Tell me how you store your stud earrings

The better part of three years ago, I wrote a post called How I store my stud earrings in which I shared a dead simple (and incredibly budget friendly) way to organize your (pierced ear style) stud and similar smaller sized earrings.

Then as now, I adore and stand behind that storage method, but as time as gone on and my stud earring collection has grown all the more (thanks in no small part to Claire's continuing, much to my delight, to expand their selection of nickel-free earring options - now, if we could only convince them to produce other types of nickel-free jewelry, like necklaces and bracelets, too! But I digress...), I've found that that approach doesn't really work for me anymore.

At least not if I'm trying to corral all of my stud earrings onto one single piece of material (too heavy/cumbersome, hard to store folded neatly in a small drawer in our en suite powder room, etc).

Last year I decided to go hunting for an alternative solution and hoped that I had found it in earring books, which I bought a few of from an overseas seller on eBay (they're virtually, if not entirely, identical looking to these ones that are available for about the same price on Amazon). I'd known about these types of handy storage books for a few years now and had really, really been itching to give them a go.

While they do certainly work well (especially for tiny sized, not-too-bulky earrings) and look pretty when lined up on a shelf, counter, dresser top or the like, if, like me, your earring collection consists of several dozen pairs, it can be tricky to organize them in the long term in a way that works well for you - or so I’ve found.

Often when I bought a new pair, I'd have to spend quite a lot of time rearranging my earrings as I like to keep similar styles together so as to easy find the ones I’m looking for when putting an outfit together (this is especially important with my collection spaced out across multiple books) and this hassle (relatively speaking, of course) just isn’t doing it for me.

I'm not talking down this storage method, or my previous one, in the slightest and both will work particularly nicely if your collection is on the small to moderate side, as well as if you're not as dead set on having them all continually perfectly arranged by themed/colour/etc in earring books at all times.



{Not only are they often lightweight and comfortable to wear, but stud style earrings frequently channel a fabulous vintage look and are ideal for yesteryear fashion fans. As such, I've amassed quite a collection of store bought and handmade (by me) pairs of the years and now need your help to find the perfect small space storage solution for them. Vintage image source.}


For now, most of mine remain in books, but this method is just not working as well as I'd like (first world problems, believe me I know ;)) and so I'm once again on the hunt for a suitable storage solution for my stud and similar styles of earrings.

A couple of points that are shaping my search are the fact that space is of an absolute premium in our little home and I need something that will take up a ton of room, as well as that, ideally, I want it to be a method that allows for new pairs to easily be added without having to spend time rearranging a lot of the existing ones over and over again.

I'm not opposed to a wall hanging solution either and have been wondering lately if such an approach (assuming the earrings were easy to get on and off, even in the middle of the board/whatever they were displayed on) might be the way to go.

Before I plunk down any more money and/or bust out the craft supplies though, I wanted to ask all of you, my lovely readers, how you store your own stud earring collection.

Plastic divided craft containers (a possible contender for my needs)? Cute trinket trays (I think my collection is too big for that to be my main storage solution)? Earring trees/similar display methods? Attached to sturdy strips of ribbon/twill/canvas? Something else entirely?

Please do tell, I'd love to hear your own approaches as well as any ideas you might have and will keep you informed as time goes on as to what I opt to decide to use (assuming I hit on the right storage method for my current needs, that is).

Many thanks in advance for your impute, my fellow earring fans!

How I store my stud earrings

A place for everything and everything in its place has always been a guiding motto in my life. I love - one might even go so far as to say "crave" - organization and delight in finding storage solutions that range from plain and practical to fun and creative for all of my collections. I like to think that the approach outlined in this post falls into both of those categories.

Like approximately 10% of the population, I'm allergic to nickel (highly allergic), which means that all of the earrings I make or buy, have to be nickel-free. At various times in my life, these have been easier to find then others, but over the years I've amassed a wonderful little collection of earrings that I can safely pop in any time, anywhere without the slightest worry of a bad case of contact dermatitis breaking out.

As my collection of stud earrings in particular grew, I began to feel like I needed a better way to store them than the perforated metal earring storage hanger I'd bought several years back from Claire's (it's very cute, don't get me wrong, and I still use it to house some of my hoop and dangle earrings, it just wasn't the most convenient method of storing multiple pairs of studs).

At first I tried stringing them onto a long strip of twill, which looked cute, but wasn't overly practical (and eventually the twill began to break down and get little holes in it and removed and replaced the earrings time and time again).

Next I tried miniature ice cube trays - an idea I recalled reading on a beauty forum some years back - the only problem was, the wee ice cube compartments were so tiny, that (even having fairly small fingers) it wasn't always easy to fish the earrings out, or to see them all at once glance (unless they'd all been arranged facing upwards).

It was while I was cross stitching one afternoon last year that the idea struck me, why not use a tightly woven cross stitch cloth or similar fabric to house my stud earrings. Scurrying to the linen closet, I found just what I was looking for in the form of a cute pale blue woven cotton napkin I'd picked up for something like a dollar at a Fabric Land clearance sale a few years back.





A couple pairs in, and I instantly knew this was the stud earring storage method I'd been searching for!

As you may recall from posts such as this one, I've always been keen on organizing things in a rainbow pattern, which I did with some of the types of stud earrings that I have here. All of them were grouped like with like, regardless of colour, and are instantly visible (and super easily accessible) at a glance.





This woven napkin measures about 14 inches x 10 inches and even with quite a few pairs of earrings on it, still still plenty of room for my collection to grow and expand, as  you can see (and should it ever blossom beyond this napkin, I'll just start a second one).

When not in use, I fold the napkin into quarters (it could just as easily be rolled as well) and tuck into a tiny drawer in the counter of our en suite bathroom, where it takes up about the same about of space as a small stack of folded handkerchiefs at most (it's also super lightweight, which makes it an ideal way to take my stud earring collection with me while traveling).





I know that many of you love to collect and wear stud earrings as well, so I thought it was high time I shared this wildly easy, incredibly inexpensive, and massively quick (you can't beat that trio!) method of storing smaller sized earrings.

You could also use a woven fabric like this for dangly earrings as well, just be careful to space them out so that they aren't as prone to tangling, if you're planning on folding or rolling your napkin or piece of cross stitch fabric up.




As mentioned above, I still use my perforated metal earring storage hanger (pictured above), these days, however I reserve it for dangly and hoop earrings, as well as a a few necklaces and one of my favourite floral brooch/hair clips (which you may recall from this spring 2012 apple orchard outfit post).

If you've been trying to find the ideal approach to storing your stud and smaller sized earrings, I encourage you try this woven cloth method out. You could always take things a step further and attach some pretty ribbon, lace, sturdy rickrack, or seam bidding to the top of your fabric as well and then hang it as a decorative (and highly functional) way of displaying your earrings on a wall or the inside of a wardrobe/closet door as well.

So at long last my collection finally has a proper place when it can be seen and utilized in a glance, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Here’s to the hope that you enjoy many years of happy earring collecting and well organized storage now, too!