Last-Minute-Without-Seeming-Last-Minute Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

A Valentine card that comes with a cotton candy bath fizz packs a little extra treat. Funny magnets like this “princess of feral cats” one fit perfectly inside Valentine cards. Rainbow cake, but make it socks! Celebrity keychains make great gifts for men, women and teenagers. Uncork the Valentine’s Day wine in style with a gold beetle corkscrew. Custom stamped jewelry like this “love nest” keychain are Bang-Up Betty’s specialty. A feather quill pen adds a touch of fancy to your life. Sea salt is one of the many flavors of chocolate and candy at Bang-Up Betty.

From gorgeous locally made jewelry to Arkansas-made candles to cards that are laugh-out-loud hilarious, the Bang-Up Betty gift shop and jewelry store in Argenta has something special for your Valentine and extended holiday hours to take the panic out if you’re shopping at the last minute. Our unusual, quirky and colorful shop is absolutely filled with handmade jewelry, funny and sweet cards, kid-friendly knick-knacks, donut bath bombs, thoughtful home decor and clever gifts, including lots of local pottery, art, candles, tea and more. Here are some of our favorite Valentine’s Day gift ideas that’ll make your sweetheart never suspect they were last minute.

Handmade jewelry, like this “strong as hell” necklace, is Bang-Up Betty’s specialty. Our store is filled with hundreds of pieces of Arkansas made jewelry, so you’re sure to find something perfect for your sweetheart whether they’re into strong, motivational mantras or sweet honey bees and golden unicorns.

Once you pick out the perfect piece of jewelry (may we suggest this dolphin necklace from Bang-Up Betty’s ocean-themed Seven Seas Collection), make sure you have a jewelry box that’s as special as what it contains. A gorgeous incense holder on the table next to it doesn’t hurt either.

Our shop is known for its hilarious and unique greeting cards, and these lovey-dovey cards come with a bath bomb built into them. They’re fun for kids and grown ups.

Light up your loved one’s heart and their home with a fun, colorful decorative pillow. Bang-Up Betty has lots of unique and well-curated home decor to make any space special. We love the heart hands pillow for Valentine’s Day.

This gift shop has a smorgasbord of fun socks, like these snack-themed ice pop, rainbow cake, sandwich and lollipop socks.

Don’t forget the kids this Valentine’ Day! Our gift shop is filled with kid-friendly knick-knacks and cards, like these super fun donut bath bombs. Looking for more kid gift ideas? Check out this list of 18 fun and affordable Valentine’s Day gifts for kids and kids-at-heart.

Don’t forget your Galentine, too! We’ve got 18 funny and heartfelt gift ideas for Galentine’s Day here, and it includes tons of affordable, fun things like this women authors pencil set.

You can never go wrong with a really good candle, and we pride ourselves on our selection of completely excellent candles, including these non-toxic soy candles that smell incredible and come with precious phrases on them.

Bang-Up Betty is located at 429 Main Street in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock. Extended holiday hours through Valentine’s Day are weekdays (including Valentine’s Day) 11-5:30, Saturday 11-5 and Sunday 12-4. Shop online at www.bangupbetty.com and follow them at instagram.com/bangupbetty and facebook.com/bangupbettyjewelry. Email stacey@bangupbetty.com for custom jewelry and other inquiries.

The Handmade Shop Local and Online Arkansas Gift Guide 2020

Every holiday season, I like to round up some of my current favorites in a little gift guide that highlights Arkansas artisans, artists and makers to help you shop small and shop local. Normally I’d show off new finds from craft shows or new things at our shop, but since I’m shopping online as much as possible this year to keep myself at home, I thought I’d focus on Arkansas made gifts you can have delivered straight to your door. From pottery to lapel pins, tea to trinkets, this guide has stocking stuffers and heartfelt gifts that will make this holiday season magical despite how strange this year is. Handmade gifts make the best gifts!

Every time I see potter Mariah Hatta share one of her adorable ceramic pigs, it makes me squeal with delight. Mariah creates unique pottery under the name House of Terriers, and right now she’s part of the Arkansas Art Center’s virtual Museum School Sale, so these little piggies can cry “wee wee wee” all the way home to your tree without you having to leave the house. Check out Mariah’s work here. This gift is also great for hog callers. Woo pig!

This year, my good friend Ashlee Nobel of Lee Lee Arts + Design collaborated with East Sixth Brewing Company and me to create a beer inspired by Bang-Up Betty, and we used Ashlee’s incredible cat skull art in the design for the beer we named Betty’s Ninth Life. This clever cat skull art print lives in my studio now, and you can get Ashlee’s beautiful art on everything from pillows to blankets to hoodies. Check out her new yoga collection for the yogis on your list! See Ashlee’s work here.

A couple of months ago, I released my Siren Collection of handmade bronze jewelry inspired by Greek Mythology. This jewelry is handmade in Arkansas by me, and I chose to feature the Artemis Moon Necklace with crossed arrows in this gift guide. The Artemis necklace is elegant, meaningful an mystical, much like the rest of the Siren Collection. See the whole collection of handmade Greek mythology jewelry here.

I’m absolutely OBSESSED with Abbi’s Teas and Things in Hillcrest, and I’m so proud of how she’s gone the extra mile to keep her business safe during the pandemic. You can find Abbi Siler at her outdoor tea stand Wednesdays and Saturdays, or you can shop her blends online. Right now I’m all about the Cherry Fig, but I also highly recommend the Banana Nut Roo, Turmeric Sunrise and Cherry Chamomile. Shop Abbi’s Teas online here.

I’d say it’s a happy coincidence that my favorite little gift shop in Little Rock also stocks lots of Arkansas made products, but Cindi Booth is too wonderful a curator of handmade goods to chalk it up to serendipity. Candles are like booze; they almost always make a great gift. And these locally made candles come in adorable vintage-style jars, so they look great in your home. You can shop TONS of incredible things on the Stifft Station Gifts website. Here is a link to the candles in many scents.

Funny and feminist enamel lapel pins and stickers make perfect stocking stuffers, coworker gifts, teacher gifts and angsty teenager (or angsty grown-up) gifts. My line of enamel pins is huge, so you’ll likely find something perfect for a funny, sassy person in your life. Shop Bang-Up Betty enamel pins and stickers here.

Speaking of great enamel lapel pins, Little Rock textile artist, poet and author Crystal Mercer released a collection of enamel pins this year that are phenomenal. Choose from “Black Glow Matters,” “An Arrest Is Not Enough,” her Duafe Pin or Normalizing Nipples pin, and be sure to check out the Kickstarter she just announced for her forthcoming book “From Cotton to Silk: The Magic of Black Hair,” to be released by Et Alia Press. Check out Crystal’s work here.

And speaking of Et Alia Press, the bookworms on your list are bound to love something from this local “small press for big voices.” Be sure to check out “The Hospice Doctor’s Widow” by Jennifer O’Brien or “But First, Save 10” by Sarah-Catherine Gutierrez. I read Sarah-Catherine’s book a couple of months ago and I couldn’t recommend it enough for pointers on how to get your savings on track. Check out Et Alia press here.

I’ve been a fan of Tub Tonics for a long time. Andrea knows how to make a damn fine bath bomb. Like the skull bath bomb in the intro photo to this gift guide? Amazing! Andrea makes perfect little gift sets on her site too, so you can cross someone completely off your list in one place. Check out her soaps, bath bombs, gift sets and more here.

I’m in love with macrame by Creative Cords. Amy Darragh’s wall hangings, like the pink one in my intro photo to this gift guide, make my heart sing, but I’m extra in love with her adorable macrame Christmas ornaments she’s been sharing lately. Check out Creative Cords macrame here.

I’m always in awe of the way Erin Pierce of Organized Chaos Collection harvests beauty all around us in the form of Arkansas plants, insects, spider webs and other natural things and turns them into breathtaking art and jewelry. Erin takes pride in finding and pressing her own flowers to make these gorgeous sun catchers. See more of Erin’s work here.

Whether you want perfectly cute cookies for the holidays, need a great cookie mix to make your own, or are looking for recipes to make holiday desserts from scratch, Sarah DeClerk of Ann Potter Baking has you covered! She even has DIY cookie kits you can order online to decorate yourself, and she JUST released a cookbook! Check out Ann Potter Baking here.

This year, it’s more important than ever to shop small, and I hope this Arkansas gift guide helps you cross a few names off your list while getting those warm and fuzzies you get when you support an awesome small business you believe in. Happy (and safe!) holiday shopping!

The Arkansas Necklace and Earrings: Jewelry Made in Arkansas

This handmade Arkansas necklace is made right here in Arkansas by jewelry maker Bang-Up Betty. This is the “Diamond” variety, a not to Arkasnas’s “Diamond State” monicker, and the cubic zirconia can be moved around the state to better represent your favorite Arkansas town.

The Diamond State, the Natural State, or just home, sweet home… whatever you want to call the state of Arkansas, keep it close to your heart with this handmade Arkansas necklace made with either a woodgrain, water or diamond motif.

What makes this Arkansas necklace so super special? It’s made right here in Arkansas, in my North Little Rock studio. Each pendant is meticulously cast by hand in bronze, the sparkly cubic zirconia stones set by hand as well and cast directly into the metal.

The handmade bronze Arkansas charm measures approximately 3/4 inches from top to bottom. “Diamond” at the center of the Diamond State themed Arkansas charm is a cubic zirconia. Chain is 18-inches long, 14K gold-filled and ends in a spring clasp. Don’t call Little Rock home? I can move the cubic zirconia to another part of the state upon request! The listing in our web store lets you automatically select either a CZ in central Arkansas or northwest Arkansas, but if another Arkansas town is closer to your heart, let me know and I’ll make one especially for you. Just email stacey@bangupbetty.com!

If you like the handmade Arkansas necklace, you’ll love the matching handmade bronze Arkansas earrings! They’re extra special because they’re made right here in Arkansas!

If earrings are more your style, you’ll love the matching handmade Arkansas earrings. The earring wires are 14K gold-filled and measure approximately 1 1/4 inches from top to bottom. It’s double the Arkansas! As with the Arkansas necklace, I can move the stone around in these Arkansas earrings if you have another part of the state that you love. Just email stacey@bangupbetty.com!

Keeping with the Natural State theme, the handmade Arkansas state shape necklace can also be made with a luxurious woodgrain pattern.

Keeping with the Natural State theme, the handmade Arkansas state shape necklace can also be made with a luxurious woodgrain pattern.  This necklace reminds me of all the beautiful forests, mountains and other wild natural areas in our beautiful state.

Our handmade jewelry is always available online and ships nationwide. You can also find our handmade jewelry at our gift shop in Little Rock! Stifft Station Gifts, located at 3009 W. Markham Street, is the home of Bang-Up Betty jewelry, where custom jewelry is also made on demand and you can find tons of other Arkansas made gifts. An Arkansas native, I’m proud to keep my craft in my home state. I’ve been a jewelry designer since I was 16 years old and have been crafting Bang-Up Betty jewelry since 2013. Thank you for voting Bang-Up Betty “Best Artisan” for handmade jewelry seven years in a row in the Arkansas Times’s Best of Arkansas! I’m excited to make something you’ll treasure forever. If you have custom jewelry in mind, please email me at stacey@bangupbetty.com.

Why I'm Still Searching for Unicorns After All These Years (And Finding Them Occasionally in Jewelry)

There are so many magical aspects to these handmade Victorian-style unicorn earrings and necklace. The gorgeous, regal unicorn is reminiscent of heraldry, harkening to the lion and the unicorn featured in the crest of the United Kingdom. The rearing unicorn faces rows of patterned stripes, resembling a shield motif. These hand-cast bronze unicorn pendants are molded from an antique, likely Victorian era tchotchke, making them extra precious in my opinion. This unicorn jewelry is handmade in my Arkansas studio.

“Each time I see the unicorns, my unicorns, it is like that morning in the woods and I am truly young, in spite of myself.” - King Haggard, The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

 You’re never too old to stop loving (and maybe even believing!) in unicorns. I have loved unicorns my entire life. Some of my earliest memories are of playing with collectible unicorn toys and watching The Last Unicorn repeatedly until my eyeballs about burned out of my head from staring at the flames of the Red Bull and the swinging teats of the harpy.

I fell in love with reading books about unicorns. Be kind. Be patient. Be brave. Be alert. Be pure of heart. Believe. Good things will come… That’s what you can read between the lines of unicorn stories. Most stories about unicorns (and horses, now that I’m thinking about it), center around a strong girl lead.

I read and reread Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn until I could recite whole chunks of it. Mary Stanton’s Unicorns of Balinor series is the most underrated YA book series in history, in my opinion, and I have yet to meet another person who has read it. I once got sassy with a poorly-informed bookseller at Books-A-Million when, after I asked her if the store carried any nonfiction books about unicorns, she LAUGHED IN MY CHILD FACE and told me unicorns aren’t real. Jokes on you, you old hag. There are dozens of nonfiction books about the mythology of unicorns that spans continents and centuries, and a bunch of those books are at my house now, no thanks to you. Bruce Coville’s Into the Land of the Unicorn book series inspired me to wear crystal amulets around my neck and ponder jumping off of rooftops to see if I’d land in a unicorn world.

In so many ways I did live in a unicorn world growing up. Unicorns were all I thought about. I was completely obsessed. I was a 10-year-old unicorn historian who probably could have authenticated some museum-quality unicorn artifacts. Every page of every school notebook was bordered with unicorns drawings: unicorn profiles, unicorns rearing, unicorns resting in the grass, baby unicorns at their mothers’ sides. Drawing really good unicorns is still my best party trick and my favorite thing to do that blows kids’ minds.

These enamel rainbow unicorn lapel pins were made based on a hand drawing of mine. They’re a nod to my expert unicorn-drawing skills, honed after years and years of drawing unicorns in the margins of all my schoolwork.

Several years later (I’ll let my professed favorite reading material age me), here I sit, wearing a unicorn-patterned shirt and unicorn earrings. The earrings are some of my own design, and it still tickles me every time I sneak a unicorn into my handmade jewelry. It feels like all that time drawing and collecting unicorns paid off in a way that parents think things pay off—with literal money.

I don’t think about unicorns 26 hours of the day anymore. Unfortunately, I had to grow up at some point, and growing up means thinking about paying bills, cooking my own dinners, whether or not the 10,000 anxieties that have divided like cells in my body over all these years should be wrestled with tonight or held at bay with a vodka tonic, if we’re out of cat litter again. But I still think about unicorns.

They’re harder to find these days. Even if I never saw one with my wide open eyes, perpetually scanning the neighborhood creeks and forested backyards of suburban Arkansas, I could always see them when I closed my eyes. I didn’t need to jump from a roof to get to their world. I could open a book and completely disappear inside of it. And there they were.

Sometimes, when it feels like a mound of pebbles has been stacked stone by stone onto me with out my realizing it until it becomes hard to breathe, I close my eyes and imagine the feeling of being 10 again and believing with everything in me that unicorns are all around me, they just aren’t ready to be seen. If I could bottle that feeling, I would. If I could trap it in an ocean and watch it come in and out with the tide every day, maybe I’d be the next King Haggard.

These handmade unicorn earrings feature a pair of the bronze unicorn charms that are wire-wrapped by hand to connect them to rounds beads of rainbow moonstone. The rainbow moonstone has an iridescent, milky white glow, much like I imagine a unicorn’s coat to have. The ear wires are gold-filled, and the earring measures about 1.5 inches from top to bottom.

Bang-Up Betty Jewelry Voted Best Artisan, Stifft Station Gifts Runner-Up Best Gift Shop in Best of Arkansas

A peek at my work bench, where I make and sell custom handmade jewelry inside Stifft Station Gifts in Little Rock, Arkansas. Thank you for voting us “Best Artisan” and runner-up “Best Gift Shop” in the Best of Arkansas!

I can’t say thank you enough for voting Bang-Up Betty “Best Artisan” and Stifft Station Gifts and Sundries runner-up “Best Gift Shop” in the Arkansas Times Best of Arkansas 2020. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for encouraging me to follow my dreams. Thank you for supporting my little business. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for voting Bang-Up Betty “Best Artisan” for handmade jewelry and Stifft Station Gifts runner-up “Best Gift Shop” in the Arkansas Times Best of Arkansas 2020!

When I started making jewelry for the second time (my first job was at Argenta Bead Company in high school!) on my living room coffee table in 2012, I couldn’t see all the amazing places it would take me. I was just making funny jewelry as gifts for my gal pals because I couldn’t find funny jewelry that I liked anywhere and I like to try to figure things out myself. Other people also had a laugh at my snarky jewelry, which began as bracelets that said things like “STFU", “GTFO,” and other curse-wordy and insinuating phrases, so I started selling them on other people’s websites until I made my own, another thing I just had to figure out how to do myself.

My handmade jewelry has evolved in many different ways over the years, and it will continue to evolve as I keep yearning to improve and expand my craft. What started as hand-stamping evolved to jewelry that included vintage parts and pieces, jewelry with semi-precious birthstones and other stones, and hand-cast bronze and fine silver pendants.

Some of my newest jewelry designs involve hand-cast bronze or fine silver pendants that I create and fire in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio. You can find this owl necklace here, and take a look at my other handmade jewelry here.

A few years ago, I started designing enamel lapel pins, t-shirts, tote bags, koozies, vinyl bumper stickers, keychains and other gift items as well as jewelry. Along the way, my work was featured in some pretty amazing publications and websites that I’m still completely shocked by. Early on, one of my necklaces was featured in Bust Magazine; I've had jewelry and pin designs mentioned on Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Cosmo UK, Hello Giggles and more; and I was interviewed for Chris Guillebeau’s Side Hustle School podcast twice and featured in his book 100 Side Hustles. One of my enamel pin designs for The Outrage became official merchandise for the Women’s March on Washington in January 2017.

One of my first enamel lapel pin designs, my Smash the Patriarchy Hammer Pin, was among the flair I wore at my local Women's March in 2017.

In 2019, after being interviewed for Chris Guillebeau’s Side Hustle School podcast a few years back, he featured me in his book 100 Side Hustles along with a collection of my enamel pins and a peek inside my jewelry studio.

Some of my most proud and shocked moments of doing my craft were when celebrities showed up wearing it. I saw Julianne Moore wear one of my necklaces and Janelle Monae wear one of my lapel pins, and there were a few more sightings over the years.

I’m grateful every day for the folks who believed in me and believe in me still. My favorite part of this is connecting with people over my work, whether they’re laughing at a middle finger necklace at a craft or trade show, sharing a heartfelt story about someone they love for whom I’m making a custom piece of jewelry, or getting hands on with me at one of my crafty workshops we hold at Stifft Station Gifts. Even though COVID-19 brought me physically apart from my amazing clients, I found so many ways to stay connected through social media bingo games, virtual birthday parties for my business, and virtual jewelry making classes here in Little Rock. Every day I’m thankful to get to wake up and do what I do and keep connecting to incredible people.

Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for believing in me and finding something special in my work.

Midsummer Night's Gleam: A Mini Collection of Handmade Jewelry Celebrating Summer's Small Gifts (Plus a Murder Hornet)

Midsummer Night's Gleam: A Mini Collection of Handmade Jewelry Celebrating Summer's Small Gifts (Plus a Murder Hornet). Each bronze charm in my newest collection is made by hand, many using antique French stamps, kiln-fired to perfection, and accented with gorgeous gemstones.

With summer officially starting this week, things are heating up, and even though I know the absolutely oppressive fire and humidity of an Arkansas summer is just on the sizzling, heat-wave horizon, I can’t help but savor the little gifts of the season. My garden is at its peak. And by that I mean it’s blooming and green and the sun hasn’t scorched it to brittle twig skeletons yet, which it ALWAYS does, because I am a lazy gardener and beloved by mosquitos and would rather not leave the safety of my screened-in porch. I got to eat real-life Arkansas strawberries plucked off a vine (that I didn’t grow) and was reminded of the pure ambrosia that is a locally grown strawberry in this state. My butterfly bush is TRYING, DAMN IT, despite all of my best efforts to completely ignore caring for it. And murder hornets are still a crisis that exists on the internet for me, but let’s be real, they’re coming. This year cannot be trusted.

ANYWAY. I’m still social distancing, which means I have ample time to create jewelry, and it’s a bonus that making things relieves stress, because, as mentioned, 2020 is rank. To keep spirits up, I created a mini collection of handmade bronze jewelry using different gorgeous gemstones, like amethyst, strawberry quartz and garnet and hand-cast bronze charms, most of which were made using vintage French stamps straight from France, which makes them extra special in my opinion.

I called this mini collection “Midsummer Night’s Gleam.” Each piece of handmade bronze has a warm, golden glow, and the gemstones are bright, punchy colors. The bronze is tarnish resistant, and the chains are gold-filled, so the necklaces hold onto their shine, even in a sweaty southern summer. The earrings are simple, lightweight and elegant. They pair with messy, long, quarantine hair, as you’ll see in the photos, and they also look stunning with an updo.

These handmade butterfly necklaces are fit for a monarch…

Each butterfly charm is hand-cast and kiln-fired bronze, handmade in North Little Rock, Arkansas. You can choose from two style of ornately patterned butterfly charms, the “long” and “short” butterfly. The “long”butterfly has a long body, and the “short” butterfly is mostly wings with a little head on top. Each necklace is finished with round, yellow quartz beads that are hand wrapped, and your choice of a 16-inch of 18-inch gold-filled chain that ends in a spring clasp.

This flower ain’t delicate…

This bronze pansy flower charm is hand-cast in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio using an antique French stamp before being kiln-fired to perfection. Each flower charm is truly unique. A faceted, teardrop-shaped amethyst tops the pansy charm.

A necklace for those who love all the small, pretty things in nature…

This handmade bronze ladybug and leaf charm is hand cast in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio using an antique French stamp before being kiln-fired to perfection. Each bronze ladybug charm is dotted with cubic zirconia stones that are set into the ladybug’s back. Each charm will have slight variations, as each necklace is unique. To top it off, two round beads of red bamboo coral accent this piece

Because if they kick your hive, you’re going to do more than sting…

The unofficial animal mascot of 2020 has to be the Murder Hornet, which inspired this hand-cast, kiln-fired bronze charm that was made using an antique French stamp. Each bronze charm is cast by hand in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio. This necklace is accented with flat-cut, teardrop-shaped garnets that resemble little blood drops.

These simple and elegant drop earrings pair with the necklaces in my Midsummer Night’s Gleam collection, but they stand perfectly alone.

Choose between faceted strawberry quartz rondelles, faceted amethyst teardrops, or flat cut garnet teardrops. Each earring is made with approximately one inch of gold-filled chain and a gold-filled ear wire.

Expect slight variations in each gemstone, as is the nature of handmade jewelry. Each pair of earrings is truly unique.

This handmade necklace is as sweet as you are…

This bronze strawberry charm is hand-cast in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio using an antique French stamp then kiln-fired to perfection. Each necklace is truly unique. Atop each little strawberry charm is a faceted strawberry quartz rondelle that’s wire-wrapped by hand.

Wear Your Zodiac Sign and Constellation with These Hand-Stamped Astrology Necklaces

Find your own zodiac sign and constellation necklace in my new zodiac jewelry collection. Each pendant is hand-stamped letter by letter and star by star in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio.

Consider these hand-stamped constellation necklaces as star charts you can wear close to your heart…

Wear your zodiac sign proudly and cleverly with a celestial astrology necklace that displays your sign’s name alongside the constellation of your zodiac sign. Each constellation and zodiac sign is stamped by hand, letter by letter and star by star. You can see a little difference in the size of the dots that represent the stars, where there are bigger impressions for larger stars and smaller ones for smaller stars in each constellation.

These zodiac constellation pendants will make you want to get out your telescope and take up star gazing if you haven’t already.

Pendants measure approximately 7/8 inch across and hang from 18-inch chains. The silver zodiac constellation necklaces are made with polished aluminum pendants and sterling silver chains. The gold constellation necklaces are made with brass pendants and gold-filled chain.

Each pendant is stamped by hand, so each necklace is unique and may be slightly different from the next, as is the nature of hand-stamped and handmade jewelry. Because I’m a Virgo and therefore a perfectionist, they all mostly look like the photos you see.

Find your own zodiac sign and constellation necklace in my new zodiac jewelry collection. Each pendant is hand-stamped letter by letter and star by star in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio.

Each necklace comes on a cute card back, so it’s easy to gift and makes a perfect birthday gift or gift for a pal who can tell you your sign just by talking to you for 30 seconds.

You can choose your astrological sign at checkout. Choose from:

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18

Pisces: February 19 - March 20

Aries: March 21 - April 19

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Gemini: May 21 - June 20

Cancer: June 21 - July 22

Leo: July 23 - August 22

Virgo: August 23 - September 22

Libra: September 23 - October 22

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

Find your own zodiac sign and constellation necklace in my new zodiac jewelry collection. Each pendant is hand-stamped letter by letter and star by star in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio.

Zodiac constellation necklaces are hand-stamped in North Little Rock, Arkansas. If you like my zodiac jewelry, check out the rest of my handmade jewelry in my shop page! I’ve also got a collection of zodiac necklaces with funny phrases to suit each sign, or you can customize each pendant with your own funny or inspirational phrase or word. Click here to see my inspirational and funny phrase zodiac jewelry collection.

Bang-Up Betty is snarky, funny, and feminist handmade jewelry created in Little Rock, Arkansas. You can shop Bang-Up Betty jewelry and gifts online at www.bangupbetty.com or in person inside Stifft Station Gifts located in Little Rock. Stifft Station Gifts is our headquarters and gift shop!

New "Vernal" Collection of Handmade Jewelry Draws from Nature and Quarantine, Made in Arkansas

This collection of handmade jewelry was inspired by nature and being stuck in quarantine during the beautiful Arkansas spring. This is just a snippet of the jewelry; you can see the entire collection below and shop it in my web store here.

This spring has been… well… weird, to say the least. Since we’ve been cut off from physically being in touch with other people, we’ve had to spend a lot more time with ourselves. We’ve had to keep ourselves entertained, find things to do to keep ourselves busy, and either try to keep our minds from worrying or sit more with our thoughts.

I’ve been sitting a lot with my thoughts, but I’ve been keeping a healthy mental balance by going for long walks around the lakes by my house, spending every waking moment that I can on the patio watching the cats watch the birds, and playing games and working puzzles to quiet my mind.

This collection of jewelry was inspired by all those long walks, by games played and puzzles worked, by all the spring cleaning that helped me come across mementos I’d forgotten, and by the mental rollercoaster that comes with being suddenly separated from friends and relatives while having to massively retool and revamp my handmade jewelry business to keep it going in these strange times.

The handmade jewelry pieces in this collection are hand-cast, kiln-fired bronze and they feature colorful stones to lift the spirit. I’ve been wearing them a lot, and I love the way each pendant feels when I hold it against my chest. It is such a comfort to be able to craft something like them, to spend all the time and energy it takes to meticulous create something that feels and looks so elegant and luxurious, to hold it for a little while, then to send it off to someone, hoping it will make their eyes light up and their spirit happy when they put it on.

April showers bring May flowers, but first they bring all those beautiful spring fungi that this handmade necklace celebrates. These playful pieces of jewelry were made of hand-cast, kiln-fired bronze and were made using a genuine vintage stamp. They mix groovy with sophistication in the perfect way. The bronze mushroom necklace is accented with a faceted green goldstone bead, and the bronze snail necklace is complete with four natural peridot chips. This handmade jewelry was made with care in my North Little Rock, Arkansas, studio.

Are you a night owl? A moon gazer? A lover of mystery and nature’s subtle beauty? If the thoughtful owl weren’t enough, the shimmering rainbow moonstone in this hand-cast bronze necklace ought to captivate you.

This bronze pendant featuring an owl at the center of a forest scene is made of hand-cast, kiln-fired, tarnish-resistant bronze that has a warm, golden glow and feels substantial and luxurious. The owl pendant measures approximately 3/4 inch across and is connected to an 18-inch gold-filled chain by a beautiful rainbow moonstone bead that shimmers when it catches the light and has a milky glow like the moon.

I love this hand-cast, kiln-fired bronze medallion so much because it’s a little sweet and a little spooky. The bee in the design is very obvious, but if you look closely, you’ll see that the bee is resting on a spider web, creating a magnificently textured, multidimensional piece. The warm glow of the bronze in this handmade necklace is complimented by two beads of golden jade quartz that connect the pendant to a gold-filled chain. The chain measures approximately 19 inches long and ends in a spring clasp. Hand-cast bronze has a warm, golden glow and is tarnish resistant. This beautiful piece transitions perfectly from summer to winter; it’s light and happy, but also a little spooky. It’s perfect for a nature lover. Get it here.

Inspired by all of the puzzles I’ve been working while self-isolating during the COVID-19 outbreak and all of the friends I miss and who I feel are my missing puzzle pieces right now…

Whether you’re just really into working puzzles or you’ve got a special person who is your missing puzzle piece right now or all of the above, this handmade bronze puzzle piece necklace will soothe your soul. These hand-cast bronze puzzle piece charms are modeled after pieces from my favorite puzzle I have at home and which I’ve been working a lot these last few weeks. You can order just one necklace with one bronze puzzle piece or get a matching one to send to your missing puzzle piece person to brighten their day. If you select one necklace, you can specify which piece you prefer if you have a preference; there will be a box that prompts you to answer. Get them here.

If this necklace makes you want to shout BINGO when you see it, you’re probably a bingo queen like me.

This handmade bronze bingo chip necklace is cast using an actual bingo chip used to cover spaces on a bingo card and stamped letter by letter with either “BINGO,” “BINGO QUEEN” or “BINGO BITCH.” You can choose your preferred phrase at checkout. Hand-cast, kiln-fired bronze bingo chip pendants are handmade, tarnish resistant, and have a luxurious golden tone. They hang from 18-inch gold-filled chain. Get it here.

This handmade bronze scarab beetle pendant mimics the beautiful Egyptian Revival jewelry that was popular in the 19th Century, but with a modern touch. The hand-cast, kiln-fired bronze scarab beetle measures approximately 1 inch across, has a golden glow and a substantial feel, and is tarnish resistant. The pendant is handmade in my studio in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is connected to a 20-inch gold-filled chain by a faceted bead of black onyx. This piece of elegant jewelry is so versatile. I’ve worn it with simple outfits and sweaters, and it pairs beautifully with evening wear. It’s one of my favorite pieces to wear from this collection. Get it here.

My newest enamel lapel pins were inspired by all the time spent in my own head and with my two cats lately. The Buried in Work pin really sums up what it feels like to suddenly have to close your shop, revamp your website, reschedule every event from the spring, and figure out how to teach classes online. The Cats Are My Love Language Pin was inspired by my two cats, obviously, who have been endless sources of cuddles. The Compartmentalizing Brain Pin perfectly sums up one of my greatest skills: being able to parcel things out in my brain and deal with them later, usually while I get to work.

This charming little necklace is especially special because it’s modeled after a piece of coral I found on a beautiful beach in Indonesia.

The kiln-fired bronze pendant measures approximately one inch long, has a beautiful golden glow, and you can feel the texture of the coral after which it was cast. To top it off, a red bamboo coral bead connects it to a 20-inch gold-filled chain. This handmade necklace is earthy and natural looking, but with the substantial, luxurious feel of bronze. Get it here.

This simple yet edgy necklace takes mixed metal up a notch. A string of wire-wrapped brass beads that resemble gold nuggets hang from a sterling silver chain that really makes them pop. The strand of “gold nuggets” measures about 2 inches long and is wire wrapped by hand. The beads are in a unique cube shape and have a look like pyrite. The chain is sterling silver and ends in a lobster clasp. The entire necklace is about 16 inches long, so it’s great for layering with longer necklaces. If you need the chain longer, please email me at stacey@bangupbetty.com and I can make it up to 20 inches long. Get it here.

Moonstone was all the rage at the turn of the 20th Century, and we’re bringing back its luminescent, glowy charm for everyday wear. These hammered brass hoop earrings are affixed with three teardrop-shaped rainbow moonstone beads per earrings. Rainbow moonstone has an iridescence that plays in the light. Because of the way is plays in the sun, moonstone transitions beautifully from day to evening wear. These earrings are complete with gold-filled ear wires. Get them here.

Bang-Up Betty jewelry is made with love and care in Arkansas. When we’re not practicing safe social distancing, you can shop Bang-Up Betty handmade jewelry in person and have custom jewelry stamped on site inside Stifft Station Gifts, the cutest little gift store in Little Rock, Arkansas.