Sometimes the world of Etsy seems so daunting... how many people are there that sell handmade or vintage stuff like me? I know that I love what I make and what I find, that is why I got into this, but what is that magic secret that certain people know that make their works splash bigger than anyone else's? I often wonder, will anyone but my friends ever take a look at my shop?
Instead of pondering all of the above all day, I ended up cleaning my apartment most of the day instead (which it definitely needed), taking my dog to the park to run around with his buddies a few times, and then finally working on some new pieces. Oh yes, and having a lovely two hour nap in the middle of it all. Of course, it sounds productive and perhaps was, but just not in the way I expected it to be.
I did score a spot at my first craft show, which is something to be excited about! I'll be showing at A Fair to Remember in SF on May 22nd. Be there!
So yes, a big day of cleaning on Saturday. I am a tidy person but having a dog tracks in a lot more dirt than I had to deal with before, so of course Mr. Bobo had his bath Saturday too:
And then I thought about my latest idea for a necklace, and I thought I'd share my tips with all of my lovely readers as to how to care for vintage faux pearls.
The pearls I'm using in these photos are from the 1950s. They are in pretty good shape, the outer glow is not pealing off, but there is some patina around the beads. I felt like giving these babies a nice fresh glow and I can show you how to do the same.
If you choose to use this method of cleaning, be sure that the beads are NOT pealing. If you see that the shine of the bead is coming off, it is best to just wash those lovelies in some very gentle hand soap to clean them up. Of course, this is if they are only in their bead form and not strung on a necklace. You should never wash a necklace that is strung on thread or silk, as it can rot the sting and your necklace will not last as long as it should!
The first step is to identify which beads need to be cleaned. As you can see below there are some brown spots on some of my beads:
Next make a paste out of one tablespoon of baking soda and water, just enough so that the paste is a little tiny bit watery. What I do next is take a small piece of paper towel, dip it in the paste and gently rub the pearl around in the paper towel. This way your bead is covered with the paste and you can rub where you know there are trouble spots. You should do this with each individual bead, ending up with a pile of baking soda-fied pearls:
After you are finished, you should rinse out the beads in lukewarm water, one by one. You may need to blow through the hole in the bead to get any excess water out. No worries if you miss some baking soda, as the beads dry out you can use a needle to get rid of the extra.
When you are done, you will have a batch of vintage beads that look as good as the day long ago that they were purchased!
Please feel free to post a question about this process if you are curious!
They look beautiful!! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteI have a vintage necklace made out of the same kind of faux pearls. I would love to revive it so i can wear it. It was my mothers and has much sentimental value, so i am concerned about damaging it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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