If you have a lot of vintage jewelry the best way to use it is to wear it, but sometimes it’s broken and unusable. In those cases, you can use the individual pieces as craft supplies to make artwork or other jewelry items. This article has some ideas for ways to use vintage jewelry, from wearing it in ways that are unexpected, to using them for projects.
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Handmade Jewelry.
Tre Sun jewelry makes handmade vintage jewelry like this striking art deco necklace using vintage components and modern chains and findings. You can make jewelry out of old vintage jewelry or shop from her shop to skip the making part of it! You’ll be able to find something that’s new, but also has a vintage feel to it, and that’s really unique. Shop the collections and check back to see what’s new, since the vintage designs sell out and new pieces are added on a regular basis.
To make new jewelry from old jewelry, you’ll need to get findings and some tools like needlenose pliers, plus superglue for some things. You can find supplies for that on Amazon using my list of supplies here: Things to use to make handmade jewelry
For an article about jewelry gifts that you can buy for your sister, click here.
Make wine glass charms.
Put individual beads or small earrings on wire, then use them as wine glass charms at your next party. Guests will be able to identify which glass is theirs based on which charm it has.
You can get blank wine glass charm loops on Amazon. Just add beads or earrings to them to make your own: Wine Glass charm blanks (ad)
Make napkin rings.
String loose vintage beads on elastic so that you can wrap them around cloth napkins. This will dress up your table at the next dinner party that you throw.
Get thin elastic to use for this here: Elastic thread on Amazon (ad)
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Make bookmarks.
Use a wide ribbon or a strip of leather, and pin a vintage brooch to it to create a pretty bookmark. I like to use velvet ribbon for this because it’s a little heavier than satin ribbon, and you can easily sew through it to attach the pieces of beads or jewelry.
You can get 1.5″ wide velvet ribbon on Amazon here: Velvet ribbon for bookmarks (ad)
Decorate belt buckles.
Add large vintage brooches to a belt buckle to glam it up. Use a strong craft glue or wire them on using floral wire so that they’re on securely and won’t fall off.
You can get blank belt buckles to decorate with glue or wire here on Amazon: Belt buckle blanks (ad)
Make magnets.
Take earrings or brooches that have had the backings removed and glue them onto magnets to use as a decorative fridge magnet. Made By Extracessity makes these, you can see them on Etsy. they make a pretty upgrade to your kitchen decor.
You can get magnets to make your own on Amazon here: Small magnets for crafting (ad)
Use earrings as shoe brooches.
Clip vintage earrings onto the front of a plain pair of ballet flats to make them into a dressier option. If you want to make it permanent you can sew them on using an upholstery needle and thread.
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Vintage jewelry.
If you really want to upgrade your look, just wear your vintage jewelry, like this necklace from Des Des Vintage. There’s no reason why you can’t just wear the jewelry as it was intended to be worn, and it will give your style a stamp that nobody else can copy.
Embellish flower pots.
Glue a large vintage brooch to a flowerpot to decorate it and make it a little prettier!
Make curtain tiebacks.
Vintage brooches make a nice embellishment on curtain tiebacks, and all you need to use is a satin ribbon with the brooch pinned on. Or if you have rope tiebacks already, you can just clip the brooch onto the rope to add a little decorative element.
Make bracelets from old earrings and charms.
Use a chain bracelet and wire old earrings or charms onto it to make a decorated bracelet that’s unique to you. You can even recycle an old chain bracelet and embellish it with other pieces of vintage jewelry to make a mashup of vintage pieces.
You can get bracelet blanks for a variety of styles on Amazon. Some have basic loops that you can string beads onto, some have plates to glue things onto, and there are also leather bracelets that you can sew beads onto if you have an upholstery needle and strong hands!
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Make a bouquet.
You can use vintage brooches to make bridal bouquets, but you can also make them to display in little pots around your house!
Start with a styrofoam ball that’s about the size of the pot you’re going to use, or a little smaller.
Cover it with a piece of fabric that’s a neutral color.
Insert the brooches into the Styrofoam ball using the pins from the backs. If you want to glue on broken ones that will work, but using the pins will give you the flexibility of removing them to reposition them the way that you want to. If you want to make it permanent you can glue them in place once you decide on the arrangement.
Put the arrangement into a little flowerpot when you’re done and display it to show off your brooch collection!
Restring beads to make a new necklace.
Take beads that are loose because the string broke, or that came from earrings or other jewelry, and restring them to make a unique design. Make sure to use a doubled-up string so that it gives you a little reassurance that the beads won’t fall off if the string breaks again!
Make hair clips.
Glue beads or old earrings onto a flat hair clip to make an embellished barrette. You can glue beads onto barrette blanks, or wire them on for a more secure connection. Get the blanks here on Amazon (ad)
For an article about what to make with paper beads, click here.
Decorate a keepsake box.
Glue loose vintage beads and brooches with the backings removed onto a plain wooden box to make an embellished box that you can give as a trinket box gift. You can get plain boxes on Amazon or at craft stores that you can embellish here: Box blanks for crafting (ad)
Make resin paperweights.
If you’re handy and have an outdoor space to use, you can embed vintage jewelry into resin to make paperweights. Make sure to have excellent ventilation when you’re working with resin, because it creates a lot of fumes!
Make a wreath.
Get a pine wreath or a wreath that’s wrapped with fabric and insert brooches into them to make a jeweled holiday wreath.
For a pine wreath, you can just clip the pins onto the branches!
Make suncatchers.
Hang vintage jewelry on heavy fishing wire and make suncatchers to hang in a kitchen window. If you use some that have colored jewels in them they’ll cast colorful sunbeams into the kitchen throughout the day.
Make a shadowbox.
If you have a lot of jewelry that belonged to a specific relative, you can create a shadowbox with their photo and put jewelry around it. It’s a nice way to remember someone, and it can be a family keepsake that you give to someone as a gift.
Make a pinboard design.
Do a quick search on Etsy for “jewelry art” to see the artwork that people have made using vintage and new jewelry, either whole pieces or the part of them. You can either buy one that’s made for you, or make one yourself! Use a pinboard that’s covered with a piece of fabric, then attach the jewelry using glue or the pin backings of the brooches.
Make drawer pulls.
Use some craft adhesive (I like Alene’s Ultimate Multi Surface) to glue earrings or small brooches onto flat drawer pulls. Give it time to dry, then add the pulls to furniture to give them an updated look.
This little brooch made a cute pull on a drawer on this little side table.
Make statement rings.
Glue or wire vintage earrings to a plain ring band with a round plate to support it. (You can get them on Amazon here: Ring bands for crafts. #ad) Use a strong adhesive like the Alene’s I mentioned above, and you’ll have a statement ring that’s one-of-a-kind. You can also wire the earrings onto the ring for more stability.
Decorate a lampshade.
Pin brooches to a fabric lampshade, or glue them around the edge to make a pretty decoration. If you put them on the shade itself the light will brighten them up when the lamp is turned on, so it could also make a pretty decoration both day and night.
Decorate a frame.
Experiment with putting small earrings or cufflinks like these in the photo above to decorate a wooden frame. When you like the placement, glue them on to make it permanent, and you’ll have a unique decorative frame. You could also put a photo of someone in the frame and use their jewelry to decorate it to make it a personal memento.