Orcutt resident Dean Johnson uses his industrial design background and a bit of imagination to create personalized jewelry from often forgotten or closeted silverware. Many of his pieces are purchased as keepsakes for friends and family, and he also sells some of his creations at Old Orcutt's Déjá Vu Antique and Gift Store. 
              Johnson, originally from Iowa, came to California armed with a teaching degree. After a stint with Lockheed, he found a job with Santa Maria High School teaching mostly Industrial Arts for 33 years, from 1962 to 1996. He also taught night classes at Hancock College. After 5 years of retirement, Johnson hopped into the jewelry business on a whim. "My daughter brought me a bracelet she found in Reno and said ‘Dad, you could make these a lot better’.” With all his industrial arts know-how, he rose to the challenge. He began transforming silverware for her to sell. Fork prongs got curled into rings. Decorative cutlery stems turned into his overall best seller, bracelets, as well as earrings. The ends of spoons and forks turned into charms of angels or bells on necklaces. 
              The business picked up steam quickly as he and his wife, Judy Johnson, became a traveling duo, attending juried festivals, shows and Christmas fairs all over California and surrounding states. Between shows he’d come home “and make 40 more bracelets and other jewelry” which had often sold out. “Then people,” explains Johnson, “started sending me their own silverware,” which made it slightly less expensive for them, more personal and helped Johnson with finding inventory. Often, he had to make trips to his favorite California antique stores in search of the right silverware, silver plate or sterling. Johnson said that his customers especially love jewelry from their own personal collections. “One woman said it was the only thing she had from her grandmother,” remembers Johnson. Another client had Johnson make 7 bracelets “for all the daughters and granddaughters in the family.” 
              After a few years on the show circuit, the Johnsons started seeing others at shows had copied their designs. "One guy even called his business the same thing, DJ Creations,” laughed Johnson, who added that he asked him to change the name because “this guy’s work was poorly made.” At his busiest, Johnson was in stores from Orcutt to Cambria and also selling on the website Etsy. Each state had different tax papers to fill out, “a headache,” so Johnson and his wife eventually cut back on the shows and about 8 years ago decided to work exclusively with Déjà Vu. 
              Déjà Vu, which also sells gifts, furniture, and plants, has “35 premiere antique dealers” according to Orcutt owner, Wendy Steller. "People usually buy multiples of his beautiful items, particularly his angel necklaces made from the base of a spoon or fork, embellished with wings and a pearl for the angel’s head. “Dean runs his business with such efficiency and professionalism. I am very blessed to have him as one of my premier dealers." 
              If you want your family silverware transformed into family memorabilia, call Dean at 805-598-7919 and see his handmade custom jewelry at Déjà Vu, 315 West Broadway in Old Orcutt. 
Katy Jacobson reporting