One of my favorite things to do is hit the local yard sales. I am a firm believer in one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. I can always find good stuff to recycle into my craft projects like material, or an old leather coat that can be cut up for scraps.
I also often come across crafts that people sell off in their sales as well. Like this native american rattle replica I found for 2 dollars. The wrapping and feathers was in pretty bad shape so i decided to rescue it and re-wrap it with some nice leather and beads.
Stripping it was a breeze since everything was falling off anyway lol. The piece already looks better after all the ugly blue leather is gone. It’s basicly a branch hollowed out with beads inside. Leather and sinew stretched beautifully around it. I absolutely love how well they did that!
I used glue all the way down and wrapped the entire stick with leather lace. Then used lace and beads to fasten some turkey feathers at the top. Lastly I added some mink fur scraps to dress up both ends of the stick. Hopefully I can find more great buys like this for 2 dollars!
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I have a native american medicine man rattle and i was woundering what is worth and who would be a good person to talk to about it.
Well I’m no expert on indian artifacts. It would depend entirely on if the rattle is authentic or a replica. I would suggest talking to an art dealer that specializes in native american artifacts.