Stringing Along Trinkets and Treasures With Charm

You know they are there. You can hear them rattling around in your drawers. Old charms, beads and keepsakes that are too precious to toss but too small to really do anything with . . . or so you thought.

Ruth Cushner suggests you gather them together to create a necklace in which every little piece has meaning to you.

A workshop on how to make a “treasure necklace” was offered recently by Cushner at Timbuktu, Folk and Tribal Art in Costa Mesa. (The next workshop is scheduled for Saturday at the store. For more information, call (714) 650-7473. A $2 donation is requested.)

Cushner’s students bring loose trinkets from home or buy items available at the store, such as African beads, milagros (religious votives from Mexico and Guatemala), Chinese bone beads and old coins.

Using Cushner’s needles and pliers, they string or hang the trinkets on prestressed synthetic thread, usually completing a necklace in three to four hours.