It’s the new year and cleaning up your jewelry is kinda like a mini-closet makeover and will leave you feeling like you have accomplished something BIG!

My favorite way to display and organize my jewelry is this Dress Frame Jewelry Organizer, $59, PBTeen:

I like the wrought iron three tiered display shown here as well.  It all depends on the amount of room you have balanced with the amount of jewelry you actually wear.  Even if you have all the room in the world, mentally you still need to pare down your basics and separate them out.  This way, your busy morning routine can be streamlined.

I keep on my dress frame:

Earrings: The dress frame comes with five large pins to stick into the bodice, creating an easy catch for earrings. Mingle Sliver Hoops from the Perfect Pair, gold drop earrings from GoodmanSpalding, wired hoop earring with garnets from All Strung Out Designs, Judith Bright Gold and Topaz earrings, Rowanne Designs gold & turquoise earrings and a small pair of silver and gold earrings from Silpada.

Necklaces: Gold chains from GoodmanSpalding and All Strung Out Designs; silver chain All Strung Out Designs; small delicate gold necklace from Stella and Dot; platinum chain with diamond encrusted cross; silver cushioned square chain from Tiffanys; fun long necklace from GoodmanSpalding; gunmetal multi-strand necklace from Fabu, and a cloudy-clear chunky necklace from Rowanne Designs.

Bracelets: Silver Cuff from Banana Republic (this link is to a gold bracelet they have right now that I think is fabulous); Gold cuff from What’s N Store (in Franklin, I promise I paid $3.50 for it and I wear it at least once a week); three sandalwood bead bracelets from Judith Bright; and one pearl bracelet from All Strung Out Designs. Missing: I will have a cuff (click here) from All Strung Out Designs….I know Carol (owner), I just need to order it…like I’ve been saying I would do for months!!!

As you can see, I gravitate more to metals than stones. The few stones I have are almost always green. That’s just me.  It’s like my boring closet: neutrals and and some greens and a little orange.  But, I know that’s what I’ll wear!

So, the moral of this tale is this: pare down your jewelry to what you honestly wear most days with a little variation for inspiration.  Place these go-to’s somewhere easily accessible that does not require you to open a box.  Then, put the rest in those boxes and jewelry drawers.  This way, you will always have access to your things, not just one earring or a tangled necklace, when flying out the door!

As a last little hint, as I do wear metals so often, I love this little cleaner cloth from The Container Store. A simply way to keep your metals at their best, $5.99

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These cuffs are amazing.  I LOVE them. Carol gets them from this gal in South America who gets all the horns from a butcher (thus no animals are killed just to get these horns.)  After some initial trial and error, Carol’s customized measurements have been met.  The cuffs come in a variety of widths and are simply beautiful on their own.  However, Carol has such a great eye and she has taken them one step further by adhering vintage pins to the horn cuffs.  Each retail for $150-$175.  Even the closet gurus Tina Adams and Rebecca Thompson have gone ga-ga for these cuffs.  Read about their cuff love here.  Plain cuffs retail $75.

Carol checking out her pins at Wonders on Woodland. Check out the cuff Carol has on! Pretty Perfect, huh?

Our pin quest started out at the Hip Zipper.  They had a nice supply of pins, but we struck gold at Wonders on Woodland- and what a fabulous store!  So clean and well thought out.  I love a store where you can feel the pride of the owners and the care they take to ensure everything flows perfectly.  Not only did Carol find some gorgeous pins, we both oohed and aahed over the vintage quilts, pottery, artwork, furniture and how NICE they were!  I’ll be sure to feature this gem of a shop in a later post.

Just to show you what a find these cuffs are, check out the cuffs by bochic.  Their cuffs retail for around $8k-$12K (They are on the Gilt website right now at 66% off…starting at $3500!  There are only 2 of the dozens offered left.  This is a huge accessory for Fall!)  Granted they have precious gems scattered throughout, but the overall look is practically the SAME.  I’ll take the $150-$175 version and support local while looking LA chic!

To buy a cuff from Carol, go to All Strung Out Designs or be sure to see her jewelry at the October  6th – October  7th Nashville Trunk Show that is also featuring Trabeautiful Designs.  To be included on their mailing, email Carol. -Liza

Wonders on Woodland: 1110 Woodland Street, 37206; (615) 226-5300

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I recently went into a nice boutique with beautiful jewelry and asked about any gold and turquoise.  The sales lady looked bemused and told me to try costume jewelry as she looked down her nose and smirked at me.  “Really?” I said, (Well, in my imaginary world.  Reality was I just left.) “because King Jewelers has some for $175,000….I don’t call that costume!”  Anyway, my point is, turquoise has been embraced by some jewelers as a stone worthy of some nice gold!

One Jeweler that Neimans carries is  Jose & Maria Barrera.  I love the way they interpret Turquoise and Gold in an Indian feel with these Chandelier earrings.

Antra Jewel’s owner, Maria, is a December baby: turquoise birth stone.  So, she seeks out the elegant side of turquoise.  Check these out:

Robin Haley, local jeweler whose designs sell throughout the country, has some beautiful turquoise/gold combinations.  I bought some locally for $130 and I found these on her website:

I mentioned that pair at King Jewelers for $175,000. Here they are set in white gold with diamonds.  I have a fear with white gold and turquoise though.  It comes from a comment someone made to me about my platinum engagement ring:  ”Wow, an emerald cut in silver.  That’s pretty.”  Nooooooo……that would be P-L-A-T-I-N-U-M.  Anyway, with turquoise it may be a more understandable mistake!  But, these are gorgeous.

If I have you catching the fever, but you want something a little more comfortable in the money area, try these studs from Ross-Simons:

And lastly, if your neck is really where you want this look, local designer Carol Fails with All Strung Out Designs can hook you up.  Here is a sample from her collection:

© 2009 – 2010, StyleBlueprint. All rights reserved.

All Strung Out Designs

Carol Fails, owner of All Strung Out Designs, creates wonderful pieces of jewelry which become your go-to favorites.  She primarily uses gold-fill and semi-precious stones as well as a heavy handed use of Turquoise and Coral for Spring. My personal favorites are her shell earrings which are mostly under $50.  LOVE THEM!  All Strung Out Designs

Trabeautiful Designs

Elizabeth Trabue, owner of Trabeautiful Designs, is known for her beautiful scripts and vintage graphics printed on paper that puts Crane to shame. Trabeautiful Designs

Trunk Show

This is the perfect time to order custom calling cards, notecards or pick up a great piece of jewelry for an upcoming gifting event: baby showers, year-end teacher gifts, graduation presents, Mother’s Day and birthdays.  Both these gals are some of my favorite people in town and this Trunk Show will help support the Susan G. Komen Foundation which funds breast cancer education and research.  214 Deer Park Drive. See times below:

© 2009 – 2010, StyleBlueprint. All rights reserved.