I like to pick through the big bowls, bins, and bags of old costume jewelry that was deemed not even nice enough to display on boards. You have to be very careful not to get stuck on loose pins though.
Anyway, I'll pick out little animals, flowers, and circular brooches and pendants. They're usually less than $1 each. It makes no difference it they have broken fittings or missing chains. They just have to be interesting, pretty, and/or cute!
I use them as additional touches when making picture frames, jewelry boxes, shadow boxes, any assemblage crafts. I've even used them to jazz up gift wrapping! I simply snip off the fittings with the appropriate sized wire cutters and use hot glue, superglue, wire, or whatever else I might need to affix them to the project. I keep them organized by color in a fishing tackle box so I can more easily pick through them when I'm looking for just the right one.
Be sure to wear safety glasses when snipping metal because sometimes those little bits go flying! And don't use hot glue unless your sure the heat will not damage the piece or the surface you're gluing it to.
