Storage fix for earring collectors

During the Eighties, huge shoulder pads were fashionable. They minimized your hips and made you look fit, or at least tense. The downside was that your shoulder pads often migrated uncontrollably, much like the hump on Igor's back in Mel Brooks' classic art film, Young Frankenstein.

Another downside to shoulder pads was looking like we had been born without necks.

But the fashion industry had a solution: vast pendulous earrings, which hung down slightly in front of the shoulder pads. If you stuck your chin out with the right degree of insouciance, you could give the impression (in addition to looking small-hipped and tense) of having an elegant, extended neck somewhere underneath all the padding.

Ear and Now

The Eighties was a decade when it seemed sensible to turn sideways to get through a door, when enormous eyeglasses, big hair and giant metallic purses made massive earrings seem necessary, even hot.

My point, which I'm quickly coming to, is that today's earrings are no longer the size of a satellite dish, so why not build a quick storage rack to keep them sorted, handy and out of the toilet (long story, don't ask)?

In addition to being easy to build, this rack is also cheap compared to say, a gazebo-sized kiosk for Eighties earrings.

My friend Sue invented this design as a fixed frame screwed to her closet door. Her only problem was that earrings with 'posts' (as opposed to hooks) had to be stored separately. I've tackled this design issue by hinging the frame, so you can open it up to get post earrings on and off the rack.

Materials

• A used picture frame
• Bug screen or 'hardware cloth' (TIP: Sue used spray paint to change the dull grey of welded wire hardware cloth to a sassy gold finish. I went with copper mesh, bought from an industrial wire-goods supplier.)
• Hinges
• A cabinet knob
• 1/4-inch wide quarter-round trim
• Power Grab or carpenter's glue
• Magnet and washer (optional)

Tools

• Pencil
• Tape measure
• Tin snips
• A handsaw and mitre box (or power mitre saw)
• Screwdriver
• Level
• Drill and bits
• Level

From Ear to Eternity

1. Remove glass and matting from picture frame.
2. Cut a piece of bug screen or welded wire 'hardware cloth' and press it to fit inside the back of the picture frame.
3. Secure the screening material in place by cutting wooden trim, then gluing and clamping it to the frame. TIP: You can also use window-glazing points to secure the screening material to the frame, or even a staple gun or a hot glue gun.
4. Mark, pre-drill and install the hinges on the picture frame. TIP: Mark the depth of the screw with a bit of masking tape so you drill to the correct depth.
5. Use a screwdriver to drive the screws; it's easy to strip them with a power drill/driver.
6. Pre-drill and install the cabinet knob on the front of the unit.
7. Mark the position for the rack on the surface you've chosen. Use a level to ensure that the frame is plumb.
8. Pre-drill and install the hinge screws on the mounting surface.
9. Add a small magnet (optional) to the frame so the door will stay closed against the mounting surface. (If you install a magnet you'll also need to screw a small washer onto the mounting surface so the magnet has something to cling to.)
10. Load that baby with auricular ornamentation.