An old frame and chicken wire upcycled into a jewelry hanger!
I’ve been holding on to this frame since 2013. It used to be attached to this old dresser, though it was clear that it did NOT belong there and literally fell off into my hands. It used to hold a spectacular old mirror that was in tremendously bad shape and though I tried very hard to save it the shattering was just too deep so I donated it to my wonderful aunt for her mosaics. I’ve seen many jewelry hangers online made out chicken wire and it didn’t take me long to put two and two together. I have a jewelry box (like most girls) but like with any box everything in it gets all tangled up together and I’ve been wanting a jewelry hanger ever since I made my mom hers out of a mirror. So, I got to work!
(Have you had a chance to check out DIYIdeacenter.com yet? I love them! It has become my new DIY favorite online hangout and, as of December 2016, it is in second place for referrals to my site just after Pinterest!)
The frame was in four pieces but by some kind of miracle I had not lost any of them. I took it downstairs to my workshop, washed every piece thoroughly (no I wouldn’t normally use water but this frame was so covered with dust it was literally like a nasty second skin) and then I grabbed all of my clamps. With some wood glue and another little piece of wood added to the back for extra support I was able to get the whole frame glued and clamped together.
From there I flipped it over and added several 1″ brad nails around it before carefully removing the clamps. Phew! It worked! I added a couple more brads to be safe and was quite happy that it didn’t fall a part.
Here’s the thing, normally I would have sanded this down and stained it but the wood details were FAR too delicate and I hated how dark it was, seemed like all those pretty little details were just lost. So, I put two coats of white paint on it first and then I did a little very light and very careful sanding. A note here, when it comes to all those little details I knew I needed to be extra wary with the paint (I most certainly did not want to drown it!) so I used very little paint at a time – my brush was very dry throughout the process.
Next I cut the chicken wire to fit into the frame and carefully stapled it down. (Yeah, I know I keep using the word “carefully” but everything about this frame seemed REALLY delicate to me, I am still shocked that I didn’t break any of those petals off of that pretty detail.) Strangely enough I couldn’t find any old chicken wire so I ended up buying some new stuff as a last resort so, oh well!
I hung it up by my side of the bed in my master bedroom and covered the whole thing with all of my favorite dangly earrings! Can you tell I’m kinda stoked about this? I’m excited! I’ve never had a jewelry hanger before ๐ This was a pretty simple project that would work with just about any kind of frame. Lots of the DIY jewelry hangers I’ve seen on Pinterest use chicken wire and old window frames!
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I’m Tarah!
It’s been a hell of a ride since I started this blog and renovated and moved into this old farm house back in 2015. I got married, divorced, lost my doggo soul mate, spent two years as a single gal, remodeled everything, threw my back out countless times and was even found by an amazing guy in my own backyard! (The story behind Storyhardt Farm.)
Around here we’re totally fearless when it comes to bettering our home. We love to refinish old furniture, re-purpose old pieces, build it from scratch and totally renovate anything that needs it! If we can do it – so can you. We’ve got some serious plans for this old farm and, for first time ever, I have a real partner!
This is gonna be so much fun!
You can also find out more about the amazing Grandma behind this blog who moved in to this old farmhouse with my Grandpa nearly 70 years ago!
Fabulous! I made a similar jewelry hanger for myself from an old frame I found in the attic when we cleaned out my late in-laws home. The frame was an old gesso frame that was gold it had some chipped spots that I touched up with gold leaf paint and I used ordinary screen wire that I lightly sprayed with gold paint. I hung all my dangly earrings on it & was even able to hang my hoop earrings on it by making some hooks that hook into the wire. It’s so much easier having them displayed out this way rather than looking through your jewelry boxes.
Oh Ann, that sounds beautiful! I love having all my jewelry out now, no more digging through my box trying to untangle the earrings I want etc. Literally I discovered jewelry I totally forgot about when I put this together!
Oh Tarah, this is gorgeous! ๐ I can relate to feeling like you had to treat this frame super delicately. ๐
I would love to take that dry white brush technique to the chicken wire also. ๐ REALLY make it pop against the walls. ๐
Thank you for the inspiration and great tutorial.
I nearly forgot!! Thanks for telling me about DIYIdeacenter.com !!!
Thank you Christina!
Great job saving that lovely wood ๐
Thank you Nancy!
Stunning project, Tarah! I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while and now I can because you’ve given excellent instructions. You are one handy gal, that’s for sure ๐ Thanks so much for linking up with Vintage Charm, and Happy New Year!!
Thank you Diana! I’m so excited to have somewhere pretty to keep all of my earrings!
Great way to salvage an old mirror frame and turn it into something so useful. Pinned to share ๐
Thank you Marie!
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY party!
Thank you Helen!
Turned out so cute!
Thank you!!
I have seen lots of these but none so big and with such a pretty frame. Tarah it almost makes you want to go out and buy more earrings just to hang them on.
Hey Mary, exactly! As soon as I hung it up I had the panicked thought of, “Oh no I don’t know if I have enough pretty jewelry for this! Darn it I might have to go get some more!” Thanks for coming by ๐
I have one of these hanging in my walk in closet, but my frame isn’t nearly as cute as yours. Love it!! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Thanks so much Jann!
You did such a fabulous job saving the frame and all those little details Tarah. It looks sooooo amazing against the wall. Beautiful
Thank you Michelle!
This is so beautiful! Pinned it:)
Thank you so much Sara!
It’s amazing how you brought that frame back to life! Love it! Thanks for sharing with us at Funtastic Friday Tarah!
Thank you Angie! This is definitely one of my all time favorite projects!
Obsessed! Pinning this and hoping I can come up with something half as good as this!
#happynowlinkup
Thank you!! I’m obsessed with it too – I just love it!
Such a great idea. Love how you can add all your earring on this.
Thanks for sharing at Creative Mondays last week. You are one of my features this week ๐
Thank you so much Claire!!
Very clever! I love how it came out! You always have such creative ideas! ๐ Thank you for sharing with us on the Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth!
Thank you Jes!
This is fantastic! I love that you were able to transform that amazing old mirror into something new! Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday; I’m featuring your project in my round-up for this week’s party, which goes live tonight!
Thank you so much Emily!!
Wow, Tarah! So pretty and imaginative — and useful too! This project has it all! Well done!
Catherine
Thank you so much Catherine!
‘love, love, LOVE this project! Thank you for sharing at Tuesdays with a Twist! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Thank you Marci!!
This is absolutely gorgeous! I’ve seen it done with fabric behind the wire as well. Definitely going to be adding this to my to-do list finally but finding a frame to rival yours is going to be tough!
Hey Trudy, I was SO excited when this turned out, it was really easy to do! Thanks for coming by!
This is so cute!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks Jess!
One of the prettiest wall jewelry holders I’ve seen. Love the frame! Visiting from Tutorials and Tips party.
Thanks so much Victoria!
What great results and well worth all the effort
Thank you Lynn!!
Well I just love this idea ..its looks beautiful! Great way to upcycle!
Thank you!!
Fun! Both my girls are staring over my shoulder asking me to make them each one ๐ Thanks for the upcycle idea. Visiting from Family Joy Blog Linkup
Hope, I totally get it, I wish I had made myself one a long time ago, love that I have everything all hung up and safe ๐
This is amazing! You make it look so easy ๐
Thank you!!
What a genius idea to use chicken wire to hang jewelry! I’ve never worked with wood before like that so I might have To try it one day!
Thanks Ariel!
This is gorgeous! I love the contrast of the frame against the darker wall! ๐
I’d like to invite you to share this at the Farmhouse Friday link party. I will share it with a direct link back to your post on all my social media, including on the DIY Farmhouse Style Facebook group. The link party opens Friday morning at 6am PST. I hope to see you there!
Thanks Michelle!
That looks wonderful… It is a decoration all its own.
Thank you!
This beautiful post is a HOME feature on the January You’re the STAR blog hop: http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/2018/01/youre-star-week4-home-january-2018.html
Thanks
Angie
Oh Angie, thank you so much!!!
You did an amazing job restoring the frame. It makes a great focal point in the bedroom.
Thank you so much Debra, have a great week!
thanks you for very nice it’s sharing.
Thanks!
Thanks you for very nice sharing. I read this article very useful and interesting. Thanks you
Thanks for coming by!
Lovely against the dark wall! One of the most striking frame holders I’ve ever seen. I like the way you keep it simple! I use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire because it looks neater to me. It’s square and the spaces are smaller. I put a bracelet bar at the bottom; I also make all the jewelry. I use vintage beads and make my own findings because that keeps the costs down. Vintage beads are expensive! I specialize in earrings, ladies!
Thank you Susan! I used chicken wire because it was so popular for projects like this when I made this but honestly I would have preferred something else. I had no idea chicken wire was so hard to wrestle with! Thank you for coming by and checking it out!