5 Beautiful Ways to Repurpose Vintage Brooches

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Mary Hood | 0 Comments

Barbara Michelle Jacobs Jewelry Fringe Tree Circle Pin

Once a relic of the past, brooches now seem ubiquitous. From creative DIY project to haute couture runways, these sparkly pins are jazzing up clothing, jewelry, and even wedding ’dos. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a fortune to have fun with brooches. Many antique stores offer a selection of vintage brooches at a range of price points. Whether you’re using costume jewelry brooches or priceless family heirlooms, there’s no shortage of clever ways to show off your brooch. Here are just a few: 

1. Frame a brooch for unique wall art.

Old frames and old jewelry can be repurposed into beautiful art for your home. For a country-rustic look, paint your frames with a chalk paint and then distress the painted frames with sandpaper. See more ideas for this vintage brooch wall art tutorial by Maple and Magnolia.

2. Fashion a stunning brooch necklace.

For a glamorous, one-of-a-kind necklace, collect your old brooches (and earrings with openwork designs) and string them together with a thick, high-quality ribbon.

Getting started: In her brooch necklace tutorial, Martha Stewart suggests using needle nose pliers to carefully remove the pins from the brooches. Sand down any sharp points so they don’t ruin clothing (or scratch you!). For a more uniform look with a pretty patina, the brooches may be lightly sprayed with a copper spray paint. Before adding the brooches and earring to the ribbon, connect brooches with metal jump rings.

3. Decorate a plain sweater or blouse.

Spiff up a simple top by lining the collar with vintage brooches in the style of this look from Dolce & Gabanna’s Fall 2015 runway look. Just be sure you’re pinning brooches to fabric that’s sturdy enough to support them. If you would like to make your brooches look a little more vintage or antiqued, follow the DIY patina technique in this Martha Stewart tutorial.

4. Create a multi-strand bracelet by linking several smaller bracelets together with a large brooch. 

If you’ve got a large brooch on hand, you can use it as the centerpiece of a multi-strand bracelet. Read more about the process at the crafty blog, The Pursuit of Happiness.

5. Turn your vintage brooch into “something old” for your wedding day.

Wear a brooch in your up-do instead of a veil, as seen in this post on Wedding Veil Alternatives.  Here’s a helpful tutorial on how to turn a brooch into a hair comb. You can also add a brooch to a veil and secure with hair pins for a glamorous, vintage look.

 Have you repurposed a vintage brooch in a creative way? 

Posted in brooch, brooches, decor, DIY, vintage, wedding, wedding hair

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