It’s been a few months since I made my friend Jen’s brooch bouquet for her wedding, and there are many things I loved about the project. There was the fun of figuring out how to make it all happen, finding and collecting the materials, and most importantly, creating a special item inspired by her personality and style.
I had a really good time hunting for jewelry at consignment stores, thrift stores, and even in my own stash. The phrase “the thrill of the hunt” truly applies to the process.
Recently, my friend Mary posted a photo of a framed Christmas tree made out of costume jewelry, and a light bulb went off. Here was another way to repurpose baubles to create something new and beautiful! I could make things for myself, but with Christmas around the corner, I could also make some really fun presents.
In the last couple of days, I’ve made trips to Hobby Lobby for supplies and Kellie’s Consignments for jeweled treasures.
In order to figure out the best way to make these, I did some Googling and found a great blog post from Retro Revival. She makes it incredibly simple!
I will plan on sharing more photos next month, because right now I am hoping and planning to give some of the creations as gifts.
For now, here is a wreath design I made for my friend Linda:
When we were celebrating our friend Erin’s birthday Monday night, I shared photos of a tree I was working on with my friends, and Linda fell for this bow brooch. She asked if I could create a wreath design that wasn’t too Christmasy, so that she could have it in her home year-round, with a distressed white frame.
This wreath was created with pins (some new, some vintage) and earrings. I’ve actually found that old clip-ons and stud earrings are my favorite things to work with for this type of project. The backs can be broken off easily, you get a pair of them to work with, and they’re often much less expensive than a jeweled pin. Many of the earrings I bought at Kellie’s Consignments were $3 and $4, but then marked down 60-80%.
I hope this inspires my fellow crafty friends and family to make some fun creations this holiday season or any time of year.
Happy Holi-DIYs!