Upcycle Milk Glass Vases with Broken Jewelry

I always see those skinny milk glass vases at the thrift shop for pennies and it seems like such a waste to leave them there. I also have a HUGE stash of broken and vintage jewelry. This is a great green craft, because it uses two vintage items together that make something brand new when you upcycle milk glass vases with broken jewelry!!! And I don’t know about you, but I see those for under a dollar all of the time at the thrift stores. I think these would be really cute for a bridal shower/centerpiece idea too.

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To upcycle your milk glass vases with broken jewelry you are going to need (or grab the supplies here):

Broken or vintage jewelry pieces, like earrings, brooches, etc.

Jewelry pliers

Super bonding glue like E-6000 or the less stinky Elmer’s Pure bond

Vintage milk glass vases

eye protection and gloves

Using caution is recommended with this project. Older and vintage jewelry may not be lead free (grab a lead check kit if there are any questions!) or have other harmful metals or materials in them that you could be exposed to. You can also use new jewelry pieces of embellishments instead. Always use proper safety procedures and equipment before starting this project and do in a well- ventilated area.

se vintage jewelry to make a upcycled vase 1

Start by washing the milk glass vases to get off any dirt, grease or sticky residue and let air dry upside down until they are completely dried. Then remove the backs off the jewelry pieces if needed (you may not have to). I do wear eye protection for this because those bits can go flying every where! I’ll also wear gloves at times as well. I have a nickel allergy and some of the older (and newer) pieces of jewelry do contain nickel (or lead).

It’s easy to upcycle both broken jewelry and old milk glass vases with this project. They would be beautiful for wedding centerpieces clustered together!

Upcycled vintage jewelry on milk glass vases

Once the backs are removed, you are ready to glue! I found laying the vases on their backs works best, you can also use a little low-tack painter’s tape to keep the pieces on place while the tape sets. Then they are ready to go! It takes about 24 to 48 hours for the glue to cure to use them. I used some brooches and old earrings (and a few new broken ones) to make my fun vases. They come in so many pretty styles. It seems like such a shame just to throw them out!

Vintage earring upcycle on old vases and glassware

And I also clustered some of the earrings too. This is a great craft for all of those broken jewelry pieces too. These are very pretty with the earrings stacked on top of each other.

I clustered about 4 earrings on this vases. I love how it looks! I can’t wait to get some blooms in them from my garden. Or at this rate, Trader Joe’s.