TREASURE HUNT

Thu., June 23, 2005

The Spokesman-Review

Like a lot of women, I enjoy baubles. And, over the years I’ve picked up a lot of pretty pins and brooches at estate sales, antique malls and flea markets.

Sometimes, digging through a box of junk jewelry, I’ve found nicer pieces jumbled in with the costume jewelry. One of my favorites is a big opal cabochon set in a lacy gold-filled filigree pin. I found it in a box at the flea market in which everything was priced 50 cents. Another is an Art Deco white gold bar pin, with a tiny diamond glittering in the center. It was in the display case of a dealer at an antique show and cost $10. A fraction of its value.

Most of the other pieces are just pretty bits of inexpensive jewelry that appealed to me for one reason or another.

I like to wear the things in my collection whenever I can, but the problem I ran into was how to store the brooches so that I could see it all when I wanted to select something.

I tried keeping everything in a jewelry box, but it was hard to find what I wanted in a hurry in the messy tangle of pins.

I looked into those stacking jewelry display trays that let you see what’s in them, but decided that if I had to take the time to pull out a tray, open it, select a pin and then put everything back, I would just skip it.

But, when I found a seamstress’s dress form, covered in soft black fabric and on sale for $10 at a thrift store, I realized I had the solution.

The mannequin came home with me and I put it on top of a chest in my bedroom. Then, I pulled out all of the brooches I’ve collected; the sparkly rhinestones, tiny bar pins, funky 1950s plastic and the few “real jewelry” pieces I’ve found, and pinned them all over the form.

Now when I dress, the “Jewelry Lady” (as my daughter dubbed her), has all of my pretty accessories right where I can see them. And, I’m wearing more of my vintage trinkets now that they are more accessible.

Each time I walk by the mannequin it catches my eye and gives me a chance to admire and reminisce about the little jewels I’ve picked up over the years.

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