Since my grandmother passed away in May, I’ve been sorting through the things I inherited and looking for ways to use and enjoy them in as Martha a way as possible.

I have a lot her costume jewelry, including clip on earrings. I took 7 pairs of earrings to the jeweler, including the 5 pairs of ivory she brought back from Africa (ivory is illegal to import now and the jeweler told me she wouldn’t even know how to value it) and 2 rhinestone pairs, and had them change them from clips to posts. In the back of the photo, you’ll see an ivory carving of three elephants. We think this was a brooch or a pin at some point, but the back must have come off. I had the jeweler make this into a tie clip for my son, so that he could have a piece too. I was surprised that all this work was relatively inexpensive – $77 for all of it.  I’m happy to have taken a box of pretty things that were unusable and turned them into things that I and my children will be able to use and enjoy. I think my grandmother would be pleased.