Scrapbooking Tip: Use Broken Jewelry as Embellishments

I love to scrapbook and I also love to visit flea markets. The reason I am bringing up both today is because when I go to the flea market I look for items that I can use in my scrapbooking. Untraditional items that is!

Every time I walk by a table with jewelry on it...I am always looking. Often times I can pick up beautiful jewelry pieces to use as embellishments in my layouts. Even if a piece is broken, I usually pick it up for a nickle or a dime. They can still be used too!

In this particular wedding scrapbook page layout I used two pieces of jewelry. The blue glass heart is a pendant from a broken necklace and accenting the two photos on the left is a rhinestone blue & faux diamond pin. I just simply snipped the broken back off of it and used glue dots to put it onto the page.

All of my family and friends know I scrapbook and all of them save me their broken necklaces, earrings, rings, pins, brooches, bracelets and even charms that they no longer want. Instead of throwing them away, I collect them to use in various craft projects...like scrapbooking!

Here are a few tips:

1. Always try to use pieces that are not heavy in weight or bulky in their thickness.

2. Cut the backs off of your pins & brooches to make them less weighty & bulky. Use wire cutters to do this quickly and easily.

3. Clean all pieces and dry them thoroughly before putting them on your page.

4. To keep silver pieces from tarnishing, coat them in a thin layer of clear nail polish, a thin coating of Modge Podge (clear) or spray them with a clear acrylic sealer. I find that some of these techniques work better than others depending on the item.

5. Broken chains can be inserted through eyelets, through tags or just used to dangle a charm/pendant on the page. You can get a lot of mileage out of one broken neck chain!

6. Jewelry can be broken a part too! I often remove faux pearls, rhinestones & faux gemstones from various pieces and use them on my layouts separately. For example, they make great centers on your flower embellishments.

7. Experiment with adhesives! I like to use very strong-holding glue dots (for most) or a liquid glue pen with a very fine tip.

So spread the word to all of your friends and family members to NOT toss out their unwanted and broken jewelry. These items are great for scrapbooking and cardmaking.