Sunday, August 18, 2013

Something Old Something Blue Necklace

You know the saying: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe."

For my newest design I set out to create a bridal necklace incorporating some of these attributes.



The Features:
*A beautiful re-purposed vintage pendant - "Something Old."
*Indigo blue Swarovski crystals - "Something Blue."
*A lucky penny on the back of the pendant symbolizing the "Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe."

The Story:
I used a beautiful vintage earring to create the unique OOAK pendant for the necklace.  The earrings were part of my mother's huge costume jewelry collection.  You might remember that I recently wrote about her passing away and her beautiful jewelry collection being passed on to me.  My mother and I both shared a love for jewelry ... she enjoyed buying and wearing it; I enjoyed making it.  Here are the original earrings with clip on backs:

Original earrings with clip on back
I used wire cutters to clip off the clip-on back of the earring:
Back of earring with clip removed
I found this pretty antique silver filigree stamping to use as a setting for the pendant:
Antique silver filigree stamping to be used for setting
I used E6000 glue to adhere the stamping to the earring.  E6000 glue works great for projects like this - it is really impossible to come loose once dry.  I let it dry 24 hours before handling.  Here is the front of the pendant:
Finished pendant - front view
And here is the back of the pendant - I was not quite happy with this look and decided it needed a pretty backing.  
Back view of unfinished pendant
To finish the back of the pendant, I eventually settled on this pretty blue glass rhinestone:
Back of finished pendant with Blue Rhinestone
Then I beaded the necklace with Swarovski crystal pearls, some small indigo blue swarovski crystals, and antique silver curb chain.

Here are some pictures of the entire necklace just waiting for a lucky buyer:



Close-up view of pendant
Find this necklace in my Etsy shop here:
OOAK Something Old Something Blue Necklace

P.S. - There will be more designs with some of my Mom's jewels which I will post about.  I have plans also to use some of them to re-purpose into Christmas gifts for her siblings and family.  I might make some pretty Christmas ornaments for myself and them to treasure and have something to remember her by.  Will be posting pics along the way!

10 comments:

  1. That is gorgeous and such a great idea to use Mom's jewelry for Christmas gifts that will be treasured forever!! Can't wait to see them!

    Carol

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    1. Thank you Carol ... will definitely be posting some pics along the way!
      Irene

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  2. Lovely! You are so creative.
    I have so many ideas for re-purposing vintage pieces I have collected over the years.
    I love handmade jewelry!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Elizabeth

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  3. That is such a great idea! Love that color blue!

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  4. That is a gorgeous necklace, Irene. I love those old clip earings and you really transformed this one into a beautiful wearable piece of art.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Maggie. It was great fun creating it! Thanks for stopping by!
      Irene

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