Now that I’ve listed some neat props for jewelry displays, let me emphasize that your jewelry should stand out plainly as the star attraction in the display. Don’t get so carried away creating a cool setting that the display itself steals the scene! It’s easy to get let your creative zeal run away with you when you work on your jewelry displays.

Picture an entire table filled with bamboo stalks, tiger-print fabric, and driftwood under and behind every piece of jewelry. Ugh! It’s busy and visually cluttered, and even if those elements do communicate the style of the jewelry line—you feel too overwhelmed to shop before you even take a look!

Instead, consider displaying about 80% of your jewelry attractively in jewelry cases, gift boxes, trays, necklace busts, bracelet / ring trays, or earring racks . . . and then accenting the table with the rest of your jewelry pieces featured on the bamboo stalks, tiger-print fabric, and driftwood! Now your accent props communicate your style of jewelry without overwhelming the display and the customer. Your props will look interesting and professionally designed if you exercise restraint!

Jewelry should show up against whatever props and background materials you use. A clear crystal quartz pendant would be practically invisible on a leopard print silk scarf, but a chunky silver cuff bracelet on the same scarf would stand out smashingly. A background that contrasts visually with the jewelry will help the jewelry stand out as the star of the scene you create for it.

For the most professional image, display jewelry in an overall design. Choose no more than 3 colors for your display elements and tablecloths—-for example gray, white, and blue. Each item you use for your jewelry displays would be one of your 3 colors. Also choose no more than 3 textures--for example stone, lace, and linen; each display element would be one of these textures.

Now your jewelry will stand out in your display and you will look like a real professional! Hodge-podge definitely has an amateur look, but a unified theme will attract lots of positive attention and turn your display into a mini-boutique!

Again, leaf through catalogs to get ideas of color schemes and textures. Look at photos advertising other merchandise besides jewelry to see what techniques professionals use, and what strikes your fancy for jewelry displays in your own booth!

Some friends recently pointed out to me that my display needed more height variation. They were right! They recommend that I vary the heights of different parts of my display. I tried it, and WOW! What a difference. It took out the monotony and added a lot of pizzaz. You can use all kinds of things to vary your heights in your jewelry displays, so experiment.

Other ideas for visual interest are to put things at unusual angles, and set props at a diagonal. Diagonals are always dynamic.

Another very effective and professional looking attention-grabber is a poster of one or more large photos of your jewelry, mounted on the wall of your booth or sitting on an easel behind your booth.

Unless your jewelry displays are in a permanent showcase in a shop or studio, devise a display that’s easily taken down and transported or stored. That means it should consist of elements that are durable enough to stand up to a bit of travel, lightweight enough to be carried by the weakest person (if you have help when you do shows), and compact enough to be fit into a box, bag, or trunk.

Also consider that you probably don’t want to display jewelry on props that take forever to set up and take down if you do a lot of shows or parties. Efficient setup time is another important feature.

I’m a big fan of efficiency. I like to have jewelry displays that I can pre-load with my jewelry at home, and bring to the show or party all ready to just set on the table. Before a recent show, I had only 45 minutes to carry everything (including my tables) into the building from my car and set my entire 10’ x 10’booth up—and I managed the whole procedure with about 10 minutes to spare! The jewelry artist across from me came earlier and took more than 2 hours to set up her booth. And although I know that makes my display sound like it was thrown together, I sold more than twice as much jewelry as she did at that show.

Earrings are a great bread-and-butter item for me, and on revolving earring racks you can display a lot of earrings vertically where they can be seen, without taking up much of a footprint on your table. I load these racks completely at home. When they’re full of earrings, I slip the loaded display into a large plastic trash bag along with some no-tarnish strips, tie the bag shut, and slip the whole thing into a large plastic container.

Now it’s ready to go, and I don’t have to worry about tarnish (I change the no-tarnish strips every 4 months). It’s protected for storing in the closet between shows, and it can be transported safely to my next show or party.

You can keep other displays loaded with jewelry and ready to go, too. I keep my necklace busts loaded with pendants on neckwires, slip them into plastic bags with no-tarnish strips, and store them with the rest of my display in large plastic tubs with lids.

Another big advantage of having your displays pre-loaded is when someone wants to come to your home to shop for jewelry. Instead of spending a couple of hours getting your jewelry out of all kinds of boxes and bags to arrange on a table or guest bed, you’ll be able to say, “Come on over!” and just take your loaded displays out of their boxes and set them on the table or bed before the customer arrives.

They’ll be amazed at the way you display jewelry so professionally in your home, like they’re shopping in a pleasant little jewelry store! And you won’t have spent hours setting up a display for a customer who turns out to want only one pair of earrings. You will have saved your energy for the actual selling! :o)

All jewelry looks best when it is well-lit. Lights are one of the most important parts of your display, because good light really makes jewelry POP visually! You want customers to be entranced by the sparkling, shining, tempting treasures you offer! But you can’t count on the show facility or jewelry home party house to have adequate lighting to display jewelry.

So be sure to have several small, portable lamps as part of your display, with good halogen or natural-light bulbs, and extension cords. Bring duct tape also, to tape down any cords that run across the floor between your table and the wall outlet. You definitely don’t want the disaster of you or someone else tripping on one of your cords and bringing down your entire display.

Your very best, most eye-catching jewelry should be one of the first things customers see when they approach your display. You want to excite curiosity and interest from a distance, to draw people to your table! I recently made a sterling silver pendant setting for a luscious, extremely large designer charoite gemstone. I displayed this piece prominently at my last show, and people made a beeline for it from several booths away when it caught their eye and they wanted a closer look! Of course, after that their eyes traveled to my other jewelry too, and the charoite pendant was a great conversation starter. So choose your eye-catchers carefully, and be sure to place them up high and facing outward!

You have a much better chance of selling a piece of jewelry if the customer tries it on. Customers need to try on jewelry to see how it looks on them before they buy. They like to hold up earrings next to their faces to see how they go with the color of their skin, eyes, and hair. They need to know if the length of the necklace is right for them. Once they’ve touched it and especially once they’ve tried it on, they start to feel a sense of ownership. And that translates into sales!

To encourage trying on jewelry, have plenty of mirrors among your jewelry displays. I recommend one mirror every 2 to 3 feet of table length. When you set up your display, stand in front of your table, right where your customers will stand, and angle the mirrors toward your face, so the mirrors will be convenient for them to use. Experiment with mirrors at different levels and heights in your display too.

Of course, you will need a way to surreptitiously clean and polish your mirrors during a show or jewelry home party! People will leave fingerprints on them, and smudgy mirrors do not give a good impression. So bring a small cloth to clean your mirrors regularly during each show or party.

I like to store all my display and show supplies in large plastic containers with lids that I can stack up in a closet. That way the displays and jewelry are protected from damage and tarnish, and they’re all ready to travel safely to the next show or party!

Take good care of your displays, and they can withstand a lot of use. Like most artists, with each show you'll probably gradually evolve your jewelry displays!