Thursday, September 3, 2015

How to Repair a Vintage Beaded Ornament


Over 30 years ago, my mother made these ornaments for my children as a Christmas gift.  The ornament on the left is my oldest daughter's, the one on the right is her twin sister's. 

When I was visiting the daughter on the left, I was handed a baggie filled with beads and thread and her baby photo and the mirror backing.  She'd told me that her beaded ornament had fallen apart and then asked if I please figure out how to fix it.

I brought the baggie home and wondered how I would ever figure out how to repair it.  Then I remembered that her twin sister had the same ornament and maybe I could look at the pattern and restring the ornament to match her sisters.  So after a few attempts, that is what I did.  Sadly, some of the gold elongated beads were missing and after going to three local craft stores, I was not able to locate an exact match to the ones my mother used, but with a little adaptation to the design, I was able to put this ornament back together so that it can once again be hung on a Christmas tree.  Below you can see the restringing process.  (I kept the ornament I was copying on the right for comparison.)  To keep the beads contained, I put them into a cake pan.


This is how the back of that vintage beaded ornament looks:


If you're interested in making this ornament, you'll need to gather these supplies:  
  • White thread
  • Scissors
  • Small eyed needle
  • Pearl beads
  • Gold seed beads
  • 2" round mirrors

xoxo Grandma

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