Inspiration - Waste Not, Want Not

"Waste not, want not" was one of my mother's favorite expressions. It was applied to food, electricity, money...just about everything. I was never embarrassed by her innate thriftiness, I just couldn't understand it. She had lived through the Great Depression and WW II...I was a baby boomer, born during that golden post-war era when Americans who had been saving and rationing during the war started spending and acquiring. But as I get older, buying and acquiring is not as pleasurable as it used to be. Don't get me wrong, I still get a thrill out of finding a bargain but I also feel good when I pass things on to people who will use them or donate them to charity or repurpose them.

When I make my jewelry, I usually end up with scraps of vintage metal chain. With my mother's voice in my ear, I save them, thinking I'll find a use for them some day and now I have. Like a quilter who uses left-over scraps of fabric, I created this new necklace, Plain Chains, from several left-over chain sections of varying lengths. Waste not, want not!