Repurposing the Past

My grandmothers passed away two years ago within five weeks of each other. My one grandmother had Alzheimer's and I had been caring for her for the previous six years. Needless to say, my attic has been full of her things, despite two previous auctions. The things left are things that I just can't part with or that I have no idea what to do with - a pair of water skis from the 1960's for example.

When cleaning out the attic this last fall, I came across a box of Grandma's costume jewelry. Luckily, I had been to visit a friend of mine a month before and had seen a necklace in which the artists used vintage beads and miscellaneous finds to create a new shabby chic styled necklace. I had a new vision for these old pieces of jewelry!!!

The ribbon and roses created from the ribbon are new as are all the big beads in the top strand. There are also three other new things on this necklace. Can you find them? I hope not! The middle strand of pearl beads were founds at the bottom of a box, the string on them broken many years ago. By re purposing her brooches, clip-on earrings, and broken bead strands, I have a new set of jewelry I adore. Not to mention the nostalgia of not just a time long gone, but also of my grandma.

Pom Rosette Necklace

Little Miss Momma (see previous post) had other ideas for using the rosette pom poms. Again, using leftover flower girl fabric, I made a necklace. Since I didn't have the right kind of chain in my crafting supply, this project cost about $3 for me to make. This was a simple no-sew project. For instructions, click here:

http://littlemissmomma.blogspot.com/2010/12/pom-pom-bib-necklace-tutorial-lmm.html

Little Miss Momma made hers more into a v-shape and I'm wishing now I'd had just a little bit more curve to my project. Since it didn't have as much curve, I cut some white cardboard and glued it to the back followed by flat left-over fabric circle. So the cardboard is sandwiched between the felt and another fabric layer. I probably could have just cut a piece of fabric in the same shape as the cardboard, but why not use the fabric circle scraps I had left over??? Anyways, the cardboard gives the necklace plenty of structure.

One other change, my middle two rosette poms are smaller. I tried just making a smaller felt circle base, but it didn't make the top of the rosette smaller, just less full (took this "mistake" and made it into a headband!). So, to get these two smaller rosettes, I had to both make my base felt circle and my fabric circles smaller. Each of the larger rosettes is different as I varied the netting and organza combinations. The center large rosette is fabric only. It's my favorite. I wouldn't use the organza again - or at least not in that color as it made it too princess-y.

This project I'm keeping for me - hands off daughters! Now, if only I could figure out what to wear it with! Ideas???

Pom Headband

I got this idea from a blog recommended to me by another friend. Check it out for a tutorial on how you can do this, too!

http://littlemissmomma.blogspot.com/2010/08/scrunch-fabric-flower-pom-pom.html

I used leftover fabric from the flower girl dresses I made last May. My middle daughter wants to wear it for the Valentine's Party on Monday. I might have to dig down and see if I can find some red fabric in my stash for the older one, although she's sick so we're just hoping she gets to make it to the party!

I varied this pom a little bit in that I added some netting - still in the same manner as the rest of the pom, but it added some edge and texture. I also used a no-slip rubber headband as opposed to an elastic one - just cause that's what was lying around in the house. This band cost me nothing - I just used fabric and felt scraps and a headband we already had! LOVE THAT!