Over the years I've created so many paperweights with vintage and antique costume jewelry.  I look for broken pieces, especially brooches with missing or badly bent pins.  These can often be purchased at flea markets and antique sales for just a few dollars.  You can also find beautiful reproductions at most major craft stores.


The brooch I used in this paperweight was featured in my earlier post, Finding Craft Store Bargains for Your Paperweight Designs.  This was originally priced at $8.99 and red-tagged down to $2.24 at Hobby Lobby.  This is from their Metal Gallery line of jewelry (item 1743087).


I started by removing the pin from the back of the brooch with a pair of pliers.


Unless the piece of jewelry you're working with has a flat surface on the back, you'll have to look at its profile to determine the best contact points for glue.  In this case, because only four small areas of metal would touch the background the brooch was set on, I decided to create a raised platform that would fit beneath the center stone.


After I applied some black velvet material to the paperweight kit's mounting board, I placed a 1/2" plastic bumper in the center to create a raised area for the center of the brooch to rest.  (These are sold in hardware stores and are typically used inside kitchen cabinets doors.)


A black marker was used to color the bumper to match the velvet.


The top of the plastic bumper acted was the contact point where glue was applied.  (I used Liquid Fusion, a clear adhesive).  The brooch was set into place.  Before the mounting board and the brooch were displayed in the paperweight, I was careful to remove any dust and lint from the black velvet.  I also used a Q-tip to remove my fingerprints from the stones.

Tip:  Whenever you use a liquid or gel adhesive, it's important to allow the glue to dry completely before you assemble your paperweight.  If the glue isn't dry, a cloudy haze can form on the interior surface of your paperweight from evaporation.


Costume jewelry paperweights are the perfect way to glam up your workspace.  They also make wonderful gifts you can easily create for friends, family, and co-workers.