Fashion is simple. Don't base it on what you see in a magazine or on runway shows. That stuff is over played and way over stated! No one is going to go out with half a chicken in feathers on their heads or hanging from their ears. BUT... If you have a little ingenuity, and a little creative bug in you, then you can make yourself some really nice pieces that you can wear and be proud of!
To start thinking up of ways I can reconstruct jewelry to fit my needs, I love rummaging through garage sales. You would be amazed at what you will find that people are selling. Most don't know what they have. In the recent weeks, my mom found me loads of great natural stone jewelry, that although may have been outdated, could be recreated into something spectacular. I also like going through ebay.com and looking for those big bundle deals of findings and nik-naks. These are usually people that are asked to get whatever they can on estate sale items. Most of this broken, tarnished or down-right old pieces are not looked at twice for resale value. They are bunched up in grab bags and sold for pretty much anything they can get for them. I have been extremely successful in finding some incredible pieces with this method. Of course you are going to get a bunch of duds in between. But if you get creative, you can make some pretty cool stuff our of what you get. For example, I ordered this bag full of gold-tone findings that came from northern maine. The photo on ebay showed a few promising pieces like this white enameled pin that looked a little like a cameo of a sail boat. Another piece that caught my eye was another old broach in the shape of a rose stem. Although the color looked to be chipping in certain parts, I figured I can use it somehow or refresh the paint. When the auction winnings came in, I was in shock to find some incredible pieces I never expected to get... an authentic Canadian Army crest, Civil War buttons (even if they were copies, they were still pretty neat to use in a design), and couple of real gold earrings missing their pairs. The sail boat cameo (or at least it's what it looked like in the photo) was a hand painted pendant on ivory with a gold-fill frame. After doing some research, it turned out to be an original and unique piece made by a local artist and I was able to fashion it perfectly on white cotton rope to complete the whole nautical look. The rose was a bit of a disappointment. It was just a metal pin that was cheaply sold at dime stores all over the U.S. back in the 70's. It was beyond repair and couldn't really be used for much other than to melt it down for future use.
At the end of the day, I had spent a total of $4.25 with shipping cost and all on this grab bag. I was able to create 6 different fashionable pieces of jewelry out of the buttons, pins and earrings that were in good condition. The best part of all this is that I was able to sell all the pieces for a total of $120.00 at a local craft show. Now thats what I call getting GREEN!
So next time you are driving around and see an estate or garage sale sign, pull over for a few moments and see what possible treasures you can find.
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