5 Ways to Upcycle Thrift Store Finds for Jewelry Displays

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You never know what treasures you’ll discover at your local thrift store. It takes time to browse with an open mind, but you can make creative displays while saving money. I spent less than $10 on a variety of vintage books, postcards, and interesting home décor to transform into creative jewelry displays for my art jewelry collection.

Above: Retail displays created from thrifted items.

These ideas would also make eye-catching retail displays for selling your own handmade jewelry.

Jewelry Displays from Thrifted Books

If your local library has a Friends of the Library book sale, it’s a great place to pick up interesting-looking books for a few dollars or less.

There are so many ways to bend and fold the pages that you can customize the pages to best accommodate your rings. Since my rings are larger, I bent the pages in large round folds. If you want to use a book as a permanent display, it makes sense to glue the pages in place.

Altered books were once one of my crafting passions. Once you get over the fear of cutting into the pages, it’s fun to cut niches and decorate the pages. I used a glue stick to adhere about a half-inch worth of pages together, then used a business card as the template to cut through the pages with a sharp craft knife. This would also make a creative gift box.

This simple thrifted-book display idea works equally well with one hardcover book or a collection. Attach a paper pocket or small greeting card to the front of a book, then you can replace the necklace if necessary. Books with simple covers make good showcases for jewelry and torn or deckle edges have extra vintage style.

Jewelry Displays from the Kitchen Section

The kitchen area is full of treasures ripe for repurposing.

Sometimes it just means looking at the array in a different way. I dug through a pile of wire racks to find this one. This wall-mounted wrought iron is meant to hold saucers on the shelves above and cups on the hooks below. But I had a feeling that postcards would fit in place of saucers. I envision necklaces or bracelets suspended from below.

Be sure to include placemats, chargers, and other home décor in your search for thrift store displays. They provide interesting backgrounds, whether you hang them on the wall or create tabletop vignettes. Textiles, baskets, canvas prints, and other gently used items make it easy to breathe new life into your jewelry displays.

Related: Easy Thrift Store Jewelry Updates

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Do you use thrift store finds in your home or jewelry studio? We’d love to see pix! Tag Jewelry Making Daily on Facebook or share your ideas in the comments below.

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More Ideas for Thrifty Crafting