Revive your jewelry collection in 5 easy steps!

And keep it in ready-to-wear condition

No woman wants to crack open her jewelry box in a rush and find pieces broken, tangled, tarnished and missing parts! Here’s the vision and goal of this post: A jewelry box or hanging pouch that has only well organized, easy-to-see jewelry that is all in great condition, fits well, and is ready to wear at a moment’s notice! Decluttering and reorganizing your jewelry collection is bound to give you that amazing “retail therapy” feeling without even spending a dollar.

 Step 1 – Review and sort your jewelry collection

Dig it out, ladies and go through it, sorting it into various groups…. I recommend first pulling out the pieces you wear often that are perfect just as they are. The next obvious grouping is pieces that are broken or otherwise unwearable. If pieces have been sitting in your jewelry box unworn for a long time, consider whether they just don’t fit, or perhaps you just don’t like part of all of it.

Bracelets that are too big can catch and fall off without you noticing, especially when you’re changing clothes. If that happens while in a store changing room, you risk losing the piece altogether! Necklaces that are too big or too small, never the right length, you just don’t wear, along with your collection of broken jewelry you can’t wear, just take up space, and add to your jewelry clutter. (While I didn’t adopt all of the ideas in the book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” I absolutely loved it, enjoyed reading it and you can apply the de-cluttering concepts to your jewelry box too!) If your pieces of jewelry no longer bring you joy, clear them out! Beaded chains and earring loops, pendants and clasps can all get tangled and mangled in a messy, cluttered jewelry box and lead to breakage! So there’s no point in keeping stuff there you have no intention of actually wearing. So sort your jewelry mess into these 4 groups:

1.       Perfect as is, worn often

2.       Don’t like anymore, giveaway

3.       Broken, needs repair

4.       Parts are great, but changes are needed (remodel potential)

Step 2 - Fix / adjust / repair/ remodel pieces that no longer work for you

 You may want to gift some pieces to friends or loved ones that will appeal to them and fit. Toss items that no longer carry sentimental or monetary value. And contact ME about pieces that just don’t fit right, need a broken part replaced or have potential to become new gorgeous remodeled jewelry! Oh, “what’s that?” you say…

Remodeling, is when I take pieces of jewelry you don’t like/don’t fit/don’t wear, and turn them into your favourite new jewelry! I can break apart that chain of old fashioned pearls someone you love gave you, add crystals and sterling silver, make it the right length for the dress you can never find the perfect necklace for, and make jewelry styling magic. This is just an example, but really, I can work with anything that has a hole in it. I’ve taken several broken or poorly made pieces from a client’s clutter collection and created some pretty neat jewelry from it! So as your sort, consider the elements in each piece, as opposed to the entire piece, add jewelry with great elements you still love, to you remodeling pile.

Certainly, if you’ve purchased a piece of My Beading Art jewelry that isn’t currently the right fit, or needs a repair, please get in touch with me so we can revive it! If it’s just a matter of shortening or lengthening a bit, there may not even be a charge for that!

If you notice your beaded stretchy bracelet seems looser than when you first got it, reach out and I will happily re-string it for you. Again, there’s often no charge (other than postal fees) for this type of service to my own work, and a very reasonable fee on jewelry that originated from another designer or store.

 Step 3 - Organize and pack according to frequency of use

I recommend sorting pieces into your most commonly worn pieces, pieces you would wear only with certain “medium rotation” outfits, maybe colour themed? And the third group would be special occasion jewelry, like very high end, dressy or glamourous pieces since your day-to-day style is very casual. Your categories or groups may differ, but chances are, you don’t need it all equally handy. Look for cute boxes or containers already in your home you can reuse to sort them into. Just remember to label them!

Step 4 - Cleaning

Pieces that have sterling silver in them and even silver plated components may tarnish easily if left exposed to the air for long periods of time. Tucking them into airtight pouches will cut down on that, and if you have anti tarnish tabs or strips, even better! (My amazing mom originally bought these for me for my fancy silver plated cutlery I got as part of my wedding registry.) If you keep your jewelry in one of those hanging pocket organizers, small pouches available in the craft section of dollar stores work well. They are like mini sandwhich baggies. Place anti-tarnish tabs in the pouches with your jewelry. I usually include a tab with the purchase of a mostly sterling silver necklace, bracelet or anklet. They are available online at place like Amazon.

When pieces do get tarnished and need a touch up, my favourite jewelry cleaning product is the Weiman Silver Wipes! They are perfect for cleaning sterling silver, silver plate and other metals too, so very handy to have in your home for multiple uses. You can buy them at Canadian Tire and other big box stores and online retailers as well. Make a point of cleaning a bunch of pieces at once and then when dry and shiny, tuck them into clear pouches so they are ready to wear. One thing to note though, some sterling silver may have oxidized silver parts (the blackened grooves of these silver twist beads or the letter beads in the photo above) and you don’t want to remove that defining detail. So for those products, a jewelry cleaning cloth is a better choice.

Step 5 - Play and plan

Now that you remember all the great pieces in your collection, they are primed and ready to wear, have some fun trying them on with different wardrobe choices so you can figure out which pieces look best with various outfits. You may have bought new clothes since you last had some of the necklaces, bracelets and earrings out, so it might be fun to compare them with the colours and tones of certain clothes and see what looks good together. Neckline is another important factor to consider. It’s a good idea to mentally “pair” a dress or top with a lower cut neckline with a medium to long necklace, and a crewneck with a shorter or choker length necklace. Depending on the colour, texture and pattern of a blouse or shirt, a longer necklace may look awesome over top of it, too. If you constantly have a pendant that almost disappears into your cleavage, you may want to get that shortened a bit! Without time to play and plan, you’ve probably tried that piece on many times, and just ended up putting it back in your jewelry box!

I hope this helps you revive and re-appreciate your current jewelry collection!