I think packing is a lot like cleaning- it's far more fun to read about how someone else does it than do it myself (I could read Real Simple and Martha Stewart magazines forever). Everyone goes about it in a different way, but, in the end, we all do what's best for us. Still, it took lots of reading and several years of trial and error to work out a way to pack jewelry safely and conveniently. I used a travel jewelry pouch for awhile, but it wasn't large enough to carry all the jewelry I pack for a cruise. A big Ziploc bag had me spending hours onboard a ship detangling necklaces. A hard jewelry travel case couldn't accommodate my inexpensive, beaded jewelry. I even tried using a GIGANTIC 7-day pill box (it opened up and dumped everything in my carry on before I even boarded the ship. I hope the poor, seriously ill folks for whom the pill box was intended didn't have the same problem with the hundreds of pills it was meant to hold!). Finally, on Cruise Critic several years ago, I discovered this idea for packing first aid items, and thought it would work for jewelry. For the most part, it did. Despite daily access when I travel, I've been using this since 2003. Feeling crafty? Finished laminating those cruise luggage tags and your inner Martha Stewart is hungry for your next project? Read on...
Step 1: Choose a new potholder with a fabric hanging loop at the top. Hand sew on a toggle button at the bottom with elastic thread. (And now you know: it's all about bunnies and the color pink for me).
On the backside of the potholder, overlap the bottoms of snack size Ziploc bags by about 1/2", alternating the openings to the top of the potholder and the bottom. Pin and machine sew straight across the overlapped bags using a narrow sewing machine needle and a longish stitch. That's all there is to it!
I've sewn in six Ziploc bags, which accommodate my necklaces and bracelets but are not so many that the "jewelry roll" can't be closed.
Voila! A $3 jewelry roll.
I've had to use a seam ripper to remove and replace the Ziploc bags just one time in the past 10 years (about a 5 minute job) because the bags eventually stop sealing, but the potholder itself will last forever.
I still had an issue with earring posts poking through the Ziploc bags, but when I was in a drugstore and saw this pill container, I thought it would solve the problem. It works perfectly and cost less than $3.
They are both "good things". :-)
