DIY Framed Jewelry Organizer

I'm here today with another fun and quick crafty tutorial for you all.  You guys know how much I love organizing, and how much I love crafting.  So a project that combines those two just makes my heart skip a beat.  Today's tutorial is one of those projects, which will help organize your jewelry and get your craft on at the same time!

My jewelry has been out of control pretty much since we moved into our new apartment.  I don't know why, but it seems like it has just multiplied since then.  And despite the fact that I have three jewelry boxes and a tray for frequently worn jewelry, I still felt like my jewelry was out of control.

In an effort to get things under control, I did a major jewelry purge about a month ago.  We're talking finally getting rid of my millions of Claire's earrings that I got back in elementary school.  My name is Merrit, and I am a 'collector' (as I like to put it).  So once I got rid of all the jewelry I really didn't need to hold onto anymore, I still found myself with extra necklaces and earrings cluttering up my vanity, with no real place to put them.  These were mostly larger pieces that didn't really fit into my jewelry boxes.

So when my sister suggested that the girls in our family get together for a craft day and make framed jewelry organizers, I was all on board.  I had seen this idea a million times on Pinterest, but never really had the space to put one in my previous apartment.  With all the wall space I'm floating in with this new place, it was the perfect time to make a framed jewelry organizer to get my jewelry up and off my vanity.

The first thing that needed to get done was heading to Michael's and gathering supplies.  I had a general idea of how I wanted my jewelry organizer to look, so I picked up the following supplies:

Note: This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase one of the products I recommend using these links, I will make a teeny, tiny commission.  This will not cost you anything additional to your purchase.

• Foam core poster board
• Unfinished wooden frame
• Decorative scrapbooking paper
• Ribbon
• Mod Podge
• Craft paint (not pictured)
• X-acto knife
• Paint brushes
• Tacky Glue (not pictured)

First thing I did was cut the foam core poster board down to size.  This was going to serve at the background of my frame, so I wanted it to fill the opening of my frame.  I cut the poster board slightly larger than the frame opening, so that I could adhere it to the back of my frame once everything was ready.

Once my poster board was cut, the next thing I needed to tackle was attaching my patterned paper to the board.   Since my board and frame opening were larger than the standard 12x12in size of scrapbooking paper, I was going to use two pieces to cover my board.  This meant I had to cut down one of the pieces of paper, and then make sure the patterns would like up once I adhered the two pages.

When planning out how I was going to lay out my paper, I wasn't too concerned about covering the edges of my poster board, since the edges would eventually be covered by the frame.  I simply made sure (by laying the frame on top of the paper on top of the poster board) that the visual areas would be covered by my paper.

Once I had my paper cut to the sizes I would need, I could glue it down using Mod Podge.  This was my first time using Mod Podge, so it was pretty much trial and error for me.  Gluing one piece of patterned paper at a time, I used a larger paint brush to apply even coats across the poster board.  Once the area was coated, I laid my paper down being sure to smooth it onto the poster board as I went, to avoid bubbles... which in reality, did not work perfectly.

In hind site, I should have Mod Podged smaller areas at a time.  This is because I found that by the time I covered the entire 12x12in area for my full piece of patterned paper, the beginning would be dry. Since I didn't really know what I was doing, I added thicker layers of glue to areas that had dried.  This resulted in wet and bubbly paper once adhered.  I smoothed out the bubbles as much as I could, but in the end had to accept imperfection and move on.

Once the paper was attached to the board, I let it sit for about 10 minutes to dry.  I'm not sure what the recommended time for setting Mod Podge is, but my board seemed completely dry after that 10 minutes.  So I moved on to the second coat, which would be applied over top the patterned paper.  I made sure to do a light layer this time, to avoid additional bubbling of my paper.

While the second layer of Mod Podge dried, it was time to paint my frame.  I started by lightly sanding the entire thing, to get rid of any splinters or rough patches of wood, and prepare my frame for painting.  I then used white craft paint and a brush to do two coats of paint, with drying time in between them.

While my frame was drying, I turned my attention back to the board.  It was time to attach the ribbons which would be holding up my jewelry once all was said and done.  Since my goal was to store larger jewelry pieces on this organizer, I opted to include only two ribbons.  Depending on your needs you could add more, or use less, whatever you like.

I first cut two pieces to size, making them about equal in length, and slightly longer than the width of my board.  I then laid the pieces across my board to plan out their approximate placement.  Once I had my placement nailed down, I wrapped the ribbon around the poster board, and attached the ends to the back using tacky glue.

Since these ribbons would be holding fairly heavy jewelry, I really wanted them to be secure, so I also added some tacky glue under the ribbons on the front edges of the board.  This areas would be covered by the frame anyway, and gave the ribbons a little extra strength to hold the weight of the jewelry.

Once the ribbons were attached, and the glue was dried, it was time to put the whole thing together!  I attached my painted frame on top of my poster board using more tacky glue.  Since the frame and poster board were both very light, tacky glue was enough for my organizer (if you're using heavier materials, or will be hanging particularly heavy jewelry, you may want to consider a stronger glue).  I attached some ribbon to the picture hangers included on the frame, and hung up my completed framed jewelry organizer!

I absolutely love my new jewelry organizer, and am so excited to finally get my big pieces up off my vanity.  I am a big believer that everything should have a place, so it thrills me to no end that my larger necklaces and earrings now have a dedicated 'spot' where they belong.

I hang bracelets and larger earrings on the top ribbon.

And I hang larger necklaces from the bottom ribbon.

And since I can't just stop at one project, hanging up my jewelry organizer prompted me to set up a whole girly 'station' within the bedroom.  I included a mirror for quick checkups when I put my jewelry on for the day.  I also included my frequently worn jewelry tray, and a few decorative pieces.  I'm sure this space will evolve as I use it more, but I am just smitten with this little area of the wall at the moment.

Anyone else doing some crafty organization projects lately?  Has anyone else had a project that dominoed into another project, like my new girl station?  Who else has made a framed jewelry organizer that would like to share it with the rest of us?  Link it up in the comments so we can see how versatile this project is, and the endless number of ways it can be personalized to fit your needs!  Any other superstar tips for keeping jewelry organized?  I'm all ears!