Wire Wrapped Glass Chip Necklace

 I've got way to many materials to recycle, including all the bottles from the kitchen renovation. I finally used some to make a wire wrapped necklace. I had my husband slice the rim of a beer bottle off and I filed down the edge of a chip from the same bottle for this creation.

Happy Mother’s Day

A day set aside to show our appreciation for all our mother’s do for us, even after we’ve long ago flown the nest. I know my mother still looks out for all her 5 kids and now their families too, motherhood never ends.

I usually make the 2½ hour trip to my mom’s to visit her on Mother’s Day, but with a 9-6 work schedule today that was impossible. I did find time this week to make her a nice pair of purple (her favorite color) earrings. She wears quite a lot of purple, but it turned out she didn’t own any purple earrings, so I made a wise choice there. I also found a sweet little pocket mirror at Happy Bug Designs on Etsy. She was thrilled with it too. 

A lovely picture of Mom in her youth

Etsy Treasury, Hippie Days are Here Again

I created a new Etsy Treasury today, I've really been slacking off on my Etsy Shop & Blog since starting my part time job in January. But this morning I was inspired to through a treasury together, Hope you like it.

New Clearance Section at Etsy Shop

I have a new CLEARANCE SALE section in my Etsy shop. Big savings on some cute handmade items. Stop by The ReFORMatory to see the bargains.

Miniature Handbag Earrings

Silk mini handbag earrings silver, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

Dangle earrings in the shape of miniature purses, perfect for holiday or New Year’s Eve parties. In beautiful midnight blue silk or ultra-suede, each handbag is hand sewn and the chain handles are made from upcycled jewelry. Each pair is uniquely embellished with different kinds of beads. Some have silver findings, some gold. I hope to get more varieties made in the near future. Also great for gift giving.

Tribal Earrings

While working on ideas for the hoop earrings a few posts below, I started stringing together various beads from my collection. There was one set which I was quite happy with; in which I used some turquoise beads, red glass beads and various upcycled bali beads and bead caps. I had to put them to good use. I grabbed some silver hoop findings and hung them from the bottom of the hoops. I then had to string together one more dangle for the center of the hoop. So in no time flat, a birthday project also resulted in a new item for my ReFORMAtory Etsy Shop.

Hoop Earrings in Silver Copper and Khaki Metallic

My husband asked me to make a pair of earrings for his friend's birthday. She lives very far away from us in Russia, they became friends on flickr; both admiring each others great photography.

He knew from her photostream that she wore hoop earrings. It just so happened that we came across a pair of hoops a few weeks later. The hoops were silver with a ball chain wrapped around them. They had many little silver drops dangling between the balls which I removed. I tried a few combinations of dangles from my existing beads, but Bob wasn't really happy with them, so I took him shopping and he picked out a great match (doesn't he have good taste). After they were finished, it took a few weeks for them to arrive, we were anxious to hear what she thought. Here's a lovely photo she posted on flickr of her wearing her new present.

Upcycled Jewelry for a Birthday Gift

I planned to make some earrings for my sister-in-law’s birthday, so it was time to rustle through my huge collection of beads and the old jewelry everyone passes down to me for upcycling. I came across some rectangular glass beads in purple that I put aside, and then I came across a necklace with assorted types of purple beads. I thought the leaf shaped beads were nice.
I removed the bar end of the clasp to get some of the leaf shaped beads and as I was removing them, I realized there were way more beads than I needed for just earrings and that I could just rearrange and shorten the necklace into a matching bracelet. It ended up as a lovely set and Joann was really thrilled with it.

I save plenty of old gift boxes, so I had a nice one for the jewelry. But being an avid recycler, I try not to buy new wrapping paper too often. Since I was already working on recycling old wall calendars into gift bags for other birthday gifts, I decided to just use a calendar page for gift wrap. I chose one that was a fairly lightweight paper with a pretty photo of a field of flowers and mountains in the background. So, if you’re ever in need of a small piece of gift wrap (even if you don’t horde old calendars for their pictures) you can always look through the months of your wall calendars that have already passed, it works great.

Dreamcatcher Necklace

My niece commisioned me to make a necklace for her to give as a gift to one of her best friends. She came over to look through my collection of materials. She said her friend liked African and Tribal looking jewelry. She chose a few different beads for us to work with & then made some mention of feathers. I remebered I had recently recieved some dream catchers in the mail from some charity I'd never heard of. I went & found them & she decided she like them too. Here is the resulting necklace. Her friend loves it.

Miniature Journal Pendants are Available

Well I’ve finished the 1^st batch of my mini journals and added some chains & chords. Since I’m using these little clip art squares from an old catalog, they feature different pictures on the front & back covers, it’s fun sorting through the book looking for two I like together. I particularly like the one with the old typewriter and adding machine keys. One of the nice things about them is that they are so lightweight, nothing heavy around the neck. I’ve listed a few in my Etsy shop.

Industrial Chic Necklace

I relisted my necklace made from a recycled auto part at my Etsy shop.

The curved piece in the middle is called a c-clip & I think it’s used mainly on the brakes, but you can find variations of these parts for other uses. I added some dangles made from agate stones and shells and put on some old vintage buttons with beaded centers, a gunmetal chain makes the length adjustable. My husband thinks it looks African.

Miniature Journal Pendants

I’ve been working on these for a few weeks. I was inspired by a metal charm in the shape of a book. I decided to recycle a bunch of junk mail, scrap paper, magazines and clip art from an old letrastat catalog (picked up in thrift store). I’ve never handmade a zine or book before, I figured a mini one would be a good start. The journals only have about 8 pages, depending on how small you can write, you could jot down your favorite words, spell out your loved ones name one page at a time, or paste in mini photos & use it like a locket. Not sure yet if I’ll just be adding ball chains, or making ribbon or chord necklaces, or just listing them as the pendant alone. How would you hang or list them?
Coming up in the jewelry section of The Reformatory.

Upcycled Find of the Day

Today on etsy I found this lovely Hidden Treasures Vintage Boho Necklace from tomrass4. A beautiful shop with jewelry upcycled from vintage parts and a french inspiration. I particularly like the way she patinas some of the old metals. Lovely stuff in her shop.

Featured Handmade Item

Stained Glass and Filigree Pendant

Found today on Etsy.
It's unique shape and lovely soft tones really impressed me.
Get this lovely handmade stained glass pendant from Color Shoppe Studio

Pruitt Hand Crafts

This month's Featured EtsyBlogger - congratulations to Linda of pruitthandcrafts.

She has been so productive she had 3 Etsy shops, but she’s closing one, so hurry and visit http://PruittDesign.etsy.com for her 50% off sale till Jan. 15^th. You will get some great looking jewelry at a fantastic price.

(I have trouble keeping up one shop, don’t know how she managed three.)

But her other 2 will remain open with lots of goodies there too. 

Quilting, crochet, purses and paper arts at http://pruitthandcrafts.etsy.com

And supplies for your crafts at http://PruittSupply.etsy.com

So lets support a lovely teammate and don’t forget to visit her blog at http://pruitthandcrafts.blogspot.com

EtsyBlogger of the Month - Devine Designs Jewelry

Congrats to Cindy, a fellow Floridian. Cindy is an incredible jewelry designer. She works in beads and metal craft (copper, silver, twisted wire) to create many unique pieces. Look at these wonderful items in her etsy shop Devine Designs Jewelry. 

And don’t forget to read her blog for her latest shows and events and creativity.

Upcoming Event

On Saturday Dec. 4, 2010 the ReFORMatory will be setting up shop at the Pink Ghost Mini Market, 1888 Polk Street, Hollywood, Fl - Noon to 5 PM. Come shop for pillows, handbags, jewelry, accessories and other handmade recycled / upcycled crafts.

Splendid Little Stars - Etsy Blogger of the Month

I love visiting this blog, Splendid Little Stars, it is such a comfortable place to hang out. Margaret is a great photographer and her beautiful peaceful nature photos are usually accompanied by nice poetry or stories. She also features adorable photos and narratives from her kitty cats. A great place to hang out when you need to distress online.

 

In addition she is a busy member of our team, always checking out what the other members are up to, lending support and encouraging commentary. 
And don’t forget to visit her two wonderful Etsy Shops, 
Splendid Little Stars for fabric and clothing, 
Sparkly Park for jewelry.

Patch First – Etsyblogger of the Month

Planning an upcoming wedding? Attending a wedding soon? Then you should visit Patch’s Wedding Guide Blog . It’s chockfull of photos & info about the latest looks & styles, hairstyles, diamond buying advise, etc. And then it’s off to patch’s Bridal jewelry & accessories shop where you can have custom made stuff or just get something for yourself to wear to a wedding.

Not into the whole wedding thing, then check out her Vintage Shop or her Supply Shop. And also visit her personal blog that highlights her prolific creativity.

Earrings Upcycled into Pendants

I turned some old earrings into pendants. My friend gave me a big bag full of old jewelry she no longer wanted & I was inspired to turn some post earrings into pendants. I made the 1st one for her for her birthday, also incorporating some beads from other earrings in the bag. Then I made a second for my shop. The other 2 are still to come, don’t have enough of all the beads to repeat these two.