Many years ago I acquired some old costume jewelry from a few different family members. It sat in an old quart jar for years. I would run across it at times and wonder what I could do with the pieces it contained? I would open the jar, pour out the contents to reminisce and wonder about the women, the lives they led, and the jewelry that once belonged to them.

Then a few years ago, I also started another collection of old vintage vanity mirrors with the intent to hang them in a grouping on a wall in our home (This project is still in the collecting stage, hopefully to be another blog post someday). One day as I had the mirrors laying on the floor trying to figure out different patterns of how to arrange them, the thought came to mind . . . I know what to do with the costume jewelry!!!!

Each year for the past few years, Ron and I have invited my two sisters and their husbands to our home for a “Sister’s Dinner” usually in December. We don’t live far from one another, but life tends to get in the way, and we don’t see each other often enough. I begin planning months in advance a special gift personalized for each one.

The thought that came a few years ago, was to choose the jewelry pieces from the jar that matched each sister’s taste and personality. One would be pearls, and earth tone crystals, the other would be in all different shades of blue. I also wanted one for myself, and of course it had to be green! I thought I would have enough pieces to glue them around the edge of two small vanity mirrors that just happened to be almost exactly the same design for each sister. It didn’t take long to discover I would need many more pieces to get all the way around each mirror. So for the next four years I collected. Stopping at every vintage and antique store I saw, in all parts of Utah and California. Many pieces came from a collection of a Southern Utah antique store owner’s great-aunt, who lived in New York. She had exquisite taste by the way! Each time we went to Southern Utah, we would stop in Hurricane to check out their supply of vintage jewelry. The blue pieces, clear crystal pieces, and pearl pieces were the easiest to find. The earth tone colors and the greens were more difficult and made the search take much longer than I had originally anticipated.

Last year, I finally had enough to complete the project for my sisters . . . my green mirror is still in the gathering stage, but someday it too will be complete. I had to remove the pin backs and earring backs for the pieces to lay smoothly. This pained my heart a little to ruin them permanently from what their original use had been. However, better a little ruined, appreciated, and visible, than sitting in a jar in the dark. I carefully arranged them around the outer edge of each mirror. Using E-6000 clear glue, I would glue a few at a time, and then tape them in place using blue painter’s tape. This process took a long time as well, because each gluing session had to sit for 24 hours before I could glue any more in place.

The finishing touch was a beautiful piece of velvet ribbon to hang each mirror from on the wall, one dark brown, and the other dark blue.

The thing I love most about the do-it-yourself projects I come up with, is that in most cases they have great sentimental or symbolic meaning. It was so much fun to see the look on their faces when my sister’s opened them up, and we began pointing out which treasured pieces came from our own family, and which pieces were comprised from other family’s unknown. Just as in life, people come and go, but each contributes a piece of beauty in our collection of friends and family members.

May we look for opportunities to share pieces of ourselves with others, and allow them to give a piece of themselves back to us as we look for ways to share our light each and every day!

Love Ya, Les

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Vintage Jewelry Vanity Mirrors