Hanging Jewelry Board

After my success making my own french memo boards, I decided to use a similar technique to make a board for Cavegirl to hang her necklaces, bracelets, and hair elastics on. She has a decent amount, but she rarely wears any of  them. My theory is that it's because she can never FIND them. A pretty, convenient display would not only get more bling into the rotation, but would, perhaps, keep me from finding her jewelry in odd places (all over the floor, under her bed, in her clothes hamper, etc.)

For this project:

12 x 6 inch plywood (I used 1/2 inch thick)
Scrap fabric that is about 15 x 8
Picture hanger
Small hooks (I used white cup hooks I found on ebay)
Piece of paper or cardboard cut to the size of your board.
Heavy duty stapler
Awl (or another pointy object capable of pushing a similar sized hole into a piece of fabric)
Duct or masking tape

I had several misfires on this project so I am not going to tell you how I would do it, but how I would do it if I did it again.

Put your paper or cardboard over the board and line it up with the edges.  Tape in place. You are making a template of where the holes are going to be so you can find them again later once the fabric is on. Drill your holes through the template and into the board. Use a bit as close in size to the screw portion of your hooks as possible. I chose to put two holes across the top and two across the bottom, staggered. (see photo at the bottom of post). You can also put them coming out from the bottom, if you wish. I might add those on later.

Remove your template and attach your fabric. Unlike the french memo boards, I don't recommend using batting. It will make putting the hooks in difficult. Use the wrapping strategy discussed here to wrap the fabric around your board and staple it in place.

Put your template back on top of your board, line it up, and tape in place. Use the awl to poke a hole through the template, fabric, and into the pre-drilled hole in your plywood. It only has to be big enough to insert the screw part of your hook. Be careful not to tear the fabric more than just making a small hole. Do this for each hole.

Attach your picture hanger to the back.

Screw in your hooks. If they seem a little loose, you can use a tiny bit of glue to hold them in place. Try to avoid glue if you can, because you run the risk of getting it on your fabric.

Hang on your wall, fill it with bling, and admire!