My Old Jewelry

For some reason, lately I've been thinking about the jewelry that I used to have as a child. Perhaps it's because I found my faux-Victorian "Happy Birthday" tin last summer, when I unearthed a box of my childhood things in my dad's attic. When I was little, I would put some of my keepsakes and jewelry in that tin. I'm pretty sure that I kept a white crystal turtle and a brown crystal hare in there; I got those keepsakes in second grade from my little boyfriend, David S., who went to some place on vacation (I think called the Crystal Forest?) and brought me some the souvenirs.

I also kept jewelry in a ballerina jewelry box (that looked very similar to this one) for a long time. I think I gave that box to one of my little sisters when I got older, and I may have given my sisters some of my jewelry too. I had several necklaces, including an "I [heart] Primary" necklace and an "LDS" necklace with my emerald birthstone.

If I remember right, I think hat I have both a blue-and-orange butterfly pin, and also a white butterfly bookmark. Both of them were made of enamel, and the bookmark had a little gold hook so that the butterfly would rest outside the book, along the spine. I remember that one of these was slightly loose (perhaps the pin?) and I could slightly wiggle the lower two wings. These are the closest things that I have been able to find online that match what I used to have:

I also had a rose pendant that was on a gold chain necklace with simulated pearls and a twist clasp. I'm not sure if it was from the 1928 Collection jewelry line, but the aesthetic is very similar to this one, although my pendant rested on a solid oval base and had this rose shape.

My favorite necklace, at least when I was a teenager, was a "House of Seven Gables" pendant that was shaped like the actual house. I got the necklace in the gift shop of the House of Seven Gables, during my 8th grade trip to Boston (and the surrounding area) and New York City. I found one pendant charm on,one which kind of resembles my pendant, but mine had more definite shape with precise lines (as well as a darker color). But this is kind of close:

I still have one bracelet that I wore as I child; I think I got it when I was around eight or nine years old. It is a braided silver bracelet that only lies flat against the wrist when it is curved in a certain direction; you can't clasp it if it the bracelet is flipped the other way and curved the opposite direction. It still fits me, and when I put it on for this picture I remembered how tricky it is to balance the clasp on your wrist while you try to fasten it:

Now that I have a daughter, I wish that I had hung onto some of my jewelry so that I could pass it along to her. I tend to get rid of things that I don't use regularly, so it's unsurprising that my childhood self had that same tendency to purge items that were too small or didn't get enough use as I got older. If only I had held onto some of these things!