Jewelry

[silkyk]

I love pins and brooches and like looking at my collection so I purchased a beautiful velvet pillow and covered it with them. Kind of like this pic I found.

I also have a great tip that has saved me many a pin. Purchase some of those small plastic tubing slide ons for pierced earring backings and after you attatch your pin to item (in and then out of the material) BEFORE  you latch the pin closed slip one of those thin plastic tube thingies on the pin and THEN latch closed. That way if it comes unlatched it stays on because  the tube thingie holds it on....blocks it from just sliding right out of the material. This has worked for me at least 3 times and saved my Joans and Kirks Follys etc.  Never lose a pin again. Find the little tubes on ebay.

[GinaV24]

@wilma I love pins and brooches. Like you, I have some that my mother and grandmother gave me and some that belonged to them and are now mine as they have passed away.

I have one of the magnet style clips but I always have a concern that it would allow a favorite pin to fall off so I just "stick" with the old fashioned method and put holes in things. Of course that means I don't wear pins on leather coats.

I wear my pins on my hats (yes I wear them too - and not just a baseball style either), my jackets and coats.

One of the reasons I enjoy Heidi Daus is that she makes pins! I have some Joan Rivers and also Kirk's Folly pins. It's a running joke with my co-workers that during October I break out all of my Halloween/fall jewelry. I enjoy the heck out of it.

I'm glad to know that others enjoy them too.

[GinaV24]

@silkyk Wow love the pillow idea! what a great way to display them. Your idea about the plastic earring keepers is a really good one, too!

[rockygems123]

I love pins too, I store mine in a glass topped display case, I'm running out of room lol.

[Shanus]

I love pins/brooches, too. I've purchased many, mostly at flea markets and yard sales (love the antique styles) and have inherited some.

To keep your heavier pins from falling forward on a thinner fabric or sweater, place a piece of fabric underneath your clothing where the pin is being placed. Then it has two pieces of fabric to be pinned through which gives it some more grip. 

[violann]

I have a beautiful set of Butterfly pins, the large ones, that came as a series when Joan was active selling (and entertaining) in appearances every few months. 

I miss her during these difficult and stressful times.

By coincidence, I had almost unconsciously adopted the butterfly as a personal symbol of the beauty that continues to inspire us when things are dark, and took them out just yesterday.

I'm having a "window visit" today with a virus survivor whom I haven't seen since the beginning of March. I plan to "Swing With The Bling", with a beautiful Butterfly on my left shoulder (YES, I DO remember the Which Shoulder? Wars)!

[songbird]

Gem Shopping Network have a lot of estate sales.  And you can see a lot of brooches & Pins.  A lot of them can convert to pendents too.  I don't care for them, because even the 18K gold & platinum I see set on them can still tear your  clothing. I've seen really extravagant ones.  Pins have to jump out at you, because you have see them over the clothes.  Especially the Italian ones.  Italians love ornate jewelry.  While American tastes seem to be the more simple designs.

[Christie B]

I have about 45-50 pins, mostly from the days when Joan Rivers presented them on the Q. I like to wear them on hats, scarves, and coat/jacket lapels but also in unexpected places like on the turned-back cuff or cowl of a sweater, on the back yoke of a denim jacket, or on an omega style necklace as a pendant. I also display them in clusters on a bed throw pillow or sham just so they're visible to enjoy. I have magna pins (set of two) that really work, the magnets are super strong!

[Christie B]

Oh, and I also love a little bee pin perched high up on my shoulder.

[Jana111]

I have several pins that are family heirlooms. I used to wear them on the lapels of jackets, but now that I've retired, I'm not wearing my jackets anymore. I've just started wearing the pins on a necklace. I'm not using a converter. I have a necklace (also an heirloom) that has a hole through one of the links that is just for the purpose of wearing a pin on it. My sister liked the look so much that she started wearing one of her pins on a necklace that wasn't made for that purpose, and it looks great. The bottom line here is that you might want to try your pins on a sturdy necklace without a converter and see how you think it works.