Thrifting 3.17.12

I didn't get to thrift a lot today unfortunately. I had a lot of running around to do. However I did manage to squeeze in a few minutes at one of my favorite shops. The only thing I found worth bringing home was earrings. I found a few pairs. Actually I found five pairs but got charged for six pairs.


These beauties are my favorite! I can't believe they were just sitting there. Funny thing is I have been seeing similar earrings popping up on youtube and blogland. I'm so glad I snatched these.


These are pretty big screwback earrings. They are vintage Napier.


These are vintage Gay Boyer. I have never heard of this designer, but the designer seems to be pretty big. I like the 3D effect of these dome earrings. I'm thinking about painting them.


I absolutely adore these as well. These are vintage Napier too. I love the knotted texture.


This pair is also Napier. As you can see I love circular earrings. I love the texture of these too.

I am in love with vintage earrings. And these pairs satisfied my appetite. I'm thinking about turning some of them into rings. I'm definitely going to turn the clip-ons into studs. Going to go clean them now!

DIY Leaf Ring

I ordered some brass leaves a while ago from Fancifuls, Inc to use to make some earrings. That never panned out. I was messing around the other night with the leaves and decided to make rings instead. It's a fairly simple process that makes a pretty stunning piece of jewelry. So let's get started.

All you will really need is a malleable metal finding or embellishment about 1.5" to 2.5" in width, your fingers, and pliers. My leaf is 2.25" from tip to tip.


Then start to bend both ends inward to curve into a ring shape.


Now take your pliers and slightly bend your ends, taking care not to push too much so that you don't poke it into your finger.

Shape your ring a little more. Try it on and make adjustments as needed. When I'm done I take the ring and roll it on a hard surface so that you smooth out some of the roughness of your handiwork.


Wear to your next outing!


This is what it looks like on the back:

Leather jewelry

So I have been working on things despite this absence. I've actually grown quite fond of leather a bit. I have this really eclectic style about me, but it works. I enjoy bold things as well as minimalist things as well, BUT if I had a choice it would be bold.
Anyway on with the projects!

My favorite jewelry is earrings. The bigger the better, I say. After googling leather earrings for hours and coming up with nothing, I finally decided to just come up with an idea of my own.


They are super big but lightweight. They measure about 3x3 not including the chain, and I grommeted a piece of alligator vinyl on top of the leather. Super soft! I've gotten tons of comments on them.

From the same piece of leather I also created a ring. Totally freehanded the circle (surprised that its even round!) I also put a brown eyelet in it. The diameter is about 2 inches across.



I took some super smooth turquoise leather and made bow earrings and a ring. The ring has a mustard piece of leather with a grommeted vintage sheet flower on top. Nice off-kiltered layered look.



Lastly I've been wanting to make a leather clutch. And I finally got a piece big enough to make one. It's actually sort of small but still big enough for essentials. It's made from soft aqua leather with a turquoise bird on the front and a vintage button closure on the back. I adore it. Can't wait to find more cool leather!!