Jewelry adds sparkle to our lives. Our pieces accentuate our style by adding just the right splash of glitz, bling, glamour and drama. Vintage, heirloom, new and costume pieces are all valuable for enhancing our lives. How many pieces of your jewelry wardrobe do you actually wear? How do you have these pieces organized for ease in accessorizing your life? Everyone feels better with a little bling and the Transformational Organization process is all about feeling and looking better. Remember, the foundation of the Transformational Organizational process is to utilize the items in which you have invested to enhance and transform your life. Why have them if you are not going to use them? Why get rid of them simply because you don’t use them? Why not enhance your life and get the most out of your tangible investments? In addition, the pieces that you don’t ordinarily wear can be used in other ways to deepen the enhancing of your life to not just an occasional dressing up. Smart living is using what you have to enrich your life. Today we will employ the Transformational Organization process to become smarter and more glamorous.

Let’s begin to organize our jewelry. Collect all the pieces you have from all the nooks and crannies around the house.  Remember to look in purses, gym bags, and luggage as you may find a missing earring,  pendant, ring or other small item.  Once you have all of the items collected, let’s begin to assess the organizational and cleaning needs. We need to dedicate a space for these pieces.  For example, I have a small vanity that has three drawers, a mirror and two smaller cubby drawers. I designated one drawer for each type of jewelry. The top drawer was for my pieces that I wear frequently. The middle drawer for sterling silver and glass beaded pieces, and the bottom drawer held my costume pieces and bracelets. Develop an organizational plan based upon how you use/wear your pieces. Search around the house for small items to use to help organize your jewelry. Small bowls, dishes, or other decorative items can be used to organize and store your jewelry. I used ramekin dishes for dividing my earrings from rings, and pendants from pins. Look around your house for these organizational aides now so that when we begin to clean and place our jewelry, you will have these items ready to assist you in your organizational process. Just a note: jewelry boxes frequently don’t allow for adequate storage of pieces.  Jewelry chests work better but if you don’t already have one, try to find a piece of furniture or cabinet that would work to provide enough storage and ease of access. Make sure to store your jewelry so that it is visible to help when searching for an item.

Thematically group your pieces by classification. Separate bracelets, earrings, necklaces, pins, and rings into groups. It is easier to use these pieces if you have them organized. It also aides in keeping them organized if you have dedicated spaces to each of the categories. Make certain that you have enough space for adequate storage and that you have what you need to showcase your items to encourage frequent use.

After you have organized and designated a space to store your jewelry, begin the cleaning process. You may want to invest in a small jewelry cleaner from a department store or on-line. These machines vibrate at a very high rate to clean your jewelry to a bright almost new luster. (Pearl items need to be treated differently so separate any pieces that have pearls).  I dropped in a few pieces of jewelry in at a time to maximize cleaning. Some items needed to go through a second cycle and also needed a little brushing to get out any sticky stuff from deep inside the crevices. Pearls need to be briefly washed in warm water with a very mild soap and rinsed well. Do not put pearls in any ammonia-based product.  After the items have finished in the cleaner, rinse in warm water and dry with a soft cloth. Another cleaning aide is a jeweler’s cloth. This cloth makes it easy to quickly wipe a piece prior to wearing so that you get the maximum shine. Giving a quick wipe before and after wearing ensures that your items are kept polished and in prime condition to encourage you to wear them more often. My absolute favorite jewelry cleaning is Never Dull Brand Wadding Polish. This is amazing stuff and cleans all your metals to a brilliant, lasting shine.

After you have cleaned all the jewelry pieces, inspect for any loose stones or damage that need repair. Make any repairs that you can do yourself.  Assess what you need to complete repairs and pick up any pieces from beading or jewelry making supply stores or online. Pieces that need to go to the jeweler need to be put in a small purse or pouch and taken as soon as possible.  If you have valuable pieces, you may want to have them appraised. Look at your items carefully. Can an item that you don’t wear be converted into something that you would wear? For example, an heirloom pin can be made into a pendant or ring. Your jeweler can convert these pieces into something that you will enjoy and therefore maximize your investment in these items. Note: I realize that most heirloom pieces did not require an investment, but consider these a freebie and you are still investing in the storage and emotional connection to these items. Jewelry pieces can be used for other situations. Pin a beautiful antique cameo, brooch, or pin, on a group of linen napkins, heirloom handkerchiefs tied with a silk ribbon.  You can do the same with a stack of laundered and starched napkins.  Adorn this neat bundle with a beautiful pin or single earring that you are missing the mate.  All of these little touches combine to make a beautiful presentation for guest fingertip towels or tea napkins on the table.  This maximizes the enhancement of your daily life. Use your creativity to spark new uses for treasured items and each detail will add comfort and elegance to your life.

Develop a plan for wearing your items. Look at the pieces that you have. Which outfits would they coordinate with? Are there themes of items such as color or types of stones? Begin to look for themes in your items. These similarly themed items can be worn together to create an amazing look. For example, in my collection I found a beach theme.  I had sun, shell and fish pieces along with brilliant blue glass beads reminiscent of the ocean. These pieces worn with the right outfit created a wonderful, casual beach look that was perfect for summer. One shell pendant even became a key ring which with the rest of the ensemble, made me appear to be the most together woman on the planet. Assess your treasures now and determine if any pieces can be connected to form a theme and then plan an outfit to wear so that you maximize the affect of your design.

Photograph and inventory your jewelry so that you have a record of what you own. Have more valuable items appraised and make sure these have a secure place for storage. Check with your insurance company to assure that your jewelry is covered under your insurance policy and adjust coverage if needed.

Here are some quick and creative ideas for those items that seem useless:

• Adorn linen napkins tied with a ribbon
• Adhere to wrapped gifts
• Have your jeweler turn into a pretty pendant
• Affix to a zipper pull for the cloth bags storing your winter clothes or linens
• Use pierced earrings as bulletin board tacks
• Create a unique holiday tree with a collection of single, never-worn, out-of-style earrings and necklaces. String on a small artificial tree (can be purchased at a craft store) or a rosemary tree.

• Large pendants make great key chains: just slide on to a key ring found at any local hardware store.
• Convert into a pull for clothing storage bags
• Tie a stack of fresh guest towels with gorgeous ribbon and adorn with pendant
• Have your jeweler convert into a pin
• Adorn a beautifully wrapped package with a stunning pendant
• Use as a pull for a lamp
• Bundle up the fine woolen sweaters, scarves, throws or blankets and tie with a ribbon. Affix the pendant to the ribbon
• Hang from your rearview mirror in your car
• Fix as a decoration on your luggage for traveling in cars (not a great idea for airlines)
• Tie at one end of a beautiful ribbon and use for a bookmark

• Use as holders for scarves: just hang the scarf inside the bracelet
• Rolled hand towel rings: similar to napkin rings but for your hand towels
• Roll your linen napkins and secure with the bracelet. No creases
• Slide on a cylindrical vase

• Slide over a tapered candle for a little sparkle
• Insert on a key ring
• Tie on the end of a ribbon and use as a bookmark

• Sell your items for scrap gold, silver or other precious metal.
• Valuable stones can be reset by your jeweler.

Give to someone who will appreciate the piece.

Now that you feel beautiful with all that bling: treat yourself to a facial!

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