Shpangle Jewellery: Transforming Recycled and Everyday Objects

I have always had an interest in taking everyday and recycled objects and transforming them into pieces of art, and this has been my main inspiration when making my jewellery. This interest however became even more apparent when I met my wife Angela and we started to frequent a local pub ‘The Flintlock’ pub in Hinckley.

After many happy hours drinking and chatting, we had this overwhelming urge to start taking things from the pub, from ash-trays, brooms, bins and even a bar stool! This went on for months, but we weren’t taking these things with the intent to steal them, we wanted to add our artistic flair to the items and return them for the enjoyment of others.

These are some of the items we created (I apologise for the poor quality of the photos but they were taken before the advent of digital cameras).

The first one is a brush (I can’t remember her name but seem to think it was Billy – which is a bit of a strange name for a lady brush).

Recycled Brush from the Flintlock Pub

The second one is a bin that we decorated with stickers and then put a plant in! This plant is still growing today in the front garden of the pub but is about 10 ft tall!

Recycled Bin from the Flintlock Pub

The third one is a bar stool that we ‘borrowed’, added some fabric, a tail and a toy horse head (that also played a tune when you squeezed her ear). The landlady of the Flintlock fell in love with this and would bring her down on New Year’s Eve for people to have a ride.