I am constantly on the look out for different, and more importantly, cost-effective ways to display necklaces. So one morning, I had an idea to create a necklace display with plastic reels.
I’ve collected a bunch of these plastic reels from buying cords and chains. These are reels for fishing line that I suppose the shop re-used for their supplies, so they are being re-purposed yet again!
I drilled 2 holes about 5cm horizontally apart. These are the points where I’m going to mount the reels onto the foam board with screws.
Then I gave the reels (working with total of 7 reels) a fresh coat of black paint. I believe that jewellery or any other product display should not detract too much from the actual products, so I think it’s safest to default to black-white-grey colour combos.
Spray painted my screws black as well, just to tie in the details nicely. I used a little foam block to hold the screws upright.
Then I moved on to the foam board. I used to work at a cinema as a teenager, and the amount of waste generated from event and marketing collaterals is huge! So I would periodically collect these A1-sized foam board signage, optimistic that they would come into good use in the future. And they sure did.
I measured out where I wanted the reels and pierced in the holes with an awl (super useful tool to have around; ice picks work the same). The foam board pierces through easily.
With the pierced holes ready, it’s time to mount the reels!
My pierced holes in the board is just about the diameter of the screws, so they fit pretty snugly through. I had originally planned to secure it with hex nuts on the reverse side, but pushing the screws through already provided a pretty solid grip.
The finished board with the reels all mounted! And the final piece in action at an art market:
A few finishing touches: tapered off the corners and stamped my logo.
I mounted this board on an easel, but there are definitely plenty of other ways to mount the display board. I’d love to see a hanging piece!
Overall, there are definitely many variations that can stem from this idea! I needed the lightness and mobility for this, so a foam board was a good choice. For a more permanent display, wood or acrylic would look fantastic. And I believe it could function as a utilitarian fixture at home too!
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