Creativity In A Nutshell

Don't you hate it when you discover a great necklace or bracelet, and you wear it all the time in the next couple days... and then! Boom! It's broken!

What's The Plan, Stan?
Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk! Rather than saying audios to your new find, either fix it yourself, or get it fixed by someone with the know-how and supplies. My professor/advisor/boss (Ann)  purchased this really great necklace a little while back:

I'm going to walk you through the process for fixing this particular necklace, and in doing so, give you some tips on how to fix your own (or someone else's) jewelry.

Ingredients and Tools of the Trade:
For every fix you're going to need different things.

• Generally, you will need your usual tools (needle nose pliers, wire snips, possible round nose pliers)
• You may need to replace some beads that were lost. You can either purchase beads as close as possible to the remaining beads, or chose to replace all of the beads. For this necklace, I replaced all of the delica seed beads.
• Depending on the style of the necklace you may some findings - jump rings, a new clasp, crimp beads, crimp bead covers etc

Process:

• First, identify all of the problems: If you look on the top right, the jewelry artist didn't do a great job securing the ends of her tigertail beading wire. This is very important anyways, but with this particular piece, which has three separate strands, it becomes even more important that you make sure all three strands are secure. It turns out that only one of the three on the right side were nice and snug, so the other two broke and the little seed beads were lost. Also, Ann mentioned that she wasn't a big fan of the extender chain on the necklace - and I agree - it takes away from the overall aesthetic of the necklace.
• Next, take some pictures. You don't want to start attacking the piece you're supposed to fix and then forget what it looked like to begin with. I took just one picture, since this is a fairly simple piece, but if you are working on something more complex, you may want to take a few more detail shots. 
• Measurements will be key if working with tiny beads, like these seed beads. I measured the sections of seed beads between the little green chip beads, just to make sure all the spacing would be correct in the final product. 
• Next I disassembled the necklace. AHHH! This can be chaotic and crazy if you are not careful. I know I have mentioned using a bead board before, but now I must really stress the importance of having something to keep all your beads organized and in order. 
• Once everything is laid out, restring the necklace. Remember, there were two problems:
• The loose wire ends - I used a crimp bead to connect the three strings together just one inch after the last large bead. Then, I separated the middle string, and trimmed the other two as close the the crimp bead as possible, thus taking the three strands down to one, further away from the clasp. This will put far less stress on the crimped wires, making it less likely to fray or slip out of the crimp. Of course, I covered it with a lovely crimp bead cover :)
• The extender chain was ugly - so I just made the last section of seed beads a bit longer, and because it was narrowed down to one strand, rather than three, it should be more comfortable on the neck anyways. One crimp bead on either side secured the clasp. 

More Similar Fun Stuff!
Upcycling Vintage Costume Jewelry

I love the unreserved sparkle of vintage costume jewelry. It's so beautiful and reminds me of playing princess when I was younger. It's easy to find some vintage costume jewelry of your own. I got my pieces from a yard sale ages ago and just recently had the time and inspiration to play around with them. Keep your eyes open for broken or incomplete pieces that you can modify.



What's The Plan, Stan?
Using a few different vintage costume jewelry pieces and some lovely Swarovski beads, we are going to create an entirely new necklace and set of earrings to show off some lovely sparkle.

Ingredients:

• For this specific necklace, I used an old necklace with these really pretty metal flowers set with Austrian Crystals and tiny pearls in the middle, as well as an old clip on earring. I took the necklace apart, using just one of the flowers for the pendant, and the main earring piece is also going to be used. There were great crystal dangles on the earring as well, which I will use on the necklace to accent the pendant. Oh also, I used the lovely chain from the necklace, complete with the clasp. to complete my new necklace. If you can't find vintage pieces quite like this, you have a couple options:
• Modify the design! You're a crafty individual and I have faith in you! (Please send some ideas, I'd love to hear them!)
  
• Look around on the various beading sites to see if you can find something similar.
• Peach colored fresh water pearls
• 6mm Swarovski Crystal Silk faceted rounds
  
• 4mm Lacy agate rounds
• 3mm silver plated jump rings
• 6mm silver plated jump rings
• 4 silver plated crimp beads
• 4 silver plated crimp bead covers
  

For the Earrings:

• 6mm Swarovski Crystal Silk faceted rounds
• 5mm Swarovski Colorado Topaz roundells
• 4mm lacy agate rounds
• Silver plated headpins
• Silver plated french earwires
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Bent nose pliers
• Needle nose pliers
• Round pliers
• Wire Snips
  

Process:

• First, I created the pendant for the necklace. This process will totally depend upon what sort of fun findings you have found. I created a nice dangley chain using jumprings from the upcycled vintage earring and attached the great crystal dangles. Then, I attached the earring to a headpin with a beautiful Swarovski faceted round, connected to my upcycled flower finding. I'm really pleased with the affect.

• Once I was satisfied with the pendant, I attached two 4mm jumprings to the flower petals, allowing me to attach wire for the necklace on either side. String the wire through a lacy agate round before crimping, in order to protect the necklace from getting too worn and breaking. Crimp and cover with silver plated crimp bead covers.
• Now just string the beads following the same pattern for both sides of the necklace:
• 3 freshwater pearls
• attach your crystal dangle using a 4mm silver plated jumprings
• 3 freshwater pearls
• 1 lacy agate bead
• 1 Swarovski faceted round
• 1 lacey agate bead
• 2 freshwater pearls
• Crystal dangle
• 2 freshwater pearls
• 1 lacy agate bead
• 1 Swarovski faceted round
• 1 lacey agate bead
• 2 freshwater pearls
• Crystal dangle
• 2 freshwater pearls
• 1 lacy agate bead
• 1 Swarovski faceted round
• 1 lacey agate bead
• 2 fresh water pearls
• 2 lacey agate beads
• crimp bead
• 1 lacy agate bead
• String your wire through a 4mm silver plated jumpring, then back through the agate bead and crimp bead. Crimp and cover with the crimp bead cover.
  
•  Attach jumpring to upcycled chain. If the clasp is still intact, use it! If not, attach another one using a 4mm silver plated jumpring.
• For the earrings: Place first a Swarovski faceted round, then a roundel, then a lacy agate round. Finish with a wrapped loop. Attach to the silver plated french earwires.
  

A note about lacy agate : agate is a natural gemstone that comes in a million different shapes, colors etc... I happened to have to really lovely, but also very pale, blue lacy agate rounds in my bead supplies. For this set, I wanted something that was light in color, which would enhance the overall light feel of the necklace. If you can't find any light blue lacy agate, go with something light in color and you'll be good to go.

C'est Fin!





Bead Artist Showcase
You work could be right here! Submit your own upcycled vintage costume jewelry to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Aztec Secrets: Jewelry Set Project  
• Sparkling Wine: Necklace Earrings Set Project  
• Classic Decadence: Vintage Inspired Earrings Project