Refreshing a necklace display

Last year I bought a around 15 necklace displays on ebay. They were so inexpensive that I thought I had hit the jackpot. Well, there was a reason they were so inexpensive - super crummy quality with a capital crumb! They were made of plastic sprayed with black flocking which was already making a run for it, and after just a few weekends at the farmer's market they looked like they had been through a war. What to do, what to do... I didn't really feel like spending a ton on new displays (they cost a fortune!) and I really liked the shape and low profile of the crummy displays. As bad as the quality was they worked perfectly as displays for my larger pendant neckrings. So, I did what any red-blooded creative person would do and I improvised. I knew I needed to re-cover them somehow - I toyed with making little slipcovers for them, then I thought of reflocking them. None of these ideas thrilled me. Then one morning around 4:00 when my mind was doing anything but really sleeping the idea of decoupaging hit me.

Again, not wanting to spend any money, I looked around my house to see what I could use and I found a stack of brown paper grocery bags. Perfect! I tore little pieces with ragged edges and began gluing (Mod Podge) them in a pleasing pattern all over the form. The result is earthy and natural and, most importantly, will provide a neutral backdrop for my jewelry. Only 14 more to go...

Of course this project could be done in any number of variations. With the amount of gorgeous papers available today you could really create a masterpiece, or you could even use fabric with frayed edges, book pages, comic books, candy wrappers - the sky's the limit!