Wednesday, March 18, 2015

a dabble in jewelry repair

Last Easter I went to the island with my best pal Lindsay and we had a fantastic time soaking up all the Victoria loveliness (that I miss SO much since I've moved back to the semi-arid interior)! It turned out that there was a vintage fair going on that weekend in Sidney and I was extra excited to take Lindsay to one of my favourite events! I love checking out vintage goodies and it's even nicer when they are all hand-picked and sifted through so you aren't searching through piles of garbage! Yay! I picked up a few goodies including some vintage accessories and a bizarre triangular milk glass casserole dish (not pyrex - but too cute to leave behind).  I always flock towards the super deals and picked up a few items for a dollar or two a piece. When you're shelling out so little for these goodies they often need a little love - and this super quirky necklace was no exception.  It was missing a few of the coloured balls but I loved the crazy colour combination and shape so much that I figured I could fix it! It may have taken me almost a year to get to - but now all the bits are in tact and this pendant is ready to add to my outfits! Take a peek:


Ok, so if you look at it really close it's pretty obvious which balls I replaced - but here is a before picture for reference:


I felt like the missing pieces weren't SUPER obvious and I would wear the necklace regardless of its "not quite all there" character (because I can relate to that quite often).  Here's another look at the three circles that were missing: 


and the fixed pendant once more:


Hooray! It was a pretty simple fix all in all. Fraser made me teeny tiny little balls with some of his war hammer sculpting clay and then I painted them to match.  After they dried I just had to glue those babies in and bam! Perfect! Jewelry repair a success! What do you think? Do you ever buy things you plan to fix? How long does it take you to get around to them? 

4 comments:

  1. How clever to use sculpting clay to fix this, Kate! I think it looks fantastic, and I honestly had trouble distinguishing which balls were the replacement ones, even after you pointed them out! I'm trying not to buy things that need repairing anymore because I would mostly buy clothing that needed alteration ... and it takes me ages to get around to doing it! Although, I recently brought a dress that needed the straps taken up, and did it the next day! That's probably the fastest I've ever fixed anything ~___^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally know what you mean Lisa! I had a big pile of "to alter" clothing items and it was getting bit ridiculous. I've decided that if I buy something I want to fix/alter then I need to do it within 2 months of purchase - otherwise it gets the boot. I'm hoping it will reduce clutter and any of my spur of the moment "I could totally fix that" purchases that never work out.

      Delete
  2. No way! I have this EXACT same piece - in pin form!! I got it at Sears during my last year of high school or first year of uni... I'm also missing a few gems and one of the "arms" has the tip snapped off.. but it's so pretty! Now I'm really tempted to try fixing it up a bit... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's awesome!! I tried to research on where it was from but all I found was that a Canadian designed it and that it may or may not have been available for purchase through Avon. Good luck with your repairs Amanada!

      Delete