I bought some ¼” wooden dowels at my local craft store that I could fit hook earrings onto and cut them into sections as long as my picture frame was wide. Next, I played with the spacing of the dowels to make sure I could accommodate both long and short pairs of earrings, and marked off where I wanted the dowels positioned. Using a power drill, I was able to quickly drill holes into the frame, which I then threaded my dowel sections into. Threading the dowels into the holes will provide some strength to the dowels, so they can bear the weight of all your fabulous earrings. Now, you can paint or embellish your frame and dowels to make a jewelry display that reflects your style and personality.

What kind of crafty jewelry display ideas have you created?

Use old wooden frames for earring displays

Fit this technique to your style using different kinds of wood frames

The richness of gold vermeil with leather is an unbeatable combo

Have you been looking for a different method for using our new luscious leather cord? I was trying to find a way to hang silver dangles from the top of our Gold Vermeil Hammered Hoop Earrings without having to glue silver charms in place. After trying a few techniques I decided to tie a tight knot around the top of the hoop earring using the leather cord, and voila! It stayed put!

The fresh green kiwi color and the way the leather cord drapes looks just like a vine swaying from the arbor in my dream garden, so I poked small holes into the leather cord and suspended our cherry blossom silver charms as if they were growing there. I did apply a small amount of Ultimate glue inside the knot before pulling it taught, so I could clip the end of the leather flush to the knot.

I love the organic look of these earrings. In fact, I almost believe if I left them for a few weeks the vines would grow longer and wrap around my other jewelry, climbing upwards. The effect would be magical. I can see myself wearing them as I peruse a street fair in the spring, or to a summer barbecue.

What unusual ways have you incorporated leather cord into your jewelry?

Kris Schaible these Starfish Silver Earrings are yours!

Thank you Kris! Please contact me at juanita@ninadesigns.com to claim your prize. And, thanks to everyone for participating in our latest contest by sharing your current most favorite Nina Designs jewelry findings. Click here to read what customers shared. We’re launching another exciting contest this Friday on our blog, so check back soon. You could be our next winner!

This new earring top is a great basic addition to our collection: it’s delicate, simple, and with an forward facing open loop, we now have earring tops that will work with all jumpring scenarios! Are there other basics that you’d like to see us carry? Or do we have an existing design that you’d like to see tweaked slightly for improved performance?

With an unsoldered loop, this new earwire works great for dangles with perpendicular jumprings.

Silver earring tops with forward facing jumprings neatly complete these jade earrings. I oxidized the earrings and wire for a darker, rustic look.

My jewelry identity? 30-something hippy-ish, down-to-earth women who shop at farmer’s markets. My categories? I went real basic here: earrings vs. necklaces, then long earrings vs. short, etc. What makes my jewelry unique? Really, not much. It’s simple, delicate, and hand crafted with sterling silver and gemstones. It looks much like what you would see in local boutiques in the area. That’s why I felt a need to set it apart by emphasizing that it’s hand crafted by me, right here in the neighborhood.

Handmade Earring Card

I accomplished this by creating a “crafty” feeling in my booth. I started by making my own earring cards from card stock I tore, stamped, and pasted together. They looked great. I loved my stamp and was able to write the prices on the back of each earring card. I was really pleased with them, until the wind blew them away on my first day! I needed to come up with a solution that didn’t waste all the time and resources I already put into my earring cards.

I considered picture frames. New ones are too expensive, and older, shabbier, cooler ones would take too long to gather. Later that week, my husband was walking home from work and found an old wooden drafting table someone put on the curb with a “free” sign on it! He carried it all the way home, shored it up with a few screws, and mounted foam core board to it. Then I covered it with a rich chocolate brown fabric and green ribbons to hang my cards on. It’s just what I needed.

For me, figuring out how to display my jewelry at home or at local markets has always been a naturally evolving process where form follows function. While you definitely want your display to express your jewelry inspiration, you also want to keep practical aspects of display in mind, like weather at an outdoor market, or lights at an indoor one. My jewelry display becomes prettier, smarter, and a truer expression of my jewelry inspiration every time I sell at local farmer’s markets and craft fairs. And yours will too. So really, my best advice is to jump right in. You won’t have all the answers up front, and you’ve got to start sometime!

Drafting Table Earring Display

Earring Card Display

Design Inspiration Board

Determine your Look: I love period style jewelry therefore I have to organize my beading drawer like a museum curator would.

Get Inspired: I start with an inspiration board that displays magazine cutouts and mementos from my travels.

Get Organized: I organize my beading drawer by using plastic bins and pretty boxes and I store all my silver findings individually in a plastic baggy.

Create Themes: All my silver jewelry findings and vintage pieces are organized in themes. For example, 19th century jet spacer beads are stored in the same bin along with the our Black Garnet Gemstone Beads because they emulate a Victorian era. Old patina metal components sit alongside my sterling vermeil earring parts for a medieval theme. All my jump rings, head pins, and spacer beads are stored together so that I can easily grab the essentials when needed.

What works for you?

Drawer of Curiosities

The silversmiths in these photos are:  Wayan Narti,  Nengah Sariani, Jero Puspa, Wayan Sri Sudiari, Nina Visiting[[Show as slideshow]]