Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Jewelry Makeover - Episode 4 - Silver Tubes & Black Onyx

This is the fourth in my series of taking old jewelry 'mistakes' and remaking them. These items include jewelry I made when I was first starting to bead, 9 years ago, or things that have simply been in many, many shows, or items that scream "What were you thinking?"  (scroll to the bottom of this page for links to more makeover posts)

This makeover is for a 2-strand necklace I made using sterling silver tube beads and black onyx round beads. The design was very simple, and at the time I made it, in style. However this piece never sold, even on the 'major sale' table. Now, the silver in the necklace has increased in price, making the components quite a bit more expensive. So - time to cut it apart and try again..
Here is the before photo:

Simple - and silver/black combos are always a great choice - but it wasn't going anywhere. So after cutting it apart and going through my stash of pendants I REALLY need to use up - I came up with these THREE necklaces - and I still have enough silver tube beads left to make 3-4 more!  Talk about extending the value of my components.


In addition to using pendants, I used some colored wire that I have had on hand for years. It is great wire, but I stopped stringing some time ago and have been wondering what I was going to do with it.

Each of these necklaces has exposed wire at the top, followed by a single strand of colored beads and sterling silver tubes - with a coordinating pendant. Fun, colorful, stylish and inexpensive.


This one is probably my favorite. It is made with a handpainted copper pendant. I had bought a number of these many years ago and just 'refound' this one. I would love to wear this with a white shirt and black pair of jeans.

As of August 16th, 2011 these necklaces are listed for sale in my Etsy store. Also a great place to see more photos of them:

Black and Silver Necklace   Blue hand-blown Glass pendant  Pink Acrylic Pendant

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please feel free to leave a comment - even if you don't like the new pieces.

Jewelry Makeover Episode 1
Jewelry Makeover Episode 2
Jewelry Makeover Episode 3

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice re-use of the original pieces... I like the black necklace best, too, though on second look, the one with the blue blown glass bead is really neat. <3 Good luck, I hope they get snapped up quick! :)

Rita said...

Great new necklaces! Love recycling stuff!

Honey from the Bee said...

I've been following your series and it's been nagging me to do the same with some of mine that haven't sold and are looking a bit dated. You're inspiring! It's hard isn't it to take what you've made a part?