The North Star

Last summer, while I was in Duluth on vacation with my family, I found this little gem in an antique shop.

I could tell from the moment I first picked it up that the chain was WAY too short - probably the right length for a child! I decided to buy it and bring it home, with the intention that I could put the charm on a new chain. It was the charm that really caught my attention - it's shaped like a coin, the design is subtle, and it reminds me of the North Star. For anyone who doesn't know, Minnesota's state motto is, in French, "The Star of the North." The necklace wasn't very expensive at the antique shop, but trust me, I wasn't thinking about the price!

I considered buying a spool of jewelry-making chain and creating the necklace with clasp findings I already had on hand. However, I've had poor luck recently with chain that is delicate, which is certainly what I was looking for. I took a look in a few different shops to see if I could buy a chain that was ready to go. At Wal-Mart (gasp!), in the jewelry-making supplies section, I discovered this 2 pack of chains that are 18" long. I also had seen several higher-quality sterling silver chains during my search, but I decided against that because I didn't want to have to take the tarnish off such a chain. I've had the charm for long enough that I know it's not sterling silver, so there was no imperative to make sure the metals matched. And I was leery about the price, this little duo was $3.00. Awesome!

I thought that transferring the charm to the new necklace wouldn't require anything but a little time. Instead, I wound up breaking out the jewelry-making tools and took the chance to add a length extender. Perfection!

Here's a close-up of the symbol, which is indented into the surface. You might also be able to see in this picture - on the left side - there's a hinge. It's a locket!

I pulled out the bin of scrapbooking supplies to see if there was anything there I could use to decorate the inside.

This is what I found!

So here's the view of the finished product, on the inside. I got to incorporate my "signature colors" but keep them out of sight. I suspect no one will even notice that its a locket!