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Upcycled Jewelry

April 06, 2011, 09:44 am  Posted by Kathy H.
 

With the growing interest in green products, sustainability, and recycling comes upcycling. Upcycling gives wasted or useless materials a new, improved life. I’ve taken a look at jewelry in particular and here are a few upcycled examples.

Left to right- KeyedUp, ArohaJewlz, undoneclothing

I was most intrigued by the work I found where the original material wasn’t easy to see. In the gallery that follows, see if you can find these items- a bicycle chain, knitting needles, balloons, dinnerware, license plate, bike tube, plastic jugs, antique nail, guitar string, spoon, skate board, power buttons for an XBOX, aluminum cans, vinyl record, auto parts and vintage pen nibs.

mosaic of upcycled jewelry1. polarity (auto parts) 2. bearweardesigns (license plate) 3. jillmccp (aluminum cans)
4. CufflinkHub (power buttons for XBOX) 5. blueskyaboveco (vinyl record)
6. KathrynRiechert (spoon) 7. Tanith (guitar string) 8. DownSideUpStudio (plastic jugs)
9. bluskyaboveco (bike tube) 10. WanderingJeweler (bike chain) 11. MuKee (skate board)
12. NormalIsBoring (balloons) 13. TheBrokenPlate (dinnerware) 14. steampunkfunk (antique nail)
15. savagesalvage (pen nibs) 16. sewnewthings (knitting needles)

The website inhabitat is a great source that features ideas in green design and sustainability in fashion, architecture, interiors and many other areas of interest. Check them out, along with all of these fine jewelers who are doing their part in the thoughtful reuse of materials.

 
 
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Kathy H.

About the Author

I grew up crafting in Indiana. From the fiber arts world of sewing, quilting, and weaving,...

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  • Anonymous

    Thank you for the beautiful and timely blog! It is so much fun to guess the original materials!

  • http://www.KathrynRiechert.com Kathryn

    Thank you for including my necklace!

  • Jillmccp

    Thank you for including my flower necklace. I am always amazed with the creativities of others. Nice selection of pictures and artists.

  • Juliet

    Oh Lark books, Thanks for making my day and including my necklace!

  • jess

    WOW!!!! People can do a lot with creative energy. I agree with you about liking the jewelry that you can’t tell exactly how it was recycled. Really neat stuff, thanks for sharing!!!

  • Angie Lawlar

    Lark Crafts, thank you so much for including my ring. There is nothing like waking up to a cup of coffee and something fun to read in your inbox.

    Steampunk Funk
    ~Angie~

  • http://www.facebook.com/ashleypickin Ashley Pickin

    Thanks for making such a cool post :) I love seeing all of the different materials that people make things out of!

    Thanks for including my balloon necklace.

    Much love and happy crafting!

  • klbast

    Beautiful collection of items! Thank you for including my necklace!

  • http://www.facebook.com/lorraine.rush Lorraine Rush

    Nice! I have been mixing orphan vintage salt / pepper shakers with my lampwork for awhile now – I love all the upcycled pieces, thanks…

  • Lyndaslade

    Your blog is wonderful!
    I’m so proud to have my knitting needle bracelets featured here – what a creative collection of items!

  • Andi

    Wow. It amazes me how creative people are. Thanks for sharing and including me.
    Andi

  • Bluemoon406

    It’s incredible how everyday objects can be transformed into beautiful jewelry! really interesting!!!

  • http://twitter.com/prettysensitive Amanda Jensen

    Beautiful items – you really would never guess that most of these were repurposed from other items!  I really love the concept of upcycling and love to look at an item bound for the trash and try to see it as a base material that can be transformed.  It’s a great challenge with a great purpose.