Giving With Your Jewelry Skills

Right now many of us are in the "giving" mood, and for good reason, but why not try to do that throughout the year? With your jewelry making skills and other crafting knowledge, you would be surprised at how many opportunities there are out there, either world-wide or in your local community or even among family members, to give. Here are some ideas for charity giving as well as giving to friends and family:

Check with local charities like your Humane Society to see if they have any kind of yearly events where they need donations to auction off or sell. Last year, my husband and I each made some jewelry items for our society's silent auction event, and we plan to do it again this year, maybe even collaborate on one really nice jewelry piece.

Local libraries are often meeting places for non-profit groups, so that is another place to pay attention to if you are looking for opportunities to donate finished jewelry for a cause. A number of years ago, my beading group joined in with a local literacy program which auctions off decorated trees each season. We made all the decorations for a 4 foot tree and the group collected the profit from the sale of the finished tree.

If you have relatives or neighbors who enjoy wearing jewelry, volunteer to fix, repair, and polish items from their jewelry collection. Elderly relatives may need some new clasps that will help them with their jewelry such as replacing an older clasp with a magnetic clasp, or depending on the design, you may be able turn some of their favorite bracelets into elastic style bracelets, which are also very easy to put on and take off.

There are lots of ways to help out with your jewelry making knowledge if you just look for it, and I know plenty of jewelry designers already do this now; however, with so many people in need these days, maybe 2009 can be a year to give even more.