This (picture in the link) isn't an ornament, but this is a shadow box I made. The triangle piece is a piece of my mom's wedding dress with her wedding dress beads glued on. Thought maybe it would give you an idea for something else. Could you maybe run a thin wire through the beads or chains and swirl them around clear ornaments? Or put your mom's picture in an ornament or clear little frame and glue the beads all around it. I don't know if you have sisters, but I made my sisters bracelets and earrings out of wedding dress beads. Maybe you could re-do the beads into something like that. I try to make something each year as a little remembrance. I don't know if you already did this, but maybe post this on the craft forum too. Deb Here is a link that might be useful: picture of shadow box

Oh Shermann! I'm swooning just thinking of it!!!!! The pt bookeeper at one of my first jobs out of HS was a retired elderly lady and she gave me all of her costume rhinestone jewelry becuase I was always going to Marine Corps Balls. Her granddaughters were never interested in it. Nearly 20 yrs. later I wore some of it for my wedding (in fact I was wearing a piece when I met then soon to be DH at a ball!). I love pave settings and found a fantastical pave necklace at a flea market for one ball. The guys booth was never open and Sunday after Sunday my mom would go w/ me to see if we could get the necklace. Nothing I have is collector worthy (or I just don't know it) but I love it. Years after after my grandmother died I commented to one of my female cousins on her gorgeous necklaces. I asked her where she got them and she said that they were our Nana's and she had gone through all of her jewelry when she died. Nobody had ever mentioned to me that they were going through her stuff. I was heartbroken! I spent alot of time living w/ my Nana when I was little and the only grandchild. Thanks for all of the links and I will def. check out Etsy!

I've washed money and a cigarettee lighter by accident, never jewelry. I have plenty of costume jewelry, will give your tip a try. I once bought a jar of jewelry soak cleaner. It was a small plastic jar filled with water, ammonia and liquid detergent. Maybe a little color and fragrance for "effect".

Hi, Sandy. Welcome! If you Google "mosaic tile" you will get lots of places to check out. Here are a few to start with. http://www.tesseraglass.com/ http://www.witsendmosaic.com/ http://www.marylandmosaics.com/ http://www.mosaicmercantile.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/scstore/index.html?L+scstore+nlpc3209ff4cd74c+1338582292 http://www.mosaicsmalti.com/ Do you have an arts and crafts store near you, such as Hobby Lobby or Michaels? They have mosaic sections. Also, the larger towns, such as Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, will have at least one or two stained glass shops. I live near Austin and buy locally from Blue Moon Glassworks or Artisan Glass. Stained glass shops usually have bins of glass scraps for mosaics. Blue Moon has recently started carrying the 3/4" tiles and other mosaic material. For plates, I haunt Goodwill and other thrift shops, always looking for that elusive pattern. I avoid plates made in China. I try not to pay more than 99 cents per plate, and after awhile, you will learn which ones are easy to nip and work best for you. Then you can get on eBay and buy plate rims, already nipped. You can get up early on Saturday mornings and check out local garage sales, looking for old costume jewelry. Sometimes you can find beautiful stuff, perhaps missing the pin in the back or one stone out of the design, things that don't really matter for mosaic work. I suggest you do lots of looking on Google images and you will be inspired by the creative way mosaic artists use material. Have fun, and come back and post pictures!