DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — One jewelry store in Sturgeon Bay is known for transforming old jewelry parts and discarded metals into stylish, up-cycled pieces, thanks to the owner's clever use of up-cycling.
- Reclaimed Jewelry & Co jewelry store in Sturgeon Bay's store which has up-cycled materials throughout the store
- Love Wahlen, the owner of Reclaimed Jewelry & Co jewelry store explains how she turned up-cycling into a career
- Different one of a kind jewelry made with different materials like buttons and discarded metals
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Love Wahlen is the owner of Reclaimed & Co jewelry store in Sturgeon Bay, she started crafting when she was just a little girl.
"I grew up as a kid that didn't have money for hobbies" Wahlen said.
She started re-purposing materials she had on hand.
"Something special about having to make the most of what you have is that you have the opportunity to be really creative because it's a necessity" Wahlen said.
She turned her creative skills into a career, crafting unique fashion pieces of her own.
"I started out just making my own jewelry"
She started her first business in 2013 and later opened her store on Third Avenue in Sturgeon Bay back in 2019.
She's crafted jewelry from materials ranging from metal cookie tins and bottle caps to Door County beach glass.
"There can be a lot of fun and unusual ways to utilize those things" Wahlen said.
At one point she made a custom piece of jewelry out of a slug for a customer who had just shot her first deer during hunting season.
"It was really special to her and really important so I created a piece for her from that and that was not anything I could have ever anticipated" Wahlen said.
Wahlen makes about 150 different jewelry pieces a week for the store and custom pieces for customers. Continuing her work because of the emotional and long term connections clients have with their pieces.
"That's why I do it because of the connection I have with the customer and the connection they have to their piece that feels like art work doing" Wahlen said.
The jewelry store is looking into the possibility of hosting a vintage market sometime during the summer season.
