Jewelry Keepsakes

And Divorce Diamonds – What To Do With Them?

I’m going to go over two different situations, much with the same results.

Here is my current engagement ring – Let me tell you the story behind it.

I was divorced in 2001 after close to twenty years of marriage.  I had accumulated not only my engagement ring, but several other diamond and gemstone rings. I didn’t know what to do with them.

From my ex husband starting out in jewelry early in our relationship, I was shocked to see how little people actually got back for their rings if they tried to sell them back. Ebay or Craigs list was always an option.

I considered giving them to my son’s, but it just seemed like “divorce diamonds” weren’t a real great gift to give your boys to give to their future wives.

Dave and I discussed an option when we were dating, knowing we were getting close to being engaged. He knew I had a pretty good idea of a ring I wanted to have, and I knew he was a pretty frugal guy. We didn’t have a lot of extra money to put into an engagement ring.

Dave did want to surprise me (which he did…. another story) when he asked me to marry him. He did go ring shopping and picked out an engagement ring, but also told the clerk there was a really good chance he would be returning it.

What we did, was to go to a jeweler that I knew and trusted and we designed my ring.  I took in the several rings that I had, including my engagement ring and we did an exchange.  Dave would not agree to let me use the main diamond from the old engagement ring (we picked one out together) but we did use all the little diamonds from the different rings in my new ring.  To get the perfect sizes etc the jeweler actually exchanged them out evenly so none of the exact same diamonds are now in this ring.  He also used the gold from those ring for the gold in my new ring.  So we only had the cost of the main diamond and the jewelers time.  The rings also helped pay for some of the other costs.

I got the ring I wanted and ended up saving Dave over $2,000 from the ring he originally had picked out for me.

The ring has both yellow gold and white gold in it (which I wanted). I kept my wedding band super simple since my engagement ring was fairly ornate. It is cut to fit snug to the engagement ring, but isn’t in these pictures.

There is scroll work on the sies of it (that is hard to see in these pictures) and the jeweler was so pleased with it, he made it one of his “signature” rings. He won’t repeat the same ring, but he said he has only chosen about 50 pieces in his long career that he has made his signature pieces. It has his initials in one of the small gold circles on the sides.

My Mom and Grandmother’s Engagement Rings

My Mom passed away in 1999.  Her engagement ring was slated to go to my older sister.  Mom had her ring, and she also had a one diamond out of the double diamond ring of her mother’s (my Grandmother).

My sister doesn’t wear rings much at all, and she was going to take Mom’s diamond and make a necklace out of it.  I was going to get Grandmother’s loose diamond and make a ring out of it.  So she decided the best thing to do was to give me Mom’s ring and she would take Grandmother’s diamond.

 

We found Grandmother’s engagement ring in Mom’s jewelry box, with the two empty shanks where her diamonds had been. (one diamond had gone to Mom, the other to her sister). Kathy was fine with me having Grandmother’s empty ring also.

I decided that I wanted one ring – with both Mom and Grandmothers engagement rings attached.  I took my idea and the rings to several jewelers. One wanted to do some fancy ring that didn’t look anything like their rings with the materials I had. I told him that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted the ring to look just like their rings. It was in their memory.

I had another jeweler tell me that would look dumb. I left.

Then I went to Michael of Jewelry by Michael. He was nice, he worked through what I wanted and he made me a ring that I cherish and wear everyday on my right ring finger.

Mom’s ring is the single diamond and Grandmothers is the double ring.  The rings are both white gold, but I wear both yellow and white gold so I had him put yellow gold inbetween them to attach them.  There isn’t a time that I look at this ring and  don’t think of Mom and Grandmother.

These rings could have sat in my jewelry box, gather dust… but instead I wear them everyday in memory of my Mom and Grandmother.

See if there is a solution for special keepsakes to actually enjoy them and use them.   As for the divorce diamonds, you could also give the rings to a child (if you can’t use them) and have them exchange the materials for a ring for someone else (if you are comfortable with that).

Just be sure to find a jeweler that you can trust and that you know will do right by you.

Jewelry Organizing

Do You Still have a Jewelry Box?

I do!!  Actually I have two of them.  I call it the double stack!  Why do I have two?  Because one was my mine and one was my mothers. When she passed away I kept it.I do not have a lot of “mom” memorabilia, but I do enjoy having this on my dresser.

Because I didn’t want to take up my dresser space with having both of them separate, and I do not get in them very often, it just made sense to stack them.  Does it look good… no, and that is part of the reason I wanted to take care of it.

What a mess huh?

Here is my other jewelry box, the one that used to be Mom’s.

Step One:  Sort

The hard part is going through and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. You decide jewelry just like any other item you have to sort through.  Ask yourself these questions:

1) Do you love it?
2) Have you worn it in the last year?
3) Is it broken or un-usable in some way?
4) Is it valuable or costume jewelry?

Sort into piles:

1) Keep (You wear it frequently, or at least once a year)
2) Sell, ebay or give to family – Jewelry that you don’t want, but is valuable
3) Donate – things you don’t like, wear
4) Trash, recycle – broken, not worth fixing or selling for gold etc.

Once you have sorted out what you will actually wear (I bet there is MUCH less than you thought) you need to put it back into the jewelry box (or whatever means you have to organize your jewelry)

I decided to give this jewelry box (which was mine) to my step daughter.  I didn’t need two and even though I like how this one is laid out a bit better than Mom’s, it wasn’t a big deal.  I wanted to continue enjoying seeing my Mom’s jewelry box on my dresser.

I put back in the items that I knew I would wear. This is really just my nicer jewelry.

I keep most of my costume wearable jewelry in the bathroom on my twirly hook and other Belles Dangle jewelry shelf.

This is the Belle’s Dangle shelf.

I now have just one jewelry box on my dresser that is sorted through. I am going to sell a couple things on ebay (hopefully), I gave a few appropriate things to my step daughter and I will donate the rest that is in good shape.

It looks better, feels better and I have a very happy step daughter.

When was the last time you went through your jewelry?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bathroom Organizing – Part 5

Accessorize to Organizing

There are many different items you can find to organize any room of your home. The bathroom is no exception. Do you have to spend a lot of money to do it? No way. You don’t have to buy all new cabinets or completely overhaul your bathroom (pimp your Bathroom….new show? LOL). If you are able to get a few items then it is great. There are many things that can help. I am just going to show you a few that I have in my own bathroom.

The above item is something I reviewed. It is called the Belles Dangle Organizer (the contest is closed) I hung it over my soaking tub. It was an area wall in the bathroom that I wasn’t using, but it comes in real handy now. It is directly behind the sinks. I keep my most worn accessories here. I have a jewelry box for my other jewelry. This is the fun stuff.

This is an item that I bought years ago and love. I did do a post on this slim cabinet last year. I had several responses asking where I got it. I couldn’t find this exact one, but The Container Store has several varieties. I use the bottom drawer as a trash can.

Of course the ever present (in many showers) shower organizer. There are many kinds to choose from. There are some that go in the corner on a pressure rod…or this kind. The only problem with these is they can be known to slide down the shower head and drive you crazy. But it makes a nice place for those bottles of shampoo, body wash etc.

BelleDangles Jewelry Organizer Review and Giveaway *CLOSED*

I have issues with my jewelry box. I have one from when I was growing up and I have my mom’s. But I hate that my necklaces are always getting tangled up. In one of the boxes there are some little hooks to hang your necklaces on the lid…but they fall off and I don’t like using it.

The BelleDangles Jewelry Organizer solves that problem! I like it. I have it hanging in my bathroom, actually over my soaking tub. It is right behind my sink and since there isn’t room on the wall I would really like to have it on…I had to make due.

There are places on this Classic Model to put all your Necklaces, Bracelets, Rings and Earrings. There are grooves so that the necklaces won’t get tangled. The top shelf can hold all kinds of goodies.

This can also be used to hang purses, hats, scarves, belts, ties…and the list could go on! Use your imagination.

It is really sturdy too! It’s made out of rod iron. There is no flimsy materials here. There is a nice shiny finish on it too.

To Purchase Your Own:

Go to belledangles.com and purchase. It costs $34.99 (plus S&H)

To Win:

1. Go to belledangles.com and tell me which of the 5 rotating pictures on the main screen is most helpful to you.

2. Come back here and leave me a comment. Your e-mail needs to be either on your comment or easily accessible in your profile.

For Extra chances to Win:

**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment written please. (I know its a pain, but other wise you won’t have as many chances if you don’t)

You can find all the links in my right hand sidebar.

1. Subscribe to my blog with the feeder or by e-mail. 5 extra chances.

2. Subscribe to my NEW Blog Chat with Sandy 5 chances

3. Follow me on twitter

4. Follow me on Facebook

5. Follow me on Linked In

6. Stumble Upon me Either add me to your favorites, or write a review.

8. Tweet out this giveaway up to 3 times per day. Write a comment for

each time you do with the link.

9. Add any of my 3 buttons (Organize with Sandy, Reviews, Chat with Sandy) to your sidebar and come back to let me know. Separate (3 chances)

entry for each one you add.

See….lots of ways to enter to win!

This contest will run until 11:59pm est on December 8th, 2009

*THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. ANY ENTRY THAT COMES IN AFTER 11:59pm est on 12/8/2009 WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

This is open to US mailing addresses only. One person per mailing address only.

You will have 48 hours to reply to my e-mail if you win to be eligible. If I don’t hear back then I will go to the next winner.

Disclosure Policy –  I was provided with a belle dangles wall hanger to keep without cost.

Review – Shabby Apple Dress

I was given this Shabby Apple Dress to wear from Shabby Apple and I was thrilled.  I wore it when I went out to dinner at the Type A Mom conference.  I asked them if they had any long dresses (because my legs would not look cute in a short dress….believe me please) because there is no way I should be wearing one of their cutest ever short dresses (and  they are cute as can be!)  Ladies if you can wear short little sassy dresses…this is one online store you really do need to check out.

This dress is called Cleopatra.  I was very surprised when it came to my door in a padded envelop. I am like…what?  There is NO way that I can fit into a dress that fits into a padded envelop! But guess what…I did! This is a cotton fabric and was perfect for traveling. It folds up small and looked great once I got there.

My other concern was if it was going to be long enough for me.  I am 5’10″ tall and so many things aren’t.  They told me it would be.  They also told me that it ran a little big. I got a size medium and guess what it was long enough. I had on flats though. I could not have worn any heels.  But if you are shorter and want to wear some great heels….this would work perfect.

It also had kind of a “wispy” feel to the top of it. It is hard to tell in this picture.  But you can see it better when you see the dress on their site. You can see it here.

So this dress was great. It was comfortable and I plan to wear it again when I go to Blog World Expo 09 next week in Las Vegas. Did you notice the cool bracelet?  It is from Stella and Dot jewelry. I just love it and want to share so neat jewelry with you.

Thank you Shabby Apple.

Full Disclosure -  yes I was given this dress without charge, but was not “required” to blog on it. I did wear it and told people where I got it, not because I was told to, but because I was happy to…as I was happy to write this review.  The bracelet from Stella and Dot I purchased myself.  I mentioned it because I want to introduce you the readers to a neat company with some great jewelry.