At some point during my holiday shopping, I spotted a lovely small iron tree, designed to hold delicate baubles. It was super cute, but also super expensive. Even though I have been looking for something to help me with my tangled mess of a jewelry drawer, I thought I could turn it into a DIY project of some sort. Feel better about the expense, perhaps find a better storage solution, and take a little pride in what I created. Below is the result, and the step by step for the fast and inexpensive process.

Materials you’ll need: branches or twigs; spray paint; Plaster of Paris; containers; moss (if desired).

I opted for hydrangea twigs (from a variation that has thicker stems) to use as the “trees” because they were more varied and interesting looking than any tree branches I had as options.

To paint the twigs, I inserted them into some previously used floral foam and stood them in a cardboard box that I placed on its side, to serve as a “spray booth.” That way I could turn it at its base and spray all at once to save time.
Over a decade ago my mom loaned me about 30 of these coffee cups to use for a dinner I was hosting of women attorneys from the law firm at which I worked at the time. Although I’ve never asked my mom, I think it’s a good guess that once you loan out 30 coffee cups, you realize you don’t really need them. And that you certainly don’t want to store them again. So I’ve been keeping them, but I can’t for the life of me think of an instance where I will be serving 30 people coffee in the near future. So I felt alright using them for this purpose, as I wasn’t exactly sure how or where I wanted to display the trees. Having a low, good looking container would be the most versatile option.
After mixing the Plaster of Paris I inserted the twigs, waited for the twigs to set, placed moss around the bottom for added interest, and got busy picking jewelry I wanted to hang.
Jewelry storage/display like this is ideal for delicate items such as my pendant necklaces with the kids’ initials. They always get tangled if in a drawer, or even when hanging with other necklaces. It also helps me if I display items similar in shape or finish in this fashion, as often I’m frantically digging through earrings in a rush in the morning, trying to find the second in a pair.

Reality Check. I was working with the Plaster of Paris the other night and mixed up the proportions with the first batch (I used 2 parts water, one part Plaster of Paris instead of the other way around). Without thinking, I dumped it down the kitchen drain. I dumped plaster, which hardens into a mold with water and time, into our kitchen drain. I think it’s okay, but I was a little freaked.