In the first post in the series, we talked about categorizing all that jewelry that you have into 4 groups (basically, "keepers" and "perhaps not keepers"); in the second post, we talked about possibilities as you think about those "perhaps not keepers" and ways to move them on in meaningful ways.  In this post, we'll look more closely at the "keeper" jewelry and see how those pieces can fit in to your overall jewelry wardrobe - those "must haves" that everyone needs.

Group 1 are the pieces you absolutely love for whatever reason - maybe just because someone dear to you gave it to you.  (My mom's wedding rings fall into this category for me.) These do not have to be expensive pieces and maybe you don't wear them all the time or even often.  Some of these pieces may well fit into your ideal jewelry wardrobe.  Even if they don't, that's no reason to give these pieces away - you do love them, after all, right?  That's reason enough to keep them for now.

Group 2 are the pieces that you do wear over and over, day after day. Chances are, many of these pieces will fit into your jewelry wardrobe.

Now, let's look at some "guiding concepts" as you develop a jewelry wardrobe:

1.  your jewelry should be things that YOU love - not what someone else loves or thinks you should love
2.  price doesn't matter - if you love it & wear it often, go for it.  Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's right for you
3.  you might think about having a "signature" piece of jewelry, something that you wear almost everyday
4.  as your tastes change (and they do), don't be afraid to change your jewelry over the years; just because you loved and wore those little pearl earrings when you were 20 years old doesn't mean you still have to wear them daily!
5.  jewelry you are going to wear frequently should be something you LOVE to wear - that means it's comfortable and that you love the look of it.  Do not compromise on this - if it is uncomfortable or doesn't look like "you", you won't wear it. 

In Step 1, we talked about managing all that jewelry you have as part of your overall plan to simplify your life.  Don't we all need to think about simplifying our lives?  I know my life could sure use a touch of simplification!  We talked about sorting your jewelry info four categories:  jewelry you love (for whatever reason), jewelry pieces that are your "staple" items (that you wear over & over), jewelry you no longer love and, finally, jewelry that you never loved (& still don't).  

In this post, we will talk about what to do with those four piles of jewelry that you now have on hand - or, maybe more correctly, how to think about the jewelry which will lead you to think about what you want to do about it. 

So, it's probably evident by now that jewelry categories 1 and 2 are your "keepers". We will look at those again later but for now, let's focus on categories 3 & 4.  

#3:  Jewelry you once loved but don't love anymore.  You might think about this jewelry as simply something that needs a new home.  Sure, you don't love it anymore, but someone else might so it's time to release it into the universe and give someone else a chance to love it.  So, you might decide to donate to a charity the pieces that have little monetary value.  But what about the pieces that were expensive and include precious metals and semi-precious stones?  In that case, do you have a niece, granddaughter or dear friend who might cherish a gift of one or more pieces of this jewelry?  What is no longer "right" for you, might be a wonderful gift for someone you love.  You could also consider donating a piece or two to one of your favorite charities for their fundraising auction.

Now let's look at #4 - Jewelry that you never loved and still don't.  Well, if you didn't love this jewelry when you got it and still don't, what are the chances that you will suddenly "love" it?  Pretty slim, right?  So, do the right thing and pass this jewelry along so that someone else can love it and wear it.  There are many charities that take donations of all sorts of accessories and clothing.  Take your pick, gift them your jewelry!  It's a win-win.

Bye for now!  Next time, let's take a look at your "keeper" jewelry with an eye toward building a perfect "jewelry wardrobe"!

If you are like most women, you have a lot of jewelry of all types in your jewelry box.  What to do with all of it?  It’s overwhelming to think about much less do anything about!  Know this:  you can manage your jewelry as part of your ongoing plan to simplify your life – ready?  Let’s do this!

First, choose a time when you have a couple of hours to yourself.  If you attempt to squeeze this in among all the other things you need to do, you’ll just end up frustrated!  Now get yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee and settle in for an enjoyable afternoon of simplifying your life, one necklace at a time!

You probably have a fairly large pile of jewelry once you get it all out to begin the process of paring down and simplifying.  Here are some simple steps to take:

First, sort your jewelry into 3 piles (at this point, don’t pay attention to cost of the pieces): 

1.  Jewelry you absolutely love, for whatever reason – maybe it was a gift from someone special or something you bought for yourself and still love. 
2.  Jewelry pieces that are your “staple” items – the jewelry you wear over & over, day after day and day into night. 
3.  Jewelry you once loved but now….not so much
4.  Jewelry that you never loved & still don’t.

So now you have two main categories – #1 & #2 above are your “keepers”.
Categories #3 and #4 are the ones we need to think about a little more.  

We will tackle this in the next post so stay tuned!

Laura

 

Taking pictures of jewelry, vacuuming the floor and making a list of my priorities for social media.  I find if I don't make a list & get myself organized, it's hard to get anything done.  I wonder why that is?   I also theoretically paid taxes to Texas for a show I did last fall - I say theoretically because, since I had no sales in Texas within the last quarter, I had no taxes to pay.  Still had to complete & turn in the form with zeros.  Strange but easy to do!  Just have to remember to do it quarterly, which is hard sometimes.  Also I cleaned up the mess that I created after the show last weekend in Jackson, Mississippi.  We had a great show which created a great mess when we came home.  I had jewelry and display cases everywhere!  Since our next show is not until September (http://cooperyoungfestival.com) in Memphis, I wanted to get everything in shape to be packed away for a few months.  Here are a few pics of the "Summer Showcase" (https://www.facebook.com/mscrafts.org), which was the show we did in Jackson.  What a great time we had!!