I knew that I wanted to make simple frame displays - and although I do like the look of a simple wire backing (such as the photo below as seen on squiddo) I knew that wouldn't work for me because I have tags on everything.
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Instead, I experimented with a foam and felt backing, which I think will work rather well. Here is what I did:
First I purchased some simple black frames from Ikea, then headed to JoAnn fabrics and picked up some photo-gray felt and some cheap pieces of foam.
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I took the plastic covering out of the frame to measure my piece of foam (remember, I said they were cheap frames - no glass here! haha) I cut the foam with an xacto knife.
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Then I used plastic sheet to measure the fabric. I left about an inch extra around all of the sides, then trimmed down 2 of the sides to be more exact, while leaving extra around the top and bottom to wrap around the edges. I did this to be able to glue the fabric to the foam, but I thought it would be too thick to fit back into the frame if I did all 4 sides.
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I trimmed the corners at a 45 degree angle to make it easier to glue and fold over the fabric edges.
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Once glued (hot glued that is - which dries almost instantly) I stuck the fabric back inside the frame and actually used that plastic sheet to go in behind the fabric to make it more sturdy. And viola! Jewelry displays assembled!
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I'm excited to see if these displays will be more effective or not. If not, I can always reuse the frames for something else - as I did save that those plastic sheets.
And there you have it - an easy, cost effective way to make your own jewelry displays.