… Jenny from the block I’m not.
But I DO have some new sparkle! This post is all about jewellery upcycling yo.
I’ve been meaning to do this for years. A long time. Are you with me when I say I had a super stylin’ Ziploc full of battered jewellery that needed some lovin? You know your fave pieces that break, go out of style, wear out or just get generally dingy?
It’s like that orchid you received as a gift in 2008 that you accidentally killed yet you still hold on to it in case it comes back? Well, I’d like to introduce you to my orchid.
So much potential… Let’s get to fixin’ and revamping these pieces shall we? All you need is a bit of imagination and a few sets of pliers and wire snips as seen above.
This first upcyle was made from the chain of a broken necklace that I owned and a necklace that my friend (she’s a manager at a accessories store) gave me as a hand-me-down (#thanksKaelayourock). I’ve lucked out many times getting things she no longer wants (score for me). Some I wear as is, but others have made it to my pile above for the reasons mentioned.
This next one was from a necklace that my neighbour gave me. It was hers, but she wasn’t wearing it. She asked if I wanted it as I tended to wear chunkier pieces than her so I gladly accepted! The only problem was it hung at a weird length for me so I didn’t tend to use it. But then I had an idea…
I love the double strand chain.
This next one was a simple revamp of one of my favourite necklaces. I adore the rose clasp and used to wear this all the time. The chain had worn down and due to loosing it’s finish tended to kink and roll on itself. I noticed in the multi-chain hand-me-down from my store manager buddy that there was a chain that I could use to bring my favourite necklace back to life! I know the multi-chain necklace looks really pretty from this far view but unfortunately when you got up close you could see that some of the strands and overall condition had seen better days.
Moving along I made a new necklace out of a silver chain I had. The pendant was originally a white flower but had started to degrade and yellow. The leaf was actually an earring! I had lost the other one but loved it so much that I kept it thinking it would made a great pendant. I also used a piece of chain I had on hand to make an ‘extender’.
If you follow me on
instagram or
Facebook, you may have seen this ‘sneak peak’ on Tuesday…
This is one of my favourites. The chunky teal necklace was a hand-me-down from the same neighbour who gave me the gold and orange one above. It came on a brown suede rope and the beads had a simple knot between them. The suede broke one day and so I revamped it into this new piece, adding yet another orphaned earring as the centrepiece. I also added an extender to this necklace too from another fragment of chain that I had.
This is so fun!
Okay, moving along. This next one combined two strands of pearl from the multi-strand necklace, as well as a link from the gold/orange one and a little cluster that had broken free of the chain used above in Stella and Dot inspired piece.

This last necklace again used a few strands from the multi-strand necklace along with a few gray beads from another one and the clasp from a bracelet. Again, all hand-me-down pieces.


I also had a charm bracelet but the charms weren’t really my ‘look’. So I simply removed them creating a new cleaner look that was much more ‘me’.
And this last little one is more of a ‘tip’ should you have any pieces in need of the same help. I have this adorable ring (again, thanks Kaela) but one of the little ‘diamonds’ fell out. I simply dabbed a small bit of white nail polish into the recess and now the little discrepancy isn’t so noticeable!
So there you have it. Nine ‘new to me’ or refurbished pieces of jewellery that come in at a bank busting total of zero dollars spent. Now that’s my kind of shopping 😉
What about you? Any jewellery surgery as of late? And ridiculously generous friends and neighbours who shower you with hand-me-downs? If nothing else, you now know another use for nail polish aside from
fixing tears in your pantyhose!
And that makes a good day doesn’t it? TGIF friends!

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