Brooch Yourself for Colder Days!
Brooches became my favorite piece of jewelry to decorate scarves or coats on colder days. Some of my friends pin a brooch to a hat or handbag – why not? The most important thing is: it’s always visible and brings life and colors to gloomy, grey weather.
Give goodbye to beading UFOs – Brooches are here, ready to shine!
There are many times we start to bead earrings or a bracelet, but we don’t really finish due to many reasons. UFOs (UnFinished Objects) keep piling up on our shelves or bead boxes. The easiest way to finish them is a single-piece jewel. Let’s make a brooch from it!
Your possibilities are endless:
- You can go as from minimalistic, to statement piece.
- From decoration to the actual function of keeping your cardigan or scarf pinned together so you have the comfort of warmth.
- You can share an important message or your life motto by wearing a brooch. (Did you know Madeleine Albright wore different brooches during her career as a diplomat to give a certain message?)
- The brooch can be a very interesting jewel and also makes a perfect last-minute gift if you need one!
You can easily create this piece of jewelry by attaching a beaded motif to a filigree brooch base of your favorite shape and style! Use E6000 glue, or simply sew it directly to the filigree!
We selected some of the filigree brooch bases and designs from the Beadingschool webshop for your inspiration!
Erika combined Tulip brooch base and the Edmee motif together to create this brooch. Soft earth tones go perfectly with turquoise beads, the pink gemstone drop makes the brooch look romantic and dreamy. There is no wonder this design belongs in the Beadingschool Club to most favorites.
Four-leaf clover filigree base and Katalin motif, beaded by our fellow beader and Beadingschool Club member, Annelien Willems.
Katalin design comes from a set of earrings and a bracelet. The single motif is attached to the brooch base. If you decide to add a glass drop in a metal setting to the bottom hole of the brooch for even more sparkle.
Hidden Hearts brooch base has a perfect size for any round-shaped design. Erika decided to attach the Magic Mirror motif to it, showing the beauty of pearls, fire-polished beads, and Preciosa bicones.
Crossing Borders design was originally made for earrings, however, the motif made a perfect fit with the Liane brooch base. Erika finished the brooch by adding a bead cap with a Preciosa drop pendant.
There is a #ClubDesigns blog article about Crossing Borders, as well as the video by Erika on the Beadingschool YouTube channel about the inspiration behind her brooch. Take a cup of coffee or tea, have a cozy seat, and enjoy reading and watching – it’s worth it.
Wheel filigree brooch base has the right size for smaller round or square-shaped designs, like Codex. Preciosa sew-on rhinestone shines through the wonderfully beaded structure of this design. There is also the possibility to attach a drop pendant to the motif itself, or extra decorative chains to the filigree base.
Northern Star brooch base belongs to beader’s favorites. Its symmetry and size work well with small, and also larger motifs. It provides a nice frame, so your motif looks attached to a picture, like this Mariette design. Also, if you bead a motif that has a hole in the center – for e.g. Melodrama, the star in the middle of the brooch is visible (shown in blog feature image on the very top of the article). Moreover, you can use holes in the corners to add a crystal drop in a metal setting or decorate it with chains.
This is one of my favorite solutions for Butterfly-shaped filigree brooch! Erika attached a single Sarah earring to one of the wings. This design was part of the Magic Garden theme. Flowers and butterflies belong together! The earring creates a pendant, while you pin the butterfly to your jacket. Erika also glued two little rhinestones in turquoise opal color. I love it!
Erika’s special box, Vintage-lover, offers many treasures and most of the brooch shapes mentioned above. There is a very special asymmetric filigree shape that was used for the Samoa brooch design. Erika created the balance by attaching the glass drop to the motif, which is aligned a little lower than the center of the brooch base.
Samoa has already a separate #ClubDesigns blog post with more ideas on how to finish this beautiful motif!
There are a lot more designs that can be turned into a beautiful brooch! I really hope you liked this little selection and get some new ideas for your beaded jewelry!
So many possibilities. I love brooches and my Vintage Lover box is on its way. Thank you for showing both the brooch finding and ways to use various motif designs to inspire!
Thank you very much, Faye! Enjoy creating with the Vintage Lover box when you receive it! 🙂