If you are lucky, that relic from the past might be the most valuable piece of jewelry in your neglected jewelry box, which means that you might get some money from selling that old brooch or old pin.
But this isn’t always the case, and there are times when the old brooch is a piece of jewelry that could be repurposed, meaning that you could have something nice out of that otherwise old and drab piece of jewelry.
So, if you are looking for ideas on how to transform that old relic from the past, you will be happy to know that this article offers insightful and creative ideas on how to transform and upcycle your old brooches and pins. The best of these ideas are shared below:
Oh, we also provide some information on what to do with your old class rings, old Charm bracelets and old Necklaces.
What to do with old pins and brooches
- Framing the brooch into a unique piece of wall art
If you have old frames, the best way for you to make the best out of the old jewelry would be repurposing that old piece of jewelry, as well as the old and somewhat rustic frame, into a beautiful piece of art. This recreation into the best country-rustic look from the painting of the frame with chalk paint and the creation of a distressed look from the use of sandpaper and the incorporation of the unique brooch result in the best kind of art you could have in your home.
To create that one-of-a-kind piece of art, you might want to place the ‘art pieces’ (brooches) against a black felt background. This black background will also give you a lot more freedom of design, especially because the brooches would be easily pinned on the frame before you frame them.
If you have a number of butterfly pins or brooches, for example, these pieces can be set up on that wall frame beautifully and with great ease. Keep in mind that the placement of the brooches is also important. For a formal look, place the brooches in a straight line, and for a casual look, the pieces can be placed more randomly.
- Use that stunning brooch to make a brooch bracelet.
If you are into big, unique, statement pieces of jewelry, then a glamorous bib necklace crafted out of the big brooches might be the best thing for you. The stunning brooches can be put together into one piece of jewelry that comes together into a unique piece necklace. You only need to collect all your old brooches and even earrings, then string them all together using a thick and high-quality ribbon.
There are many online tutorials to guide you on how to make the perfect brooch bracelet, but all you need to do is first find the perfect brooches to string together.
Just make sure to remove the pins from your brooches carefully, then sand down all the sharp points on the brooch before stringing them all together.
You’ll also need to find the best metal jump rings to hold the pieces together.
- Use the brooches to decorate your plain outfits.
If you have a plain top or sweater that needed a little extra color, then you could easily add color and life to these plain outfits by decorating them with brooches—Line the corner of the outfit with your vintage pieces.
But just be careful not to overdo it – you would be tempted to have too many of these brooches on your clothes because they’d look too tacky. Get a few brooches attached to your plain clothes, and be sure that you pin the brooches to the fabric sturdily to ensure the best support for the brooches.
Also, make sure that the brooches are from one era for that stylish and fashion-forward look.
- Curate multi-strand bracelets
You could create the best multi-strand bracelets by linking several pieces of the smaller bracelets and then link these pieces together with the larger brooch. You can use different bracelets made of pearls, beads, and CZ stones, with the brooch as the centerpiece. This is a simple craft that allows you to express yourself best and in the simplest of ways.
- Vintage brooch-turned hairpieces
One of the simplest and the best uses of old brooches and pins is its use in and as hairpieces. The brooch would be a perfect fit for your hair on your wedding day or any other special occasion. You could also wear the brooch into an up-do, and instead of using a veil, you could have the brooch in its place.
So, if you have one or more of your grandmother’s wonderful brooches and would like to create gorgeous decorative hairpieces, then the brooch will be the perfect accessory to turn your bad hair day into the best hair day ever. For the best look and because you don’t want the brooch to pull and tug at your hair, you might want to replace the pin’s hardware with a comb for the perfect fit/ transformation. You will be happy to know that this DIY transformation is quite simple and fast.
- Create a Fetching Frame of Reference
This is the other thing you could do to reuse and upcycle your old pins and brooches is to use the brooches as the frames of reference – think of this as a worthy accessory that holds your special photographs in place.
The vintage or antique brooches create a unique antique vibe, while the delicacy of the brooches makes the framed pieces valuable.
All you need to do is to glue the brooches to each of the four corners of the frame, and just like that, you’d have the picture-perfect frame.
- Come up with romantic notions
This might be the easiest thing to do yet – the reason for this is that creating a brooch-embellished candle holder could be the easiest thing for you to do.
First, paint the candle holders or use a color-coordinated thread around the candle holder, then glue the brooches in place.
Use hot-glue, then attach the brooches to beautify the candle holders. Besides adding meaning to the candle holders, the brooches add a lot of character and style to your decorative jewelry pieces. 2 or 3 of these pieces will complete your home’s décor quite elegantly.
- Curtain tiebacks
How about letting in more light into the room by using a pair of antique brooches to hold up your window treatments.
The bigger brooches are elegant, and with the right kind of stringing in place, these tiebacks will be the most thoughtful and uniquely functional accessories to work as tiebacks.
These brooches are essential in adding nice finishing touches to pretty much all spaces. Note that you could also match the stones on the brooches to your home’s décor and color scheme.
- Beguiling bracelets
Brooches make customized and very pretty bracelets. With the decorative pin attached to the bracelet or a braided suede string, the brooch will a nice flair to a simple bracelet. For the best look, make sure to pair the brooch with a solid-colored bracelet, hence the perfect fashion jewelry piece.
- Embellish your tote
You could also use your brooches to embellish your tote, creating a trendy piece. Depending on the size of the bag, you will need about 5 or 6 of the brooches, all affixed on the bag, either randomly, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. To ensure that the bag looks elegant, keep the brooches oriented.
Conclusion
If you were looking for inspiration around the use of pins and old brooches, the ideas above are some of the best for you to try because they all ensure the most elegant use of your older accessories.
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Stephanie is a jewelry lover when she was a teenager. Her major was fashion design when she was in college. She is a jewelry designer at SOQ Jewelry and other design companies. Now she is also a writer for our website. She writes a lot of designs&brands posts with very actionable tips.