Something Old, Somthing New, Something…Both?

There’s a Carnival o’ Weddings (not their title, but it should be) going on at www.quiltingandpatchwork.com. Should be all sorts of links to all (or at least some) things “Wedding.”

At first, I thought that this poor “Junk” site had nothing to offer today’s bride. However, after combing through my “inventory” (at this blog, inventory is used somewhat euphemistically for what some people, like my wife, would call a junk drawer/closet/room/garage–mine is a couple of drawers and a couple of bins) and I came across some beautiful old-time costume jewelry that my mom gave me.

This gave me a great idea! This jewelry was something old, but there was a problem–there were several “old maid” earrings (sorry, couldn’t resist that joke…)–meaning only one of the set. Then, it dawned on me! I could take the earrings apart and make a snazzy (yes, snazzy) new bracelet that would definitely be worth the time. And, now, since you read this post, you will be able to do this too. Here’s what I came up with:

(For a larger, clearer version, click on the thumbnail above)

First, determine how the earring is put together. In my case there were two metal pieces–the front one with beads sewn to it, and the back one, with clasps and triangular pieces holding the inner piece together with the outer one.

Once I unstrung the Beautiful red/black one and the off-white (it had some metal, instead of fishing-line-type stuff) I restrung them onto some 24 gage wire I use for that sort of thing. I like it better than string or fishing line because it is easier for me and my sausage fingers (seriously, I have a hard time washing the bottoms of glasses and vases) to “tie off” at the end of the project. I also included some fake grey pearls to get the right effect.

Once strung, the wire gets twisted onto clasps and the bracelet is finito! (That means “we gotter dun” for those who needed the translation.)