Display Techniques

Q: I'm interested in getting some advice on display techniques for earrings and necklaces for shows. My jewelry is made of natural materials, glass, Peruvian beads, semi-precious beads. I would like to begin selling what I make and I would appreciate any tips on the best way to begin.

A: Also, how about display ideas for craft malls. The jewellery will be unattended so sercurity is a problem. One way for shows, is to cover a large plywood sheet with cotton batting and velvet or other soft material. A solid, dark color won't interfer with the jewellery. Then attach the pieces with U-pins. They secure the jewellery but enables people to touch it. Also clearly mark everything. I hate having to ask for prices, or even worse, I'm looking at a necklace and someone comes over my shoulder and says "That's made from whatever> and is $xx". Use string tags. For art fair displays of earrings, we've used foam core boards covered with Velcro material (looks like black velvet). Then we attach a small strip of the hook side of the Velcro that comes with adhesive backing to the back of the card with the earrings on it. Customers can pull them off to look closely and then put them back by just pressing on the (centered) Velcro strip. It makes it easy to rearrange after big sales so the boards don't look unattractive because of gaps or to rearrange by different categories. I am starting to do lots of necklaces and have been using some velvet necks on a table for a few show pieces and placing the others flat on the table on black felt. But what do I do with a larger number of pieces to display and no more table room? I bought some of those "Chinese puzzles" from Fire Mountain. I put the puzzles together like a zig-zag wall and hung the necklaces on hooks. It works great and saves lots of room since the display is vertical. Earrings can also hang on the "puzzle." The only problem is that the display does take some time to assemble, but there are so many shapes and designs that can be created that it's worth the cost. I made a set of shelves out of PVC pipe for my wife. We attached halogen lights to the bottom of wooden boards for the shelves , draped some material over the back, and had some very professional looking displays.