Jewelry Organization Part 2: Shhh...it's a secret (shadowbox)

Have you ever woken up one morning and wished that you were the love-child of James Bond and Elizabeth Taylor?  Oh, you too?  Then keep reading y'all because this storage solution will give you an uber top-secret hiding spot for your precious, sparkly baubles!

Since I had decided on concealed storage for my necklaces, it occurred to me to put on my handy(wo)man pants on to create a custom storage solution.  I had purchased a framed Italian map several years ago at a yard sale for a couple bucks (so there are perks to being a stage 1 hoarder!).  I have so many treasured memories from my time spent there and I love incorporating Italian art around my home.  So I decided it would be simple enough to repurpose this picture into a shadowbox, of sorts.

BEFORE:

I had temporarily hung necklaces on the back of door which created serious noise pollution when the door was used

AFTER

Is it a picture?

Or a jewelry box?

It's both!

HOW TO: Jewelry Shadowbox

Supplies

Framed picture
Set of 4 corner brackets and 8 wood screws
Set of 2 hinges and screws
1x3 wood board
Hooks or knobs
Paint and painting supplies, if desired
2 small, strong magnets
D-ring picture hanger
Tape measure or ruler
Pen
Drill/screwdriver






Assembly

1. Measure art and decide on dimensions for the shadow box
2. Unscrew hanging wire from back of frame
3. Trek to hardware store to purchase supplies.  Home Depot cut my 1x3 board down to the sizes I had previously measured (I like my fingers too much to ever attempt that step myself)
4. Make second trek to hardware store to buy screws for brackets (apparently there's a difference between flat-ended machine screws and wood screws...I learn something new everyday!)
5. I chose to paint my wood box pieces the same color as my wall in the hopes that it would fade and be less noticeable
6. Measure, mark, and pre-drill holes for each corner bracket.  Tightly screw brackets in to create a box frame
7. Measure, mark, and pre-drill holes for the hinges.  Tightly screw in hinges to create the "door" for your box.  I attached the hinges to the outside of my box frame so that I would be drilling through the wood of the picture frame (since my box frame was a few inches smaller than the picture frame, had I placed them on the inside of my box frame, I would have drilled through the frame glass = no bueno)
8. Drill a shallow hole into the box frame that is the same depth and diameter as your magnets.  Mark on the frame sure where the magnet touches then secure a magnet to each side with super glue or hot glue.  This will enable the frame "door" to remain closed
9. Just for kicks and giggles, I added a pop of color to the back of the ugly, brown frame with a piece of wrapping paper I had on hand
10. Attach a D-ring photo hanger to the frame then hang on wall
11. Add hooks to inside of the shadowbox.  I managed to recycle an ancient closet organizer-thingy from the yard sale pile, so I gave it a quick once-over with spray paint to freshen it up, then attached it directly to the wall with two nails
12. Aaaand now, the fun part--hang up your necklaces...then bask in the awesomeness!

And a few bonus suggestions based on my trial-and-error process

• If you want to be super schfancy, sanding the wood prior to painting will give a finished look
• Use wood glue or hot glue on box frame corners in addition to the brackets to make it's sturdy--this will help with the entire piece hanging straight on the wall
• Measure the frame and pieces of the box frame exactly (and take into account the 1in width of the wood on each side when determining the length of the cuts)
• Use larger/stronger hinges or more than 2 small hinges--gravity pulls on the frame while hanging on the walls and this will help the frame not to sag over time
• You could create a backing for your box using a sheet of plywood nailed into the box frame then screw knobs/hooks directly into the backing versus directly into the wall 

A satisfied as I was upon completion of this project, I am definitely convinced that I don't have a career in carpentry...there's no artistic license allowed when it comes to right angles and drilling!

Since I had many of the supplies for the project on hand, the total cost was under $10!

Considering this storage floor mirror was my only other choice for a jewelry storage solution, using "girl shopping logic," I actually saved $1,989 that I can now put toward other house projects, right?  Ha!

I can now officially check jewelry organization off of my projects list.  Here's the overall finished
product!

Where's the jewelry?  Sssshhh, it's a secret!