I did the same on the bottom third of the boards. This created a hinge to hold the boards together so they would stand on their own, but made it easy enough to separate the boards for transport or to be displayed in a different manner.

I took elastic in the same natural color as the fabric on the boards and cut it to length. Since I had a 2' x 2' board and the strip needed to wrap all the way around, I cut it 44"-46". (Tip: you can make your boards any size, just cut your elastic shorter than the circumference of the board to make sure the fit is snug when stretched.) I then sewed the ends of the elastic together, creating a giant "rubber band". I slipped the bands over the board and positioned them where I wanted. Now I could load my earring cards and hang necklaces! The bands keep everything in place and can be added or removed depending on my needs.

It worked great for a home show where I had each board on a separate table set on easels. At the fair, the boards were velcro-"hinged" together. And at home, I have my boards hanging on the wall in my workroom making it easy to store my unsold pieces and new ones as I make them.

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Mary Ryan is an Artist, Jewelry Designer, and Interior Design Consultant. Please visit her on line shops at http://littlebrownbird.etsy.com , http://thelittlebrownbird.com , and http://urbanmetal.etsy.com