Marlene, began her love of crafting when she was married with young children. She usually went with the trends of the time and gave away her creations as gifts. She ran the gamut from decoupage to knitting to needlepoint. Most were given as gifts to family members which still exist today. She even tried her hand at glass cutting and quilting.
She is now retired, after 40 years in the kitchen and sales hospitality industry.
A few years ago she found an article in a decorating magazine by a designer. He took vintage brooches and repurposed them into napkin rings. While in Asheville, NC, she walked into an antique store and purchased 6 brooches and her business was born.
First came the name “Table Top Jewels.” For the first year, she gave the one-of-a-kind napkin rings as hostess gifts to family & friends.
The most exciting part of the business is the hunt for old jewelry in places like resale shops, Goodwill, antique stores, craft stores, and online. She can’t wait to bring her finds to her workshop and match them to the perfect rings. Then production starts. She devotes a portion of each day to crafting, pricing and marketing on Facebook, Instagram, Etsy and Shop on this website.
She has had some failures and successes in shops with other artists on consignment, but her favorite is showcasing her crafts in small shows with other vendors for women’s groups.
Totally unrelated is the second part of my business. Her first business is fashion for your table and the second is a fashion accessory. At the same time she started with her napkin rings, the big fashion trend for purses, earrings, scarves and clothing was Pom-Poms and tassels. They were on everything, including towels and napkins. She loves all of the bright colors and trims. Her inspiration comes from all directions, while she is shopping, flipping through magazines, and scrolling through her social media feeds. She has also started to combine the use of jewelry on her purses.
Her next step is to develop and fine tune this website to showcase her designs and reach a larger audience, If you like what you see, please share and tell all of your friends. Read and subscribe to her blog, because she is a foodie and a traveler, she slips in recipes and food photography.