Jewelry Holder Tutorial

I created this jewelry holder for the Dollar Store Crafts $5 or less contest. Everything is from the dollar store except my tools and the E6000 glue. I bought two bags of river rocks, but I only needed to use one and still had rocks left over.

Materials:

a slender clear glass vase 
a medium sized clear glass plate 
a bag of river rocks or flattened marbles 
a roll of craft wire
a tube of E6000 glue or equivalent
a pair of round nosed pliers
a pair of wire cutters

The first thing I did was take off all the stickers and fill up the vase with river rocks. I made sure that the rocks went all the way to the top, but not even a little bit over. If they go above the top you won't be able to get a clean attachment when you glue on the plate later. 

Next, I glued the rocks onto the plate. This was the most time consuming part of the project, both the placement and waiting for the glue to dry. I did only a few at a time because I wanted to make sure the glue didn't dry before I got to the end. Then I carefully glued it on top of the vase.

While I was waiting for the glue to dry, I bent the wire that goes around the bottom of the plate. First I measured it to about twice the circumference of the plate; you can measure along the outside of the plate if you want but I just eyeballed it. Using the round nosed pliers, bend a tight corner about two inches from the end of the wire. The wire should be folded over itself. Bend the two pieces away from each other about an inch up, and make four or five more in the same way. Turn the folds into hooks by bending them sideways into a nice hook shape. Finally, fold the two ends over each other and bend them back to make two interlocked hooks. I think the pictures are easier to understand:

Once the glue was dry I turned the whole thing upside down (carefully! It's heavy from all those rocks!) and slid the wire over the vase. I centered it and pressed it flat against the vase, then used copious amounts of glue under it and on both sides of the wire. As soon as it dries you can hang your jewelry on it! I use the top for chunky jewelry and hair clips that won't get lost among the rocks and the hooks for earrings and more delicate bracelets and necklaces.