Bejeweled Barbie

Free Shipping from China may be a thing of the past If you enjoy ordering jewelry from China on Ebay and Amazon with FREE Shipping, you need to check out the latest news. How many nights I have laid in bed, unable to sleep, and bid on jewelry on Ebay for mere cents with free shipping.  Most of the time, I won't go much over .38 cents for items unless I really, really want them, Well, it appears the party is over! President Trump is working hard to create a level playing field for American businesses.  He has withdrawn from a 144-year old treaty with China that made it much cheaper to ship an item from China than to ship within the United States. According to an Oct. 19 article on NBC News,  The poster child for the movement to overhaul the rates was the "Mighty Mug," a patented spill-proof travel coffee mug. It cost the U.S. company $6.30 to ship by regular mail from New Jersey, the company CEO Jayme Smaldone  wrote in February . But a Chinese company t...

Jewelry Room of shame I have been buying Goodwill Jewelry Jars for quite a long time. I tried to remember when I started.... I started watching jewelry jar videos about the same time.  What is a jewelry jar video? You can find some on my channel list that I have made.  It is a video filming the thrill of opening a jewelry jar, piece by piece, item by item, allowing other jewelry jar addicts to experience the thrill without the bill! And, some of the jewelry jars come with a stiff bill. Occasionally, some of the jewelry jars are clunkers....full of either broken pieces, junk or Mardi Gras Beads.  Yet, those of us who love the thrill of it know that most of these jars have some wonderful treasures inside. You might also find silver or gold, although, the gold is rare.  When you find that .925 mark, it is a big celebration. Well, until you get to the gold/silver shop where you realize that silver brings like .04 a ton! If you look in the spare bedroom above, you...

Mood rings were popular in the 1970's Are you one of those ladies who wear the same pieces of fine jewelry every day of your life? Perhaps you have a special diamond necklace you wear on those very formal occasions. Since you are reading this blog, it is more likely that you express yourself thru the jewelry you wear. Your moods probably affect your accessorizing, and your accessories may even determine what outfit you wear for the day! Today, I found this to be so in my own life. I was busy sorting mounds of costume jewelry from Goodwill jars that I have piled up in the guest bedroom. While this truly needed to be done, it was more an exercise in keeping busy.  My husband and I have been dealing with an upsetting situation. We had been in an organization for 20 years, but it became apparent that we had no choice but to separate ourselves.  As yesterday rolled around, the deep sadness began to clear a bit and I began to feel glad to be free! Onward, ho! The future await...

Do you shop the Goodwill showcase?  When you are going from Goodwill to Goodwill seeking jewelry jars, are you missing some amazing vintage costume jewelry finds?  There could be some awesome pieces lying in the glass showcase! Typically, I have found that not all stores have an ample showcase, and there seems to be a correlation between jewelry jars and a jewelry showcase. If a store regularly prepares jewelry jars on site, there is not usually very much, if any, jewelry in a showcase. It was used in the jars, with just a few pieces priced individually. Often, you will see new jewelry with pink tags in the Goodwill showcase that came from Target or some other retail establishment. Usually, these are upwards of $2.00.  And, I will add, they are not always in pristine shape, although NWT.  However, I have found that one particular Goodwill keeps an updated showcase full of donated jewelry.  I had never really looked closely because I was always stomping...

 The other night I was researching ways to test Bakelite. I ran across an article on The spruceCrafts    that mentioned using the commercial cleaner "409" to determine whether an item is truly Bakelite. This is supposed to be a new and better method than the formerly-used cleaner, "Scrubbing Bubbles." If the Q-tip renders a pale yellow color, the item is supposedly Bake-lite. While there are other methods for testing Bakelite, this seemed the simplest to me, so I bought some 409 for $2.99 at the grocery store. So, let's see if you can guess how the tests turned out! I thought i really had an eye for Bake-lite because of my childhood in my parents' antique shoppe, but I must say I got schooled. So, what about these black hoops I got at the Goodwill Sunday. They truly looked vintage in the case, and they were the first item I requested to see. Well, silly me~ NO~ This little peach bangle has a marbelized look, bu...