I wanted to share a few jewelry-themed ideas with you all.
I was in an anklet mood this summer. Instead of buying a new anklet, I used a 18″ chain that I wrapped twice around my ankle and threaded both strands through a charm. It works great! This way I can reuse both pieces for other things.
Several years ago I lost of of the earrings in my first pair of pearl studs. The company didn’t have an earring replacement policy like James Avery does so I turned the single stud into a pearl pendant with the help of a local jeweler, Lane Wells. The pendant attachment is called rabbit ears. Make sure to clarify your metal choice: gold is the default on pearl and was the earring’s post color, but I wear primarily silver so they made me white-gold rabbit ears.
I really appreciate adjustable items. This is a 18″ chain that has a loop that converts it down to a 16″ chain. The extra two inches of chain will dangle down the back of my neck nicely. As long as the pendant isn’t too heavy, the clasp and dangling chain stay in the back.
If you’ve ever considered getting rid of earring because of how the back pokes you, doesn’t stay in place, falls off, hurts you, etc. there are a lot of different types of earring backs that you can try. These are just a few back types for post earrings. There’s also a lot of types of dangling earring backs but I don’t have personal examples to show you in those. A jeweler can convert dangling earring backs for you.
It’s so much easier for me to sleep in stud earrings than change earrings all the time. However even with my snap on backs, the earrings would poke me while sleeping. So I had the posts cut down by 2mm to a child’s length and they’re perfect. It was an unusual request so if you do this make sure to explain to the jeweler what you want to happen and take your preferred post backs in with you so they can make sure the new length works.
As always I want to encourage you to repair or modify anything you have before purchasing new or secondhand. Shorten or lengthen things, add links or hooks, change the clasp type, etc. Lobster clasps on necklaces and bracelets are easier for many people to use so ask your jeweler if you have trouble closing a necklace or bracelet. Ask neighbors, friends or family for recommendations for someone local and/or who does a great job.
Don’t forget you can add or cut off links to charm bracelets and such.
Watch bands can also be replaced and the links taken off.
Neighbors have offered free or low cost untangling of jewelry and other things on both my neighborhood Facebook group and my neighborhood’s Buy Nothing Facebook group. I think this is an amazing opportunity to help each other out as well as make something usable again.
Please share any other cool jewelry modification ideas you have!