Jewelry is one of those things that’s out of sight, out of mind for me. When my stud earrings are tucked away in drawers, they don’t get worn much. So I decided mine needed a rack. I went through a bunch of ideas (and even made a totally different one), before I hit on the idea to make my DIY stud earring rack wall-mounted. Once I figured out the plan, it came together really easily, and now my stud earrings are organized but accessible.

I actually have more stud earrings than I’ve shown here, but even if you have a lot, this rack will hold up to 45 pairs. Or if you have even more than that, you could easily make it bigger (just add length) to hold them all.

Make a DIY Stud Earring Rack

Materials:

Hole template – Print full size, centered
Plywood sheet, 1/8″ thick – I bought mine at Michaels, but it was similar to this plywood.
Square wood dowel, 1/2″ square by 36″ long
Screw eyehooks
Sturdy chain, about 10 inches
Jump rings or split rings (optional)
Masking tape
Wood glue – I used Gorilla Wood Glue.
Wood sealer – I used Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane.
Sandpaper, 220 grit

Tools:

Jigsaw
Jigsaw blades – I used Bosch 101AO blades made for plywood.
Drill
1/16″ drill bit
Needle-nose pliers
Clamps
Brush
Pencil
Measuring tape
Sanding block
Rag or tack cloth
Printer

Steps

1. Measure and mark a 9″ by 12″ rectangle on the plywood. On the backside, tape over the lines where you’ll be cutting. This will help minimize splintering. Cut out your rectangle with the front side up, so that if you do have any splitering, it’s more likely to be on the back.

2. Center the template on the front of the plywood, 1/2″ from the short edges, and tape in place. Drill the earring holes. There are a couple of things you can do to minimize splintering: Use a sharp, brand-new drill bit, tape over the back of the piece, and/or clamp it down to a hard surface that you can drill into.

3. Cut two pieces of the square dowel, each 9″ long.

4. Line up each dowel piece so the side of the dowel farthest from the edge is 7/8″ from the short edge of the plywood. Spread wood glue on one side of each dowel, and glue in place. Clamp for the time recommended by your glue, and allow it to dry.

5. Sand the plywood until it’s nice and smooth. Wipe away the dust with a rag or tack cloth.

6. Brush on a coat of wood sealer over the whole piece. Let it dry the recommended time, then apply another layer. (Or follow whatever directions are on your sealer.)

7. Open the link at one end of the 10″ piece of chain you’re using, and attach it to an eye hook. Or, if you can’t open the links of your chain, attach the eye hook with a sturdy jump ring or split ring.

8. Drill pilot holes in the wood dowel attached to what will be the top side of the rack. Screw the eye hooks into those holes.


9. Straighten the chain out, open the link at the other end, and attach it to the other eye hook (or use the jump rings or split rings).

Add your earrings, and hang up your new stud earring rack on a nail or cup hook.