Milk Jug Necklace & Ring Display Stand/Jewelry Holder

Cost: Less than $20

Time: About 1 hour

I made this stand to make it easier to display jewelry for pictures, but it can be a great addition to any bedroom or laundry room or wherever you keep your jewels and can hold a pretty sizeable amount of items. Originally, I had planned to make this out of a water jug, but the plastic was really thin and I didn't think it would hold very well.

Step 1: Gather Supplies

TOOLS

Cutter
Glue gun

SUPPLIES

Empty milk jug
Foam sheets/rolls
Permanent Marker(s)
Glue sticks (I used about 20 small ones, they were about $1)
Bungee cord or similar article
Masking Tape

OPTIONAL

Scissors
Double sided tape

Step 2: Prep the Milk Jug

The shape of the side of the jug is ideal for a nice, wide display of the necklaces and is sturdy enough not to bend under their weight.

NOTE: Make sure that the cutter you use is sharp. The foam will become jagged if the blade is too dull.

Cut the neck off of the top of the jug at the point where it is flush with the top of the handle.
Draw line #1 the shape of the way you would like the necklace to fall along the sides of the jug in the area directly opposite from the top of the handle (I will seriously consider wording this better). Keep it a bit wide: the narrower the bottom, the less stability you will have. You can use masking tape for this and the next steps to help guide the lines. NOTE: If you make a mistake, you can use rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to remove the markings.
Draw line #2 around the bottom portion of the jug. Make this as high as you would like, but below the bottom of the handle.
Draw lines #3/4 along the back of the stand from the edge of the hole down to line #2 on the left and right sides of the handle.

Step 3: Shape and Cover the Necklace Area

This part is a little tricky but not very difficult since the stand is already in the basic shape I want it to be. I added the cord to prevent the jewelry from sliding down the sides of the stand. This will also ensure the item can be viewed in it's entirety from the front. HINT: When gluing around bends or odd shaped areas, start from the middle and work your way out, then cut down the middle of the part that sticks out and overlap them at an inconspicuous angle.

Remove the tape and cut off the ends of the bungee cord, as close to the hooks as you can.
Mark the halfway point on the cord and glue it aong line # 1 starting from the middle at the bottom. The one I used was a little too short so I used some glue to help shape the rest.
OPTIONAL. You can add double sided tape to the areas you will be covering, but you will need to use glue as well.
Glue the foam onto the area between the cord. Make sure there is foam overlapping but don't glue the flaps down.
Cut out the area under the cord between lines #2/3 and #2/4. Round off the corners if desired.
Cut off the inner layers under the flaps over the hole and glue the flaps down the inside of the stand.

Step 4: Shape and Cover the Bottom/Ring Area

This part is a little easier and you can actually stop after this step if you're not interested in covering the inside of the storage area.

Cover the bottom of the stand. Make sure the
Cut off the 90 degree joint at the top of the handle.
Cut the remaining part of the handle in half, then reverse the plastic piece and glue it back onto the handle.
Use the tape to tighten and round out the top of the ring holder. Add another piece at the base for support. NOTE: The foam will make the ring holder thicker, so make the holder a bit smaller than you need it.
Press a piece of foam onto the top of the ring holder and cut an X through the indentation.
Push the foam board at the "X" into the ring holder and glue it to the stand.
Wrap a strip of foam around the ring holder. Make sure to leave enough slack on the top to cover the hole.

Step 5: Cover the Storage Area

This final step was the most annoying and I begrudgingly gave up on aesthetics by reminding myself that real goal was to create something for my pictures. Because of this (and how awkward it was to work with the gun at this point), I didn't cover the inside 100%, but I think it looked much worse with nothing but the bare jug.

Use the trims or cut the foam into smaller pieces. Glue them onto the storage portion of the stand.
Try to use more glue between the plastic and the foam, and less glue between foam and foam. If you make sure the edges of the pieces are glued down to prevent snagging,.
Contact me if you figure out how to cover it 100% without throwing your scissors and glue gun across the room.