Fabric Covered Cork Necklace Display

I used to keep my necklaces all jumbled together in a jewelry box.  Not only did this just tangle all the chains into crazy knots, but some necklaces would sink into the depths of the box and I would never wear them. 

After the millionth time of unknotting frustrating chains, I finally decided I needed a better way to store my necklaces.  I also wanted them to be displayed so that I could actually see them.  Here’s what I came up with:

It’s just cork board covered with fabric and some push pins to hold the necklaces.  Easy to make, and a great way to show off my necklaces!  And now that I can actually see them all, I find that I am wearing them more and wearing ones I had forgot I even had!  Plus I like how displaying jewelry like this makes them more like art, something to see and enjoy every day.

These are easy to make (I whipped them up in about an hour) and you can really customize this to your décor, through your fabric choice or even cutting the cork in different shapes. 

Ready to make your own?  Here’s what you need:

Corkboard Tiles:  I bought these at Michaels.  The squares are 12”X12” and I cut them into 6”X6” squares and circles.  Don’t buy the roll of corkboard because that would be too thin.

Fabric:  Pick your favorite fabrics from your stash.  You don’t need much fabric at all, just a 7”X7” square and a 7” diameter circle if you make them the same size as mine.  Obviously if you cut your cork larger you will need more fabric. 

Push Pins:  I used map pins because I liked the round tip.  Decorative push pins would be cute too.

Other:  Hot glue gun, scissors or exacto knife, nails and hammer for hanging, and of course, some beautiful necklaces to display.

Optional:  Felt to use as backing.

First step is to cut your corkboard.  You will need two layers of corkboard to make it thick enough (so that your push pin doesn’t poke all the way through).  I wanted two finished circles, so I used a container and traced four circles on one sheet of corkboard.

I also wanted two squares, so I used a ruler to square out another sheet of corkboard.

Cut the shapes using scissors or an exacto knife.  The cork is soft enough that scissors work easily. 

Once you have your shapes cut out, stick them together with the sticky tabs that came with the cork tiles, or use glue.

Now it’s time to add the fabric.  Just trace around your shape on the wrong side of the fabric, leaving about one inch of extra fabric.  Cut this out.

If you are making a circle, cut some slits in the fabric so that it will be easier to glue down without bunching.

Start gluing down the fabric, making sure to pull the fabric taut.

To finish it off I glued down a piece of felt to the back, just to tidy it up and to keep the fabric from snagging or becoming loose.  This step is optional.

That’s it!  Repeat the process for your other pieces.

Now it’s time to put in the push pins.  I couldn’t find any in the color I wanted (silver) so first I painted my push pins to get the color I wanted.

With my silver pins ready, I stuck them into the corkboard.  Try different arrangements, just make sure not to overlap the pins because then your necklaces will overlap.

Now it’s time to hang them up and put on the bling!  I hung mine up with nails; if you don’t want to put holes in your walls then sticky tabs might work if your necklaces aren’t heavy.  Most of mine are, so I wanted the displays to be sturdy.

Hang your necklaces, step back and enjoy!

I used the other circle to hang some bracelets (bracelets don’t hang as well as necklaces I have discovered).

And that’s it!  This project took me less than an hour to make and I love having all my necklaces out where I can easily see them.  No more knotted chains for me!

Thanks for reading!