hanging in there

My best friend went to Japan a few summers ago with her then boyfriend (he's her fiance now!) to visit his family and she brought me back a handkerchief that I loved!  It was red (favorite color) with big graphic flowers on it...just the right amount of oriental-ness and vintage-esque for me to fall in love with.  Well, I never quite knew what to do with it.  I mean, I'm not the type to carry a hankie in my purse and I certainly didn't want to mess it up.I was stuck.  So, the sweet handkerchief sat in my craft cart for a while.

Then one day a few weeks ago, a light bulb went off in my head!  I was in need of a place to hang my necklaces...they were hanging in clear thumbtacks at the time.  So, I used the handkerchief to make an awesome jewelry holder.




What you need:
Large frame
Cardboard, wood, foam board cut to the size of the opening of the frame. (use whatever material you have, my frame came with a painting in it, so I just used the canvas)
Spray Paint
Cup Hooks (less than $1 for a pack at Wal-Mart, hardware isle)
Pushpins, staple gun (I don't have a staple gun so I bought some pushpins at Wal-mart, office supply isle)
Cotton batting (stuff you put inside quilts, you can find it at any craft store, or even Wal-Mart
Spray glue (optional)

What to do:

Clean up your frame.  Mine was from a thrift store and not exactly the cleanest and most sterile looking of things!  If your frame came with something in it, take it out (this piece could be used as your backing, also) I had some spray primer left over and decided to use it...only to find that it was pretty much GONE!  (This pic is of the frame primed)

Paint your frame and let it dry while you are working on the inside of the jewelry holder.  I initially wanted to paint the frame black, but I had some Krylon spray paint in nickel and went with that instead.  I've got to say...good choice!  (By the way, Krylon is a sponsor of the DIY Club, click the charm in the sidebar or the button at the bottom of the post to head on over there)

Next I took the painting I was using for my backing and glued one layer of batting to it.  I then glued another layer of batting to it.  (I was only attaching my fabric with tacks, I don't want it to be permanent.  I glued the batting in place in case I ever decided to change the fabric.  You can skip this step if you like)

Now, lay your fabric out, right side facing down.  Place your backing on the fabric with the batting side facing down.  (From top to bottom you should have backing, batting, batting, fabric)

Once again, I chose to use tacks so that I could take the fabric off if I ever wanted to but, a staple gun would work perfectly here.  Start in the middle of one side, pull the fabric tight and tack, go to the opposite side and do the same.  Continue this with the other two sides.  I used two tacks for each corner, bring sure to tack down all the layers of the corner folds.  My frame wasn't super huge, so I just needed the middle tacked and then the corners.  However, if it make you feel more comfortable...tack that baby all over!

There you have it...your nice plush backing!  Now, onto the hooks.

I had to hold the hook where I wanted it and hammer lightly for the screw end to go through the canvas.  I then held the fabric and twisted the hook end of the cup hook.  Holding the fabric helped it not to twist as the hook did, keeping it flat.

I repeated this step until I had my six hooks.  Next, I put the backing back into the dry frame, turned it over and fell in love!!

Now, I would say that is quite the transformation!

P.S. I added a wire to hang earrings on the bottom of my jewelry holder.  Directions on how to do that can be found HERE

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The DIY Club
Fingerprints on the Fridge
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A Few of My favorite Things
Tatertots and Jello
Sew Much Ado
Under the Table and Dreaming

I Heart Nap Time
Boogie Board Cottage

Dittle Dattle
Between Naps on the Porch
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