Vintage Charms

I hate to say "I told ya so!" but raiding Grandma's jewelry box has never been so bank! I found these vintage clip-on earrings and brooches at a small boutique in Bismarck, North Dakota. It won't be long until these beauties are pinning up pictures of friends and to-do lists on the fridge or at the office in their reincarnate life as a magnet.

When choosing the costume jewelry, I tried to stay in a familiar color family; whites, golds, silver. Most clip-ons come in a pair, (unless Grandma lost them doing the chicken dance at her nieces wedding last May,) that way you can seperate them into small groups to display, as shown. In my most recent find I will have 2 groups of smaller magnets to make and the middle brooch I will make into a wine stopper by recycling a used cork.

Pictured to the left are the backs of the grouped clip-ons I found. Most clip-on backs are made of flimsy and probably loose metal that can easily be pryed off using a standard pair of pliers. Try to get as much as a flat surface as possible. Buy a baggie of magnets that will fit behind your jewelry but will not peek out from the sides when turned over. Hot glue gun or use Gorilla glue to attach the magnet to the piece of jewelry. As with all glue make sure it sets for at least 24 hours, and pressure from a book never hurt them either for extra strength.

Group in a cluster on your fridge to hold up that picture of you and the gals sipping wine or simply let them stand alone for added decadence to your kitchen or drab cubicle!

As for the wine stopper, follow the same instructions with the brooch as far as prying off the pin parts on the back. Buy a cork, or better yet recycle one from the last Pinot Noir you polished off. If you are going to use this as a stopper then go ahead and shave a teensy bit of cork from the side at the very bottom. Be careful not to shave too much as you want the stopper to serve its purpose. This makes it easier to use the stopper on multiple types of bottles.

Fortunately, because the clip-ons come in pairs, these make great gifts! Keep a set for yourself and treat your friend to a slice of vintage heaven! Now, go find an assortment of brooches-turned-wine stoppers and set out a few wine options for your friends at your next holiday soirie'. You and the bedazzled (yes, I used that word) bottles will be the talk of the cocktail party town!