DIY Craft Show Displays

If you're like me, you take joy in making everything by hand, not just jewelry. Most of my craft show displays have been either made from scratch or customized. I do this both because it is often less expensive to build than it is to buy, and because it gives displays a unique look so they don't blend in at shows.

Here's a list of some of my favorite ways to build or customize craft show displays. Feel free to adapt them to suit your tastes, after all, your business should reflect you!

1. Painted Thrift Store Finds

I have found wooden bowls, wicker baskets, odd candle pedestals and wooden divided lunch trays at thrift stores. Usually, they don't look like much when I find them and have a good deal of wear or staining. I like to sand them lightly with a medium grit paper (around 400) and then paint them with a couple of coats of interior latex paint. It gives them a fresh face and if you paint them all in the same color, it can give you a cohesive display even if the pieces are different in shape.

The reason I use interior latex is because it dries harder than artists acrylic. If you paint objects with acrylic, it will be more likely that the paint will stick to plastic, glass, paper or other painted surfaces, and lift onto the objects being displayed. The safest way to protect against any paint lifting is to line the container or tray with fabric or a filler before adding your display items.


2. Paper Mache Bust / Necklace display

I started with a framework of mesh and wire, but you could just as easily use a balloon for the head and crumpled up newspaper taped together for the neck and shoulders. You don't need to put features onto the bust, just shape it into the general impression of a life sized head, neck and shoulders. Another option is to use plaster of paris to actually cast a bust of yourself or a friend, then once it is cured add a base with more plaster so that it will stand up.

Either method of building a bust can then be painted, decoupaged, or left as is, depending on the look you're going for.


3. Suitcase

I've said before that I love suitcase displays, especially if they are made so that they can just be opened and popped up on a table, for a super fast setup. One method to accomplish this is to remove the "guts" of the suitcase or briefcase, up to and including the liner if you're comfortable with it. You can then re-line the case with fabric or vinyl, or you could even paint the inside of it if the original liner came out cleanly. You could add cork board sheeting, chalk board paint, or a magnetic surface to the inside of the lid, where you can hang items for display, write messages, or display magnetic items. You can use self-adhesive hooks or magnetic hooks as well.

The bottom of the case can be filled with bins to hold items or it can serve as a large basket for loose items.


4. Frames

I have used frames a few different ways in my displays: I covered a frame with fine mesh to display earrings & necklaces, I've filled a frame with a sheet of cork-board to display thumbtacks or use tacks as hooks to display jewelry. There is also the link I posted previously for filling small frames with ring-holders. I like frames because they can be used either flat on a table or vertically, especially if the original back of the frame is still in-tact and can hold it upright or allow it to hang from a fixture. The frame itself can add some visual blank space between sections of your display, giving the eye a place to rest before moving on to the next display. They can also be painted to match the rest of your display and you can even paint over a cork board in a frame.


5. Tiered Displays

You could buy tiered dessert/serving trays at some major stores and vintage stores, but it's fun to make a unique version yourself. If you can find a few glasses (stemmed are great) or even medium-tall candle holders, as well as some assorted sizes of plates, they can be glued together in a stack to form a unique tiered display. I recommend using a glue like E9000 or Gorilla, something that adheres well to glass & smooth surfaces. White glue or hot glue does not normally form a good adhesion to non-porous surfaces.


There are many other ways to build & create your own displays, these just happen to be my favorites. More ideas can be found on the JellyPins Pinterest board, and I add to it often when I find fun ideas! Amber

Art/Craft Shows: Making Your Own Displays

Making your own displays is one of the best ways to get the features you want and lower the cost of setting up your booth.

One of my favorite methods is to find an appropriate unpainted wood piece available at most craft stores, paint it to the color I need and add any easel stand pieces I need to.

Paint is very important when working on display pieces, as the wrong kind of paint can ruin both the project and the jewelry that later is on it. Stay away from using artist's acrylic - even when dried it tends to remain very flexible and can easily be marked or adhere to something laid on top of it, causing stacked displays to stick together or paint to come off on your jewelry - the worst nightmare of all!

One of the big things to remember with any paint is that even after 24 hours when you can touch it and it feels dry, it's still soft inside. There are paints (like artist's acrylic) which can actually take months to dry and shrink completely but seem dry within an hour or two of painting. Because of this, all paints can be scratched, lifted and hold an impression until they fully cure. This is why I always recommend putting painted objects in a protected place, shielded from dust, for at least a week. Two weeks is better, or as long as possible.

I also recommend using at least two coats of your chosen paint. Wood is porous and will absorb some of your first layer of paint, occasionally it will even absorb some of the second layer. It is a good idea to sand the bare wood, put down your first coat, and then sand again to remove any rough fibers that were raised by the absorption process. Then add your second coat and if it does not dry smooth sand lightly again and recoat. This won't be an issue with metal assuming you use a smooth piece of metal, but it's a good idea to clean and sand metal before painting to help it hang onto the paint.

For wood, interior/exterior latex - IE paint you'd use on your walls - is what I always use. It's awesome because it's as easy to use as acrylics and washes with water, and it dries pretty tough. This is the kind of paint you'd use to paint furniture, and so it does the best job of tolerating things being placed on top of it without marring the surface. You can get it in gloss, semigloss, eggshell, etc, and they have small sample jars that you can have mixed with any of the bajillion colors available for wall paints, so you can match it precisely to your overall color theme. There are also pint and quart cans of pre-mixed colors that are usually in the basic colors and sometimes a variety of sheen's. These usually run less than $10 per color, and a single can will go pretty far.
For metal, I prefer Rustoleum. It is strong enough to stand up to outdoor conditions, but it is an oil based paint and will require paint thinner to clean the brushes and you should paint outdoors or use ventilation.

Another note is depending on humidity, paint can take longer or shorter amounts of time to dry and fully cure. The paint you choose should tell you how the humidity will affect the paint.



Once you've painted your display piece and allowed it to dry thoroughly, you can proceed with making it function the way you want. Some options are adding an easel back (or placing it in a free-standing easel), drilling holes and inserting posts or wires to support or adjust the display, or gluing a few pieces together to change the overall shape or function of your piece.

I enjoy taking old photo frames, painting them and attaching fabric mesh or perforated plastic to the back and then adding an easel back to it to help it to stand. These are perfect for hanging earrings on or adding hooks and hanging necklaces.

One last piece of advice would be to paint all of your displays the same color in order to give your booth a very cohesive feeling that won't overwhelm the lovely colors of your jewelry.

Remember - a cute display will leave an impression as a cute display, but it's your jewelry that should leave the impression, the display should disappear!