Since DIY jewelry is one of my favorite things to make, it’s not surprising that I have a big collection to organize. While I’ve shared my solutions for DIY earring storage and necklace storage, I’ve neglected bracelet storage. You could store some types of bracelets on the necklace racks I made, but not the cuffs. So before I leave the world of jewelry storage for a while, I’m sharing how I made an upcycled DIY bracelet storage display bar. It also works for storing watches!

I started with a bracelet storage bar tutorial from I Heart Organizing, but modified it a bit. The biggest change was that I used a marble trophy base for the bottom. You can find an old trophy at a thrift store or garage sale pretty easily (I think I actually got mine at SCRAP PDX). Before you buy it, check the bottom to see whether you can see the screw that holds the trophy figure in place. Give the engraved plate on the front a little tug to see how securely attached it is. All of the ones I’ve found have been pretty easy to disassemble with pliers and/or a screwdriver, and they shouldn’t cost more than a few bucks each.

Once you’ve disassembled the base, take it with you when you go to buy a dowel. You want one that fits the hole in the marble as snugly as possible.

When you have a base, wait for a paper towel cardboard tube to become available (or raid the recycling bin). One time, when I was a kid, I saw a project that used a toilet paper tube, but I didn’t have one, so I decided to just unroll a full roll of toilet paper. I made a big mess, and wasted a lot of toilet paper. Be more patient than I was, ha!

DIY Bracelet Storage Display Bar

Materials

Paper towel tube
Marble trophy base with one hole
Dowel that fits the hole
Fabric
Felt (optional)
Hot glue
Batting
Paint
Craft glue
Thin cardboard, like from a cereal or cracker box
Painter’s tape

Tools

Scissors
X-acto knife
Pen
Ruler
Saw

Steps

1. Cut a piece of batting a few inches wide and the length of your paper towel tube, roll it up, and shove it into the tube. You want it to be quite snug.

2. Trace around the cardboard tube end on the cardboard twice, and cut out two small circles. Cut a piece of the outer fabric in a larger circle, wrap the fabric around it, and glue the edges in place on the back with hot glue.

3. Depending on your fabric, you may be able to skip this step. The faux leather fabric I wanted to use for the outside of the bracelet display bar showed the spiral marks on the cardboard tube when I wrapped it around the tube as a test, so I decided to first cover it with a layer of felt.  Cut a piece of felt the length of the tube, wrap it around the tube, and cut it so that it fits around the tube. I cut mine so that it didn’t overlap. Glue it in place with craft glue.

4. Do the same as you did above with the felt, but with your outer fabric, and cut it so that it overlaps slightly at the ends. Glue it on top of the felt. In retrospect, I should have spread my glue out to avoid lumpiness.

5. While the glue on the tube is drying, cut a dowel to 6 inches, and glue it into the hole in the trophy base with hot glue.

6. Tape off the marble base, and paint the wood dowel. I used white spray paint. Let the paint dry.

7. While the paint is drying, glue the fabric-covered circles to the ends of the tube.

8. Measure and mark the center of the fabric-covered tube, then cut a small X shape and push in the dowel to make sure it fits. Remove it, squirt in a bunch of hot glue, and put the dowel back in.