Many jewelry makers come to a time when they have to do something about accumulated inventory. Even if you don't sell your jewelry, if you have been making it for a while, it does start to add up. There are just so many gifts one can make. However, styles changes, your skills develop, and your tastes differ from year to year. So, what happens? You eventually end up with lots of jewelry that you no longer like, that may not sell any more, or that just isn't what you want. While not all jewelry can be recycled, a good deal of it can. Recycling your jewelry is a good way to refresh your finished and unfinished inventory. Since I've been making jewelry for a number of years, I've found a few ways to do this.
Restock it. By taking bead, wire, or chain jewelry apart, you can restock the components and add them back to your unfinished inventory.
Bag it. I'm pretty lazy, so sometimes I just get a small bag and toss my unwanted jewelry in it for later. Then as I feel the urge to make jewelry, I'll dig through it and pick out items that may have beads, wire, findings, or other components that I think I can use.
Donate it. By donating your unwanted, finished jewelry to a charity, you can help them out and help yourself. Many charities have thrift stores that sell used items or crafts. Obviously, if you used some expensive components for your jewelry, this may not be the best option for you. However, some charities also have other fun raising activities that may be perfect for your old inventory.
Sell it. When I used to do shows, I tossed a lot of my unwanted jewelry items in a basket and marked them way down. Customers loved to dig through it, and I made an amazing number of sales off that basket. (I always made sure that I at least got my money back for the cost of the supplies.) Many of the items had nothing really wrong with them. Some were made of base metal findings that I no longer like to use. Some were items that sold great once, but eventually, the trend ended.
Auction it. You could take apart the components and sell them in batches using some the numerous on line auctions. As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Give it. There are other groups (which are not necessarily considered non-profit) that may be interested in the parts and pieces that make up your old jewelry inventory such as scout groups, home schoolers, or just the kids next door.
Melt it. Of course, this will only work with wire or metal items. However, I keep a bag of left over metal scraps. Some times I actually go back in the bag and find a useful piece such as a jump ring or hook, but I also melt a lot of these scraps down for casting.
I'm sure you probably have a few ideas yourself about recycling. So, please feel free to post them on our forum. Otherwise, good luck with your jewelry house cleaning.
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All graphics created by Tammy Powley.
