Bridal Pin: Something Old, Something New...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue ...and a silver sixpence in her shoe!

So goes the old rhyme. This project doesn't put the sixpence in the bride's shoe - frankly, that just sounds uncomfortable - but it does incorporate lots of lucky charms to wish her well on her big day. Pinned to the inside of the dress, or onto the bouquet, it will afterwards provide a lovely keepsake of a happy day.

The charms you use are up to you - items that resonate with the bride are best, of course. Part of the joy of making is taking an idea and making it your own!

You will need:

• Kilt pin or large safety pin - silver plated and sterling silver versions of both are available online
• Spacer beads - (if using a kilt pin) I used silver to match the pin
• Jewellery pliers
• Drill and small drill bit (mine was 1mm)
• Jump rings

Charms:

• Something old: Silver sixpence. These are available inexpensively online, or you can ask around. Lots of people have random jars of all sorts of old and foreign coins. Sixpence coins were legal tender in the UK until 1980 but the last ones were minted in 1967, as the nation prepared for decimalisation. Fun fact: after decimalisation a 'sixpence' was in fact only worth 2 1/2 pence!
• Something new: This is entirely up to you, but there are so many beautiful silver charms around that would look beautiful both on this brooch or on a charm bracelet or necklace afterwards. I chose this cute 'my love story' locket, in which I placed a photo of the bride and groom.
• Something borrowed: A ring or other item of jewellery belonging to somebody close to the bride is perfect.
• Something blue: I used a Swarovski crystal drop bead, but there are all kinds of beautiful blue beads online. Blue ribbon or a blue tassel would also look beautiful!

You can attach the sixpence with a bail if you prefer, but I preferred to simply drill a hole in mine - it still looks beautiful when hung from the brooch on a jump ring, and it hangs 'outwards' this way as well. Drill a small hole, close to but not actually on, the rim of a coin. You can use a jeweller's drill or, as I did, a Dremel-type tool with a small drill bit. Ensure that your jump rings will fit through the hole! 1mm is the smallest easily obtained drill bit near me and it fitted nicely.

If you are using a kilt pin, you will need to thread the charms onto the open pin, using spacer beads to ensure that all of the charms stay nicely in place. Thread each charm onto the pin in turn, using as many spacer beads between each to space things out nicely.

If you are using jewellery in your brooch, it is up to you if you prefer to thread it onto the pin directly or suspend it from jump rings. I opt for jump rings, partly for security and partly so that it stays in place.

Don't forget to leave a little room for the bride to pin it into her dress!

If you are using a safety pin for the brooch, use jump rings to hang each charm onto the closed bar of the safety pin. Don't forget that, for best results, you should slide the open sides of the jump ring sideways rather than pulling the two ends apart - this keeps the jump ring in shape and ensures that it will close again tightly.

Whichever way you prefer to make the brooch, I hope that you like it and that the recipient loves it! I'd love to see what you come up with!