I always try to take a little project along

when I'm working out of town for several days - 

And this last time as I was packing up I KNEW I wanted to

 DO SOMETHING 

about the way I carry my jewelry [in a plastic bag - ha]
So all the way down I was thinking about what I wanted to do - 

and how to do it in the easiest possible way. 

Ha. That's me.

 So I came up with this - 

a place mat from Kohls, embroidery thread, plastic rings, 

ribbon [and needles] from Hobby Lobby...

I laid the jewelry out to see where to put the rings...

Then marked the spots 

[You'll see that I ended up with a different plan from the lay-out above.]

I know it's blurry - but it's only pencil marks - ha.

Then I started stitching the rings down. The place mat was double fabric, so I was able to just stitch through the first layer [thus - no stitches show on the front! Yay!]

I decided on the double rings at the top for shorter / longer necklaces. 

And you can see that at least one of the necklaces was too chubby to fit through the rings so I tied it down, but I may replace with bigger rings...

They can also be used for earrings. 

I plan to stitch at least one little bag onto a ring to hold the earring that are not a loop.

I stitched the ribbon to the outside of the placement, again, 

being sure to not go all the way through. 

[Sorry no photos of that -- 

Must have got caught up in The Voice while doing this part. HA.]

But I do love the way it rolls up and ties it all together 

so that it can fit easily [smashed anywhere] in my suitcase. 

Would love to see yours if you create something similar!