Mini DIY jewelry holders you can make in 30 minutes

There’s something glamorous about displaying jewelry on little trays on top of your dresser or bathroom counter. Creating these opulent little jewelry trays will take you back to your grade school days of modeling clay and paint, and they only take about a half hour to make. You’ll be proud to gift these to a new bride, as a hostess gift for holiday parties, as a simple little stocking stuffer or to keep for yourself as a catch-all for your little treasures.

Supplies:

• Oven bake clay (I used Sculpey and Fimo brands)
• Cookie cutters in desired shapes, or glassware for cutting rounds
• Permanent metallic paint pen
• Rolling pin or piece of pipe

Directions:

Step 1:

Working with one color at a time, roll out your clay block about 1/4-inch thick.

Step 2:

Cut with a cookie cutter. I really loved my vintage crimped edge cookie cutter for this project because it gave a neat little rounded shape to my trays. If you’d like to stamp a design into the clay, now is the time. I used a crocheted doily to make a printed pattern in my pink heart, but you can use any stamp to create a design as well. A monogram or floral stamp would be pretty cool.

Step 3:

Bend the edges of each tray upwards, being careful not to make scratches in the clay with your fingernails.

Step 4:

I decided to make a couple of heart-shaped pieces, but had such a hard time bending the edges up I consented to turning them into hanging tags instead, so they needed a hanging hole, which I made with a toothpick. Be sure and make it large enough to slip twine or a ribbon through.

Step 5:

Blend your leftover scraps of clay together to make some tie-dye patterns — these actually turned out to be my favorites! Bake according to directions. Mine didn’t include any, but Google told me to bake at 220 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Step 6:

Let them cool completely before handling, as they come out of the oven still pliable. Decorate with a permanent metallic paint pen (I used gold) tracing around the edges, drawing a monogram or some of my Kate Spade-inspired polka dots. Geometrics would be fun too — triangles, arrows or even random lines.