Thrifty Etsy Finds: Statement Necklaces $20 and Under

We're not entirely sure that we personally are planning to rock this trend we're seeing everywhere with the giant necklaces, but only because we rarely wear necklaces, fixated as we are on chandelier earrings and with our propensity for low-cut tops; no reason to draw the eye there further, we surmise.

However, because we love our readers so and assume that some of you are fashionistas in the sense that you must.have.one.of.those. which is totally fine, we bring you thrifty Etsy statement necklaces.


We're sad the mini won't publish in html because we'd love you to be able to click to link to the shops from the photo; to be able to do so, check out our Etsy finds (on the right) or our public favorites here. But we'd like to also feature the artists individually (top to bottom, left to right):

$20- Vintage Gunmetal Nail Pendant Necklace from LifeTravelsDesigns in Florida, who is a jewelry designer in addition to vintage collector and also runs the shop RuthEyes from which we (coincidentally, really) found
$10 Vintage Orange Cabochon Necklace (Amberina/Gold tone) which has us drooling a bit, even though we don't technically wear orange.


$15 "Orange Fiber Statement" by SoulInChains of Vine Valley, NY, is a fabulously upcycled felted-sweater necklace with fantastic and multitudinous beadwork. She says "This has to be one of the most wonderful things I have ever made." We adored her at first sight!


$18 "Connect the Loops" by BeMyShark in Brooklyn is so.freaking.cool. that we can barely stand it, likely due to the fact that she used all of our favorite colors and managed to make something awesome out of trash (plastic bags!). We would like to announce our dorky, ridiculous fandom. We also totally love her offering
$15 Structure and Shape which has ruffly trash. Girl after our own hard-edged girly heart. How totally punk is wearing garbage? Like, the epitome.


$12 Bamboo Flower Necklace by Ashlee of Rose Marie's Bijouterie in Salt Lake City, who named her shop after her stepdaughters (cue awww). Lots of statement pieces in the shop, like
$12 "Rian" Coral Enameled Necklace whose flower pendant is 2" in diameter... A good "statement pendant" size.


$10 "Funky Feather and Vintage Necklace" by HaKniK from Da Bronx (um, sorry about that) is wicked, wicked awesome (we say that here in Boston- it's a synonym for very), who says "I LoVe fashion. The frivolity of it all. The never-ending cycle..." Ah yes, as do we; hence the blog. We try not to take ourselves too seriously either.


$17 "Angel Eyes" by JenGlo of Gloucester (MA represent!) is a kinetic sculpture in a necklace. Way cool. We also love her
$10 "Full Circle" necklace - a stainless steel disc with a crazy-cool pattern, on a vegan leather cord.


$9 "Statement" by MrsJabberJaw of Bridgewater (er, somewhere) includes earrings (wow! what a steal!) and reminded us a great deal of something that Erin of Work with What You've Got might wear (and makes! Check out her Etsy shop too at LoveErinDesigns)


$9.95 Multicolor blue-green pewter pendant on a seven-strand cord by Mindielee of Torrance, CA (Mrs. Torraaaaance... heh) is stunning and shiny and measures close to 2" wide. The designer, who has many other bold necklaces in her shop, says "I dream of swirls, colors and patterns in my sleep." As do we, darling, as do we.


Hope you enjoy these picks! We found them all, in case you care, by searching simply "big statement necklace" in handmade and then vintage, and sorting within both categories from low price to high. Thankfully Etsy has made the search function a little bit more newbie-friendly, so it's a bit easier to find what you're looking for, in our opinion, regardless of the mega-controversy regarding search-engine optimization... (we'll admit that we don't think our own shop has been found by anyone in months so maybe we're suffering unwittingly from the changes).

Happy Bold-Jewelry-Shopping-and-Rocking!

Essential Spring Piece: OOAK Skirt!

OOAK means one of a kind, in case that was like "huh?" for you.

We have scoured etsy for you for the most fabulous, (mostly) thrifty, unique handmade pieces there are to be had (within our taste parameters, of course).

We're going to go a little heavy on the purple here, so bear with us...

From left to right, top to bottom:
Patchwork by ChopstixWaits, custom, $75
Matroyshka skirt from madebylovewithhannah, Cotton, made-to-order, $68
"Pink is the New Black" by our favorite skirt shop, AKattyWampusTale, OOAK, $56
"Funky Skirt" From Nancy's Needles and Pens, $15
Slip skirt with applique by sewsewsuckurtoe, custom, $23
Orange "flirt skirt" by RaspberryBaby, only $29- multiple sizes available!
Batik hippie skirt from Marudhara of Thailand, $20!
Gorgeous coral print skirt from econica, cotton/linen, a splurge but worth it at $90
Black/white print from BoutiqueMiaByCXV, custom sizing, $42.99
Tie-Die with lace by LucidOpticLab, on sale for $15! (We may steal this one)
And finally, "Mangosteen" purple ruffle cotton pointy-hem skirt from cottonfields, $15!

We think buying whatever is at the mall shops or wherever else people shop for work clothes is sort of... boring. We don't want to risk someone else wearing the same piece! Ha. Maybe we have a problem with this need, but we certainly enjoy finding special, individual pieces.

Happy handmade hunting!

Today we talk about scarves.

Scarves are one of our favorite accessories. Since we wear a lot of all-black and we live in New England, they serve the twofold purpose of jazzing up an outfit and keeping us from getting frostbite of the neck. While we're not big fans of the pinned-or-tied-kerchief scarf (reminds us too much of our mom), we do like to use a cool scarf as a big necklace, hair ribbon or belt.

If you've been reading, you know we like to buy vintage when we can. It's not only thrifty, but good for the earth. Here are some bright, eclectic vintage options from Etsy, several on the super-cheap, all totally gorgeous!


From left to right, top to bottom:
Maggie Rouff Paris collection, silk, $60 at GeneralWhimsy2
1960s geometric print, silk, $10 at RoomForCake
Psychedelic "Warhol" print, unknown material, $10 at DriveThruVintage
Silook Japan, polyester, $8 at VintageEmbellishment
Pink japanese print, acetate, $10 at PetiteKaloo
Oscar De La Renta, silk, $15 at TheCuriosityShoppe
1970s geometric mod print, silk, $8 at TheLuckyFish
Large rainbow shawl/sarong, polyester, $14 at TheKoruBranch
Oscar De La Renta striped teal with gold threading, silk, $15 at Autumnie

We know that it's quite nearly summer (or, if you're in Boston, quite nearly spring), but that doesn't mean knit scarves are out of the picture completely. The chunky wool ones should probably go back in the closet (if only to promote the power of positive thought!), but think about lighter textures and fabrics... These finds from Etsy are a few of the beautiful handmade textured scarves available. On the left, from alonalona, a UK fiber artist, sari remnants that would otherwise be thrown away are spun into luscious yarn and then hand-knit into this beautiful, airy long skinny scarf, $16. On the right, in a gorgeous peacock- colored blend of designer Italian yarn and microfibers , a fluffy, fun, light decorative option from Maine-based designer Cathy of BabbidgePatch, handknit, $35.



Three of our favorite other sources for cool scarves are the bargain stores, of course- we often find cute ones for about $7 at Marshalls, street and craft fairs, and Oona's vintage resale in Harvard Square. Happy accessorizing!