The Stunning Vintage Accessory That Gives Any Room An Elegant, Historic Touch

Vintage accessories may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to adorning your walls and shelves with elegance. However, there are some historic pieces out there that can easily be turned into home decor. One historic piece that can give an air of sophistication to your home is the cameo, typically set as a brooch. Cameos date back to at least 3100 BC and were initially made from shells, precious stones, or glass that imitated them. Into the material, images, also called reliefs, were carved, often depicting mythological people and events or landscapes. Most popular are cameos with profiles of women. 

Modern cameos are typically made from plastic, but there are some simple ways to determine whether your cameo is authentic or not while looking for them at the thrift store. You can definitely tell the differences between plastic, glass, stone, and shell — and modern cameos tend to be made by a machine, whereas authentic vintage ones were hand-carved. Even with age, authentic vintage cameos are unlikely to have cracks or chips because the materials used were sturdier than plastic. It's also in the details: Hand-carved cameos will have more intricate carvings than machine-stamped ones. The era they came from can be determined by the faces or scenes on the cameo — straight noses from the Victorian era, stronger noses from the 1860s, and mythological scenes from the 18th to 20th centuries. Whether you find a brooch, a pendant, or some other accessory piece, you can find creative ideas to repurpose thrifted jewelry in your home. Their elegance can be enhanced by hanging them from strands of pearls, displaying them with decorative shadow boxes, and more.

While cameos started as fashion accessories, there are plenty of genius ways to reuse old jewelry to breathe new life into your tired home decor. If you have shadow boxes of any size or shape, you can turn your vintage cameos into framed art. Remove the pinback if your cameo has one, or use a piece of cushiony fabric as the backdrop for your shadow box to hold a cameo brooch. The sky is the limit with what colors you choose for your frame and the inside of it. Pick colors that add even more sophistication to the cameos you've chosen, making the minor shades of the piece stand out more.

If you've managed to score a collection of cameos, why not turn them into a unique garland? Pick a strand of beads, whether it be pearls or something more affordable, in colors that go with your collection of cameos, and attach your brooches with the pinbacks. Space them evenly, experiment with different cameo sizes, and then hang the garland on the wall or drape it over dressers. You can give boring lampshades a stylish and personalized makeover by pinning a few brooches to them, too.