Showing it off!

I don't know about you, but I have a TON of jewelry I never wear. Mostly because it is gaudy or not my style but still is beautiful in its own way. I had an elderly friend who gave me quite a bit of costume jewelry and I love it because it reminds me of her (even if I would never wear it). So I've been on the lookout for a way to showcase my jewelry and not let it hide in a box somewhere.

I've seen lots of fun shadow box designs (like this one from Martha) and was hoping to find boxes for cheep somewhere (seriously, why are frames so expensive???)

Lucky for me I was wandering through my local Goodwill and found the perfect thing! Its a shadow box that opens up so you can add things to it after it is hung (Micheals calls it a "Keepsake Float Frame"). Not only that but after I found the one at the thrift store I walked into Micheals and found the exact same one in a different size (on sale!). (I know I should have gotten a picture of them before I put it all together but I forgot)

Here they are hung up

You can see the one on the bottom has some dings but that is probably why it was on sale in the first place. Oddly enough the thrift store one was cleaner and cheaper but oh well.

To put them together I bought some pretty gold tipped pins and arranged my pretties as I saw fit. Hanging them to the wall was a bit of a challenge because you want them to be secure so I ended up hanging them and then adding command strips to the corners for extra stability.

You could probably bracket them to the wall also but I am not sure where they will end up in the long run so I didn't want to put more holes in the wall than necessary.

This is my favorite feature

Everything is neatly behind glass but you can still get to all the jewelry without taking it off the wall! In the long run I may refinish them and put some decorative fabric for backing but I like them as is right now so we will see how the room evolves.What I really love about having it all displayed is that I wear everything so much more. I've never been great at accessorizing so keeping them where I can see everything has really helped me out. And I love that my broaches are out on display finally!

Starting new with everything this could be a pretty pricey project (new these frames cost something like 30-40$ each) but you could always get cheap Ikea shadow boxes and remove the glass so you can get to your jewels.  I may do that as my collection increases but who knows. I would probably advise against putting your really expensive jewelry in there since they are pretty easy to steal (I keep my nice stuff in a different place) but if you are not worried go right ahead!