How to Make Jewelry Look Vintage

I love rhinestone jewelry, but sometimes the stuff is so sparkly and over-the-top that you just can't wear it anywhere. I'd seen a tutorial a while ago on how to make jewelry look vintage with Sharpies, but that tutorial didn't quite work for me when I tried it and I came up with a new system.

You need:
-Necklace with rhinestones
-Wood stain
-Black patina for solder
-Q tips


I got the necklace online from this store with tons of deals on necklaces, bracelets, and rings. It's actually a bridal set of jewelry, but after I was done antiquing it up the necklace doesn't feel weird to wear it with a denim shirt.

To make the rhinestones themselves look vintage, I used wood stain and it was really simple. I just dipped a Q-tip in the stain and dabbed it all over the necklace. It's good to get the stain to pool darker in some places stay thin in other spots. When you use wood stain to get this effect you'll need to let the stain dry a few days so that it isn't tacky. Here you'll need to have a little faith because it seems like the wood stain can easily wipe off for a bit but after the stain loses loses it's tackiness, it is hard as a rock. (I was actually pretty surprised by how well it worked!)

To get a patina on the metal part of the necklace, just dip some Q-tips in the Novacan Black Patina for Solder and keep rubbing on the metal until it turns black. Some spots it will take a while, but just keep rubbing.

I photographed this necklace in one of my favorite spots in all of NYC. There's a spot between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges where you've got an incredible view of lower Manhattan, the East River, and the bay. Almost three years ago Sean, Adele, and I sat in this spot dreaming of moving to NYC and it was here that we decided to live together. Some things have a way of working out. :)

At the bottom left of Brooklyn Bridge in this picture you can see one of my other favorite things about this New York spot: a carousel. When it's all lit up at night, it's ridiculously adorable.

I'm so tickled with how this necklace turned out that I need to try the wood stain patina technique on a few other pieces of jewelry to make them easier to wear. :)