18 Pieces of Handmade Jewelry That Quietly Belong in a Museum, Not a Drawer

Real handmade talent almost never makes the news. It happens quietly, late at night, at someone’s kitchen table, in front of a small magnifying lamp, with a pair of pliers and a handful of beads. These 18 real pieces of handmade jewelry come from people who weren’t trained as jewelers and didn’t go to art school. They just made something and proved that real talent doesn’t ask permission and doesn’t need a museum to count. It just needs someone willing to sit down at the kitchen table and try.

I made my son’s boutonnière and his date’s corsage for their first prom, out of flowers and seashells. I can’t believe they are already 17...

Years ago I ordered some stones, and many arrived broken due to poor packaging. I kept them in a drawer, and recently managed to turn one of them into this pendant.

Van Gogh’s Starry Night inspired pendant I made.

I know it’s pretty basic, but Van Gogh’s Starry Night has long been one of my favorite paintings of all time. I tried making a small silver pendant inspired by the swirling sky and stars.

Some of my favorite beaded necklaces I’ve made

Getting into jewelry making over the last couple months. I’m a nerd so I’m really loving the whimsical, fantasy vibes of this necklace. What do you think?

Next weekend we’ll have the Chinese equivalent of Halloween — the Zhongyuan Festival. I’ll wear this bracelet when I go to honor the ancestors.

My mom made a new gerdan necklace with a bat.

• I would be Dracula for Halloween just to sport this. © broke_cowboy / Reddit
  

Made tulip earrings for my mom and ended up with a whole bouquet.

I had a busy time with the tiaras but I had such fun designing my beautiful monarchs — my favorite butterfly.

Previously, I mostly focused on oil painting, so working with beads was an unexpected but very exciting creative challenge for me.

I made a moonstone necklace by crocheting with copper wire.

A very special custom-made Divinity necklace with malachite that I made for my mother. What do you think?

I’m a self taught silversmith that gave up.

I spent 2 years teaching myself how to silversmith, and I absolutely loved it. I made a ton of jewelry, and sold maybe 3 pieces to close friends. I did all of the work to open up my new online shop. I made the logo, ordered packaging, created the shop, and all that. I think I made 2 listings, and gave up. I literally gave it all up. I haven’t made anything in a year or more! All of my jewelry is sitting in a box, being seen by no one, together with my silversmithing tools...

Spring beaded tie and herring tie

• The herring tie — this is so odd, but I love everything about it. © Key_Disaster2135 / Reddit
• I would wear this to anything remotely formal and I would be fabulous! © Reddit

I am quite proud of one of my recent creations so I wanted to share!

• Aww she’s adorable! It’s so cute you’ve used it for the spider head. © Accurate-Scale-343 / Reddit

Was planning earrings... ended up with a tiny beetle brooch. The best accidents are shiny, right?

• Actually, I’m quite scared of them, but I’ll make an exception for this one — it’s adorable! © sadcrocodile / Reddit

I made a tiny silver ring and set a grain of sand into it.

This china plate broke, but I didn’t throw it away. Instead, I upcycled it and made these pair of earrings out of it. Don’t throw away broken china plates anymore.

My mom bought these earrings around 10 years ago and absolutely adored them.

She loves them, but they were starting to look pretty rough. Recently, I went ahead and restored them. Now my mom loves them even more and said her patients give her so many compliments!

Bonus: A sweet little thing that brightened someone’s life

My boyfriend’s mom started reading, so I made her a hand-embroidered bookmark. She liked it so much, it became a separate motivation for her to finish the book.

That’s the beautiful thing about handmade work. Somewhere right now, a pair of hands is reaching for pliers and a single bead — and quietly making the case that real talent never quite stops being made by hand.

For more inspiration check out these articles:

• 14 Handmade Pieces That Show Why Old-School Hobbies Are Making a Comeback
• 18 Delicate Handmade Creations That Prove Needles and Love Can Create Pure Art