The Elegant Muse Blog

Do you like to wear animal prints? I’m not sure why, but I love them - usually on a scarf, pair of shoes or cardigan. I guess sporting a small touch of an animal print makes me feel a bit wild myself (which is pretty rare at my age!). But does an animal print blend with a piece of repurposed vintage jewelry? I say ABSOLUTELY! It seems anything goes these days, and this is one of the examples of that I, for one, am thankful for! So go ahead, be a little wild. Don your favorite leopard/cheetah/zebra print and choose...

We all love a good before and after, right? The transformation of a piece that wouldn’t be worn today into a unique necklace that could actually make an outfit truly takes my breath away. The vintage earring piece in the photo below, though quite fashionable in its day, is much too large for today’s wearer and likely heavy enough to pull one’s earlobe to the shoulder! Yet it enjoys a new role as a necklace centerpiece surrounded by circles of tiny pearls and rhinestones. Learn more about the one-of-a-kind Amber Vintage Necklace here!

Can you make a necklace for me from my grandmother’s pin? I confess, I get a little shiver of excitement when I’m asked something like this. I love to wear pieces made with my own mother's and grandmother’s jewelry, so it’s always a special honor to create one for someone else. Once I saw her pin I was even more excited. It contained figures of two ballet dancers. The client’s daughters were both ballet students, so the pin was special to her for that reason as well. As soon as I had the pin in my possession, I found myself...

Last year both of our boys got married - one in September the other in December - and I needed to find not one but two formal dresses. That adventure is something to share another time. Suffice it to say, the market is NOT flooded with formal dresses for women of a certain age. Once I did manage to find my dresses, I knew I wanted to create a special piece of jewelry for each one, which I did. I loved donning my one-of-a-kind vintage pieces on those special occasions, and the creation of them sparked the idea behind the...

One of the reasons I love antique buttons is that I often find tiny details that would often go unnoticed without looking closely. This particular button, circa 1890-1930, holds a small winged creature on its upper right surface. The question is, is this a butterfly or a dragonfly?  I posed the question to my followers and “Dragonfly” received the majority of the votes, but only by a slight margin. So what do you think - butterfly or dragonfly?  If you’d like to claim this lovely piece and start your own butterfly/dragonfly debate, you'll find this one-of-a-kind necklace flying around here!