Jewelry Makeover - Episode 2 - The Hawkeye Necklace

This is the second 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?"

To see the first in the series click here.

The article is for my 'Hawkeye Necklace'. I live in Iowa where we love our gold and black Iowa Hawkeye sports teams. I was looking for something that  Hawkeye fans would like. Since this has been in show after show, and marked down multiple times, I obviously missed the mark.

Here is the before photo:

This was a mix of gold and black beads with a 'gold turquoise' donut pendant on black leather.

I cut the necklace apart and made the following necklace and earring set. I have the black beads and two of the orange rectangle beads left over.

The chain is natural brass and is nice and long - about 24.5". Perfect with a light sweater or turtleneck.  The earrings are also natural brass and use the matching crackle glass beads.

Here's another view of the necklace.

Hopefully you'll agree with me that the new design is better - but I would appreciate your comments either way.
If you enjoy these before and after articles please consider sharing my blog on twitter, facebook etc. I look forward to your comments.

Update as of November 16, 2011: This item sold at the first show it was displayed at -so the makeover was a success!