My grandmother, Granny, always wore the most ridiculous, over the top jewelry. She didn’t care if it was the proper occasion or not. To Granny it was always time for some large jewels. The more the merrier! The tackier the better!!! When she passed away it was a no brainer that her huge collection of costume jewelry go to me. I fell deeply  in love with this cameo brooch. I tried several times to try to wear it out and about in NYC but it just never worked with my outfits. It is very hard to rock a brooch if you are under the age of 35.

My roomie at the time, Ashley DeZeeuw, had this side business where she would take anything she could find and make them into rings: buttons, beads, stray earrings. Basically if it has a type of hole to weave a wire through, she was crafting gorgeous rings out of them and selling them at auditions (I swear every Rockette bought one!).  I asked Ash if she could make this heavy brooch into a ring. But of course!!!! Let’s

 This ring has turned into one of my go to statement pieces!

Here’s how to make a brooch into a ring. Tools you’ll need:

Pliers

20 Gauge Tarnish Free  Jewelry Wire

Ring Mandrel

(If you don’t want to buy a mandrel-no problem! Use a lip gloss tube or anything that is the size of a finger.)

HOW TO DO IT! 

Use the pliers to pry off the back pin on the brooch. Now all you have is the decorative facade. Next, wrap the wire 3-4 x around the mandrel. Using the pliers, cut the wire leaving a large part left to go back & tightly wrap around the entire ring. When you’ve wrapped the entire ring, clip the wire & tuck the end.

Now you’re ready to connect the brooch to the ring. Clip a long piece of wire  (around a foot long). Weave the wire creatively through the holes in the brooch. Take each end of the wire & tightly connect to the ring with about 2 wraps. Once connected, wrap the rest of around the base of the brooch as many times as desired to give it that chic look & to hide the messy connection part.  Once you are done wrapping, clip & tuck again! Viola!!!!!

Let’s see this ring in action! Here’s some pics from my “Dirty Vegas” Party. What a success!!!!

Rocked the ring at the “Bloggers Night Out” party during New York Fashion Week. 

What a fun night! To read about the ‘Bloggers Night Out’ blog click here!On a million occasions I’ve worn this ring but seem to always to wear it on my right hand  then pose with it on my hip blocked by a friend. (Sorry guys. It’s my good side. You understand). Regardless, I hope this has made you think about making scrap buttons, earrings and broken jewelry into something fab!!!!! It will be a one-of-a-kind piece! Hop on it and watch the rave reviews roll in!!!!!! xoxo, Loftiss

***

Might also like: “How YOU Can wear red lipstick”

“Make an outfit out of your ex’s shirt”

***

Please leave your thoughts and follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram