Vintage Frame Earring Holder

Easily my most popular Item and the one I make most often is the earring holder. While I can’t say that I invented it, I did Invent the Signature look I put on them. I had seen similar finishes on factory made pieces but it just looked fake. I wanted it to look more like the older items you would see at your local salvage yard, than like it was fresh off the assembly line. They key essential is that the Frames ARE actually old, they just typically have no paint at all let alone several layers.

I picked this frame up at a yard sale this summer. (A Great place for my vintage finds) It had no finish on it, just plain wood. A few years ago when we bought our house my wife found some old paints in the basement. She mixed Several together and came up with a really cool dark teal that soon became known as "the downstairs bathroom color" That is only because its the color we painted the downstairs bathroom... In case you didn’t catch that.

So I found what was left of her mixture and thought it would be a great top coat for an earring frame. I had previously done some in a lighter teal and since it was my first ever sale I thought I would go with teal again but darker this time.

I first painted a very light pink. It is actually the color of the walls in my wife's studio It made a great base coat and there happened to be plenty left over. I let it dry completely then paint over it with the Teal I mentioned.

Then I add my little touch. The whole reason I document the process is to show that I did in fact create the finish. I like to try to make it look as natural as possible, yet its actually brand new (the finish, not the frame) Using new frames would be easier, but with a slogan like “Giving new life to vintage finds” it wouldn’t really work out.

The Screen I actually get in rolls and cut to length, this is a bit tricky because I staple it to the frame. First I need to make sure that it is tight all the way around, without wrinkles. Then I need to cut it as close to length as possible while still leaving enough to fold over. I like to hide the staples and also want to tuck any shards of screen away so as not to have them poking my customers. I have on many occasions stabbed myself with the screen ends, however: to date I have never bled on a frame .

After the screen is all attached its ready to go. This one is listed in my etsy shop