Friday, 30 January 2015

R&S: Curtain Hanger Earrings!

Upcycled hanger earrings
I am an avid thrifter, and in my mind there is no more of a magical place than the thrift store. It blows my mind every time to find the little jems that people decide to part with! Everything about it is wonderful, but what leaves me in absolute wonder is the smell of used things. The very distinct smell of the thrift store often leaves me wondering what stories these items have to tell, and what journeys they have been on before finding themselves here. It is a hub of thousands of stories untold; worn out shoes, brand new garments, old books, random trinkets, broken frames...where did they come from and what purpose did they serve to the people who owned them? The joy of thrifting for me comes in finding new purpose for old/used things. This process is called upcycling. The wiki definition of upcycling is: the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value. Despite the fact that going to the thrift store satisfys a unnamed itch than nothing else can, (and at such an affordable price) it also offers the option to find one of a kind materials that can be recycled into something new! 


Random curtain hangers
Recently I found a bag of these random wooden curtain hangers at the thrift store for a grand total of $3.15. I looovveee wood anything, especially jewelry, and finding nice and affordable wooden jewelry where I live isn't easy. So what did I decide to do? As always, recycle and save of course! I decided to upcycle the random wooden curtain hangers into some thrifty and crafty wooden earrings! This super easy R&S project takes about 2 minutes to finish up and requires the following materials:


Materials

1. Open the hook attachment of the hanger using the needle nose pliers, attach one of the jump rings, and close attachment of hanger (as shown above)


2. Open fishhook earring attachment with needle nose pliers, attach to jump ring and close fishhook attachment (as above)

That's it! In two easy steps you now have some brand new, fly and one of a kind wooden earrings! I'm not sure where these wooden curtain hangers came from or how they ended up in the thrift store, but for me giving used materials a new story and purpose is a part of the magical process of thrifty crafting!



Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna