Eco Living Tips : Making an Earring Holder out of odds and ends

I have a habit of keeping little odds and ends that includes spare buttons, odd beads, bits of string, remnant stationary, etc. I’m never really sure what I’ll do with it but just can’t bear to throw it away so wantonly. So I’m going to make something out of it. All it takes is a little bit of creativity and it’s a great way to spend a leisurely Saturday afternoon.

So what am I making? An earring holder that is wall mounted!

Why am I doing this? Because I have bits and bobs of things that I’ve hoarded over time, because my earrings are overcrowding my dresser table and because I love nothing better than to repurpose things to give them a new lease of life.

What you’ll need:

• Random buttons > I have a respectable collection of buttons hoarded over a span of 20 years *laughs*. I remember sitting next to my mom as she changes the buttons of her clothes to update them and I’ll be scavenging the old buttons because it seemed a pity to throw them away. So as you can see, some of the buttons look like they are from the 70s. Well, they are! 
• Thick thread > I’m using leftover ones that’s a nice beech brown. These are typically used for cross stitch purposes. It’s a bit of a mystery why’d I have this in my drawer, I don’t do cross stitch! But they are coming in handy now. If you don’t have this type of thread, don’t fret. You could use ordinary sewing thread. Just that you would have to “bundle” them to make it thicker.
• A piece of cardboard > Any size or shape you fancy! What I have is a piece of plastic wafer cardboard roughly the size of an A3 paper. It’s leftover from some event that we did (I think). If you are using any other type of cardboard, the only criteria is that the cardboard must be lightweight (because you will be “mounting” it on the wall) and it will not be difficult to poke a needle through (because you will be doing that repeatedly!)
• Needle > Find one with a needle hole (is that what they call it?) big enough to put a thick thread through.
• A little bit of White Tack, Scissors and a Pencil.

What to do?

1. Choose your buttons. Have fun! Be creative! Choose a few different colors and slightly different sizes. Pair them up.
2. Arrange your buttons (in pairs) on the cardboard and decide how you want to lay them out. Basically you will be tying a thread between a pair of buttons and that’s where your earrings will hang from. I’ve chosen Red, Black and Neutral colored buttons and laid them out in pairs but at varying heights. That’s because I have dangly earrings of various lengths.
3. Mark the locations of the buttons with a pencil once you are happy with your layout.
4. Now sew away! No fancy stitches. Just sew like how you’d sew a button. I’m using thick thread so just 2 stiches per button. If you are using ordinary sewing thread, you might want bundle it to save you a few stitches. Link to eHow on the basics of sewing buttons.
5. Once all the buttons are sewed one, the hardest bit of effort is done. Yay! Now you can put the needle aside and do this bit by hand. Loop the thread around a button tightly and then pull across to the other button. Loop back to the first button and keep going until you have about 4-5 lines across. At the end, go round the button a few times quite tightly and cut the thread. *Important* You have to make sure the line is snug and fairly tight. Otherwise it will sag once you hang your earrings on them.
6. Do this for all the button pairs and you’re done! 
7. Now you can mount it on the wall with some White Tack. If you don’t know what White Tack is, it’s pure magic. It’s this white rubbery thingy that can be used for mounting on surfaces without leaving a mark. And it’s reusable. It’s my can’t-live-without bit of stationary. Try it.
8. Now the fun bit. Hang up your earrings! Then stand back and glow with pride that you just made this masterpiece *smiles* You can even hang your necklaces on it.

*pictures up ahead*

Isn’t it pretty? And practical too.

Like they say: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.... and I’ll add to that: Repurpose!

XOXO,

Michelle