A Reclaimed Hobby for a Reclaimed Holly

Necklace with recycled beads, shells,
metal, with silver bar clasp

I'm lucky. I have a job that fulfills me, volunteer obligations that challenge me, and am playing host to a 25-pound anti-social cocker spaniel. But, while I'm busy, I don't have the same demands on my time some of you might. I don't have children. I'm not married. I do have an appreciable amount time on my hands. 

Last fall, I found myself with too much time alone with just me and my thoughts. For the sake of my mental health, I determined I needed to occupy that time with a creative outlet. 

For years my mother has lamented my general lack of artistic ability. In school, I was the girl who could spend eight weeks on her flower painting, only to have it turn out looking like a giant blue alien ship in a sea of green phalluses. My ceramics projects always looked like the work of a one-armed squirrel. I sew like a blind, speed-freak chinchilla. I end up making walrus tusks with knitting needles. 

Necklace with glass and copper beads
and silver bar clasp

You get the point. 

I am not an artist.

With 32 years of failed arts and crafts informing me, I approached my quest for a creative hobby with some serious trepidation. Was there something out there that would satisfy me creatively and appeal to my personality? 

Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows I love things that sparkle. Gold sequins infest my house like ants at a picnic. I have three, no four, pairs of sequined shoes. I have boxes of sparkly jewelry. I have a jar of glitter in my office supplies. I prefer sparkling wine. 

Bracelet with recycled wood and
agate beads and gold bar clasp

I. Like. Sparkles.

I also remember loving working with Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, and sterling silver at a jewelry-making class I took a few years ago. 

Aha! An idea. 

I can make jewelry. 

Excited about my new hobby, I headed to a craft store to pick up some supplies.  

Mistake. 

I walked into the craft store and just froze. Bathed in harsh fluorescent light and the noxious scent of 1 gabillion different DYI potpourri kits, I realized I was in over my head. I needed help. I needed an expert. 

I called my mom. 

Mom helped me navigate the terror that is the craft store and, thanks to her, I was able to make my first piece of jewelry. Followed by my second, my tenth, my...

You get it. 

Necklace with carved quartz pendant,
recycled coral and turquoise beads,
silver chain, and silver hook clasp

As I got more confident, I began to branch out. Why was I paying a ton of money for beads and clasps, when there are so many used materials out there ready to be... reclaimed! 

And thus, Holly's Reclaimed Hobby was born. 

Now, eight months later, I make jewelry that is a combination of new and old, recycled and reclaimed. I look in antique stores, thrift shops, and the jewelry boxes of friends and family for old pieces no one wants. Then I break them down to their basic elements and repurpose those elements into new jewelry. 

Necklace with wood pendant,
recycled ceramic and coral beads,
and silver claw clasp

I think the results are pretty wonderful. 

But I'll let you be the judge. 

You can find samples of my jewelry on Instagram, using the hashtag #hollyshobby. Of course, all the pictures in this post are also of things I've made. 

I guess the point of this post is to revisit and expand upon my Reclaiming Me idea. Reclaiming Me is all about devoting time in your busy life to you. A reclaimed moment is that one blissful moment when you aren't accountable to your job, your family, your friends, your volunteer obligations, your... 

Well, again, you get the point. 

A reclaimed moment is something you do simply for the joy of being you. 

Don't worry about finding the time. 

It's already there. 

Just worry about what you can do with it.