Vintage Earring Bracelets

Here's another treat for the vintage jewelry fans...

I have been holed up in my cozy studio this winter,

taking apart someone's sweet Grandmother's "glamorous" earrings 

to create bracelets that might actually be worn today.

I like to think I rescued the earrings from the dusty bins in the antique mall 

where they were thrown together with all the other grandmother's earrings and pins and brooches. 

The scent of lingering perfume from long ago still wafted in the air as I sifted through the bins

hunting for just the right combinations.

And believe me, I had to kiss a lot of frogs to find these pretty sets.

I've shown you several other bracelets this month- 

you can see the silver one here and the warm, cinnamon toned one here.

This new pearly, vintage goldtone bracelet is my current favorite...

I hear gold is finally back.

I'm ready!

I love the pearls and the giant rhinestones mixed together.

Lots of sparkle,  

lots of Bling!

Once again, I added a little crystal charm onto the end of the chain for a finished look-

the Aurora Borealis color blends well with the gold and pearls.

Aren't these pretty little pieces of art? 

I have a dressy Luncheon to attend this weekend 

and I'll be sporting this sparkly bracelet,

making a "Statement"!

Update:  

I added this blue bracelet to my collection 

after finding a jackpot of earrings while antiquing this weekend!

It's a beauty and will go so well when I want to dress up in my jeans!

Linking to:

Time Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable
Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create!
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Hooking Up with House of Hepworths
A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot
Be Inspired Friday at Common Ground
Fabulously Creative Linky Party at Jennifer Rizzo
Feather Your Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Cowgirl Up Link Party at Cedar Hill Ranch
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm
Pretty Things Link Party at Twelveoeight
Knick of Time Tuesday at Knick of Time Interiors
Tutorials and Tips Link Pary at HomeStories AtoZ
Time To Shine Party at A Diamond in the Stuff
Show Me What You Got at Not Just A Housewife
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Vintage Earring Bracelet #2!

I recently showed you a bracelet that I made using some vintage clip earrings

that I took apart and glued back together to make a bracelet.

I have collected vintage earrings in several different colorways-

I made this bracelet using the earrings in the top row.

I think this goldy center earring ties them all together nicely.

Sort of earthtones and antique brass and a little bit of sparkle

and that's always good!

Interesting details on these earrings.  

I had to add the little charm bead on the tail end, too. 

It finishes things off more attractively

and gives the chain a bit of weight that helps with working the clasp.

It was a nice change from the silver findings I usually work with.

This one will be fun to wear!

Linking to:
Cowgirl Up Link Party at Farmhouse Porch
Metamorphosis Monday at Uncommon Design
Pretty Things Link Party at TwelveOeight
Knick of Time Tuesday at Knick of Time
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
That DIY Party at DIY Showoff

Gorgeous Classic Kitchen Renovation

You're in for a treat today!

A gorgeous, classic kitchen renovation, 

with Before and After Pictures.

This is a recently completed project for a delightful couple

with wonderful taste 

and I enjoyed every minute of working with them.

In fact, I could move right in...

After many years in this home, Jayne and Rich were ready for a new kitchen.

It was not really a bad kitchen, since they had taken such good care of it.

Just a bit dated and in need of a better layout and some upgrades.
New cabinets, countertops, tile and appliances were in order.



Here's a before shot of the kitchen:

And After-

I love the mix of white cabinets and warm wood on the island.

We moved the ovens to another wall 

to allow more space for the cooktop and a decorative hood.

I think the niche above the cooktop turned out to be so charming!

Don't you love the tile work?

And the scalloppy valance?

Here's a view showing the ovens moved to the other wall

and new panels on the refrigerator doors.

All of the soffits in the kitchen were removed.

This allowed us to use taller cabinets with glass mullioned doors at the top.

And lots of nice, wide crown moulding to top them off.

Bye, bye 1980's!  Hello, Gorgeous!

(The granite was salvaged for use in the newly remodeled laundry room.)

Nice little nook for a coffee bar.

We went with a drawer style microwave -

these are one of the best new ideas in the appliance world.

Microwaves, dishwashers and refrigerators are all being made in a drawer style now.

This keeps the countertops clear and the wall cabinets freed up for storage.

Not to mention how nice they look and how efficiently they operate...

Here is the microwave in the island, before:

And now:

It's much higher up, there's no bending over to see what's inside 

and it glides opens and closes at the touch of a button.

Deluxe!

The sink got a fancy new cabinet base 

and a scallopped toe kick valance and half columns to set it off.

Beautiful new granite tops the island and the perimeter countertops.

And the tile...

Let's talk about the backsplash tile.

It's called Tantrum, from Sonoma Tilemakers

and it is beyond gorgeous.

It's a mix of colors and textures

with gorgeous crackly glass centers.

It actually looks kind of delicious...

It adds texture and warmth and a little color.

We sprinkled a little of the Tantrum tile in the backsplash in the new bar area, too.

Gloomy day, hard to get good lighting...

Here's the bar area, before, when it was an underused desk:

Lots of wonderful decorative details...

New hardware, too.

Jayne has this great geometric fabric picked out for a valance above the sink.

It will be the perfect finishing touch, adding some softness to the room.

We talked about replacing or painting the stools around the island,

 but I think I love them now, 

just the way they are.

 I think it's all Just*Grand!



Linking to:
Time to Shine Party at A DIamond in the Stuff
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Monday Funday at Uncommon Designs
Feather Your Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo
Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Vintage Earring Bracelet

Can you stand another post about jewelry?

I hope so...

I saw a post recently on a blog called Dishfunctional Designs 

about making bracelets out of vintage things like buttons and beach glass and earrings

(click here to see all the amazing ideas)

and thought I would try to make one of my own.

I love costume jewelry- You may remember my collection of vintage basket pins 

or my Christmas tree pins.

Now, it seems, I have gone on to collect earrings.

I went antiquing with Kim of County Line Road on New Years Day.  

It's an annual EVENT for us, something we look forward to every year.  

Click here to see what Kim scored that day....

So Jealous....

I spent our day together sorting through trays of vintage jewelry, looking for earrings that I liked 

and that would coordinate with each other to make a pretty bracelet.  

That was harder than you might think.  

There are a lot of ugly old earrings out there.

I did come up with enough pretty earrings to make four bracelets, 

some in silver tones and some in gold.  

Here are the silver toned earrings- before I started to tear them apart for the bracelet:

Here are the goldtone earrings I collected for this project:

Here's a closeup of some of the silver ones.  So pretty.

Lots of detail in each earring.

Little works of art.

Here's the finished bracelet!

I pried the backs off of each earring and glued them to bracelet blanks 

and then linked them together.

That's as much of a tutorial as I am going to do here.  

I find that pictures of projects in progress are often kind of ugly 

and I certainly can't have that!

The link above to Dishfunctional Designs 

contains all the info you need to make your own.

Of course, I had to add a little charm bead to the end of the chain.  

I did this on the last two bracelets I showed you, too. You can see them here and here.

The charms on the ends make a nice polished look.

I love using vintage things in a new way.  

I would never wear any of these earrings as earrings- too grandma for me- but I will wear this bracelet.  

It sure makes a statement.

  Darling Daughter tells me "Statement" jewelry is all the rage.  

It's good to have these youngsters around to tell us what's cool!


Linking to:
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours
Winter Blues Wednesday at DIY by Design
Primp Your Stuff Linky Party at {Primp}
Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create
Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable
Thursdays Are Your Days at 52 Mantels
Time Travel Thursdays at Brambleberry Cottage
Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse
Be Inspired at Common Ground
Fabulously Creative Linky Party at Jennifer Rizzo
Frugal Fridays at The Shabby Nest
Monday Funday at Creatively Living
Monday Link Up at Craft-O-Maniac
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
The Sunday Showcase Party at Stephanie Lynn
Time to Shine Party at A Diamond in the Stuff
Metamorphosis Monday at between Naps on the Porch
Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
That DIY Party at DIY Showoff