Tutorial: Jewlery Storage Art!

My daughter has an EXTREMELY innate love of jewlery.

I certainly don't want to take that away from her.

I did want to find a way to help her STORE her jewlery.

The idea was easy access and clean up.

After brainstorming with my husband, I came up with this:
(i.e. brainstorming with my husband = me talking through my ideas so i don't feel like i am talking to myself, while he nods and continues reading his thick law book)

I was so excited about the end product, I wanted to share the steps with you!

I purchased a 12 x 24 piece of Birch Plywood because it was LITERALLY CHEAPER than a 12 x 12.

But I decided it was way bigger than I wanted.

I had my husband cut the wood in half to give me TWO 12 x 12 pieces.

The wood splintered because it is so thin, so I used sand paper to smooth everything out...

and ended up like this.

In searching for the perfect "knob" to hold the jewlery, I initially was thinking drawer knobs.

Classic and Sturdy.

The price of $2 per knob was not what I had in mind though.

I came across these Shaker Pegs at Michael's and knew they would work perfectly.

5 pegs for $1.19.

They had varrying shapes and sizes, but these 13/4 " won me over!

We created a layout of pegs and marked with a pencil.

I went back and used the LEVEL to make sure that they would be in a straight line.

Using a drill and a medium sized drill bit, I predrilled holes to prevent the wood from cracking.

Then I found the drill bit that matched the end of the peg, and redrilled all of the holes to the proper size.

The board splintered a little, so I used the sandpaper to smooth everything again.

I tested out all the holes with my pegs to ensure a TIGHT fit.

After removing all the pegs, I looked through all of my scrapbook paper until I found something I thought would work for Meredith's room. I wanted it to be something that could grow with her.


I chose this damask style paper because it mimicked the lamp shade in her room.

Since scrapbook paper is 12x12, I didn't have to trim to size.

I put a THICK coat of MOD PODGE on the wood and laid the paper down starting at the corners.
To prevent air bubbles, I let it dry for about an hour before I coated the top of the paper.

I ended up using 3 coats on the top for good measure.

While the mod podge was drying, I painted the pegs.

I poked holes in a paper plate to keep the pegs upright.

Two coats and they were beautiful and pink.

Once everything was dry, I used WOOD GLUE and coated the end of each peg before placing it in the predrilled hole.

The glue will ooze out. Use a dry cloth to wipe the excess.

Once all pegs were in place, I let dry for several hours.

I also put a thin layer of mod podge on the pegs to seal them and to give a little more sheen.

We used gorilla glue to attach the picture hanging metal to the back, so the nails would not poke through.

Once on the wall, I knew it was perfect.

It is a piece of art!

Meredith adores it.

Clean up is easier.

And Momma is happy!