Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Eco-friendly Jewelry Displays

Displaying your jewelry at shows or keeping things organized at home can be a challenge if you are committed to being Green. But actually it's a lot easier than it looks if you open your mind to unusual uses for materials. You can make quite an impact at shows by using some beautiful vintage displays or by some creative upcycling. It can also be much cheaper than buying new manufactured displays, not to mention more interesting! Just click on the titles to go to the shop listings.

Vintage jewelry displays:
How cute is this! A ladder earring holder with a kitten at the top:


Large expandable vintage jewelry boxes are great for craft shows. Wow I love this one!:

I love these little compact ones for the most precious items:

Here are some vintage items not intended for display but which work really well!:

I have one of these hat/mug racks on my wall for holding necklaces. I took it apart, painted it white with leftover house paint and put it back together.With ten knobs there is lots of room for necklaces and the shape is good for holding long ones.

These were designed to hold small mugs but are great for display. I could see a little forest of them for holding earrings and short necklaces at craft shows. You can paint them all the same color with metallic paint - just sand them lightly and clean with alcohol before.

Vintage dishes make unique jewelry displays. This one is gorgeous and would be great for holding small pieces like rings:

These tiered serving trays are great for saving space. You could hold rings on this one and hang earrings from the edges:
 

Just plain unusual but brilliant: Old bed springs! This one is sold as a set of six.
You could put a bunch of these on a wall for a funky effect! These could also be sanded and painted with metallic paints.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as apple racks but this is would be great for holding earrings:

I'm not sure what this would have been used for but it's great for necklaces and bracelets:

If you're a pack rat you can start using some of those hidden treasures, you just need to wear your green thinking hat and start finding new uses for all that stuff! Here are some unique upcycled displays:

These frames are a great ideas! Just use a staple gun and hot glue to hold a stitching canvas or other type of screen inside an old frame.
 

Add hinges between two identical frames to make it stand on it's own:

This awesome jewelry tree is made from  recycled scraps of steel pipe and heavy gauge steel wire!



Check out this amazing vintage briefcase jewelry display!
Vintage briefcase with hooks made from old forks and spoons and mesh salvaged from beekeeping containers!

Here are some standard store type displays but made with recycled and upcycled materials:


Here's another type of design to show off necklaces. Made from upcycled laminate flooring and reclaimed wood.

Shiny black necklace display made from recycled steel:

This one has a beautiful Victorian feel made from recycled vintage components : 
 

Here are some handy search terms if you want to go treasure hunting!:
Vintage, Recycled, Reclaimed, Upcycled, Eco-friendly, Jewelry holder, Stand, Display, Rack.

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Spring Fever

 

I just came back from the botanical gardens and in their commercial greenhouse was a beautiful scent that I haven't smelled since last Spring - Paperwhites and Hyacinths. There is nothing quite as divine as having fragrant Spring bulbs blooming indoors while outside the snow and ice still cover the ground. I truly have a love affair with fragrant white flowers and the association with Spring is inevitable. Snow drops, white Hyacinths, Lily-of-the-Valley, Easter Lilies, Apple blossoms...

Living in a place with such harsh winters Spring with it's snow drops poking out of the snow and vibrant green buds pushing out of bare branches is always a magical experience.

These next vintage selections will have to pull me over until the real thing...


These would also be amazing for a vintage style wedding! Instead of buying something mass produced which may be worn by many brides, vintage is eco-friendly and you can find some amazing one-of-a kind items. How many of these items have you seen being worn by brides lately?



Faux ivory pin with rhinestone


Lacy flower filigree necklace


Creamy white bouquet necklace


I can almost smell the perfume these would have if they were real!


I can't wait to be able to buy little bouquets of Muguet again from the local farmers market! Another 3 months...

This bracelet was even pictured in a budding pot of Paperwhites! They are the easiest to force and yet I forgot to buy some last Fall:(

Need something beautiful to hold all that jewelry? Here's a gorgeous upcycled vintage wooden crate painted with a beautiful cherry blossom design:


There is also a plethora of vintage materials available to make your own spring jewelry. You can make many things easily without any in depth knowledge of the craft. Mix and match with old jewelry you've had forever but never wear.

These would be great for a long necklace. All you need is some string!


Large beads perfect on their own for earrings:


Love the creamy ivory color on these!


These delicate milk glass beads are already connected, just add a pendant and you're set!

Beautiful vintage cabochons are great: just glue a brooch pin on the back or glue them in a setting to make a pendant. You can even glue them on specially made ring blanks with flat pads.





Little ivory blooming branch


Check out Etsy's categories: Vintage Supplies, Supplies:Beads:Vintage and Supplies:Commercial:Vintage. Words I used to search for Spring themed materials: White, Floral, Ivory, Cream, Flower, Bud, Blossom, Bouquet, Bridal, Weddings. 

Here are some of the things I've made using uncirculated vintage materials:


 

 





Now I'm off to get me some of those Paperwhites before they sell out:)
Thanks for reading!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Giveaway winner!

Congratulations mframe00 you are my Valentine's Day giveaway winner!

Please message me with an address where I can send you these:


Winners have 48 hours to respond otherwise I will draw another winner so remember to check you spam folders :)

Thanks everyone for following my blog!