More Necklaces!!
I still have more buttons laying around, and more storage space for jewelry. The day I run out of space will be a weird day. I had both of these things that I decided were just too shiny and pretty for me. How should I darken them up?
NAIL POLISH. I don’t just use it so much because I like the smell. I painted some on this metal heart, then rubbed it off with a napkin.
I love this because it looks like tarnished silver, instead of bright shiny new craft store metal.
I followed the same process with this one. I painted on some black nail polish, then rubbed it off. Rather than paint the whole thing black at once, I did each piece in thirds.
I love how the black really defines the detail on the rose, and makes the individual petals visible.
What else was I fooling around with? Nail polish and bottle caps!
I poured a little black nail polish in there, and swirled it around, gently. I used the brush to make sure it coated the sides completely. I love this stuff, because it gives you such a shiny, enameled look.
And here we see the final products: top left is a ceramic star I made and just finally glued a necklace thing onto, top right is a cute chick cut out of a magazine and glued into the black bottle cap (see this tutorial for bottle cap necklaces), bottom left is the swallow button glued onto the back of a black bottle cap, and bottom right is the filigree heart with skull and cross bones! I love having a mess of new jewelry to wear! It’s almost better than new clothes.
Glasses Lenses become Necklaces
I found some broken reading glasses at the thrift store and had an idea. Did it involve making jewelry?? What else? Those lenses are like tiny little frames, perfect for a necklace. I found a cool piece of paper in my Box of Interesting Paper Bits, traced the lens onto it with a pencil, and cut it out. I spread silicon glue on the lens with a toothpick, and then squished the paper down onto it. You have to squeeze all the air bubbles out of the glue, so start in the middle, and squeeze outward. Extra glue may ooze out the sides, but that’s fine. Wipe it off with the toothpick. Make sure the edges are thoroughly glued down once you’re done squishing.
Once the glue was dry-ish, I glued metal loops on. Add jump rings, and then you can hang it from a necklace chain, or follow this process for attaching a chain.
I used this glittery fish button to make it just that much fancier! The blue fish really brings out the blue in the pattern.
I love this necklace because it’s creative, but it is also kind of normal. I can wear this to work without people talking about my “crazy” necklaces (which I take as a compliment, by the way). Since this is just paper, I wanted to water proof the back. What’s my magic solution for everything? Nail polish!! This stuff is magic.
This will dry quickly, and prevent sweat, rain, or spilled box wine from ruining my new awesome necklace.
Button Necklaces
I found these amazing buttons at the fabric store the other day, and once I saw they were only 2 bucks, I had to have them.
I am making these bad boys into jewelry, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!
You can see most of the backs have those little loop things to sew them onto stuff. I don’t need that on a necklace…
…so I used my wire cutters to chop them off.
All that’s needed now is some kind of necklace holder. Follow my tutorial on this post, and almost anything can become jewelry.
Look at that! One little jump ring and I have a whole new necklace! Because I was running dangerously low.
Fancy Bat Necklace
I made this little bat into a necklace charm awhile ago, and I love it. The rings it hangs from are on the tip of each wing, and I didn’t like how the cecklace chain went between them when I was wearing it. I decided to attach a chain to each end to make a necklace. I got a 60″ black chain (on sale) at Hobby Lobby. There’s plenty of chain there for a couple projects. I used the jump rings that were already on the necklace, and used a necklace clasp I scavenged off of some stuff Mi Madre had given me.
The first thing I did was use my pliers to open up 2 links in the chain to get a segment about the length I wanted.
I then folded it in half, and removed the middle link, to give me two pieces the same length. I then measeured it around my neck, and ended up removing about an inch from each so the necklace would be the right length.
I attached one end of each to the bat using the jump rings already on it (see how to in this post). On the other ends I attached the necklace clasp parts. While you’re attaching them, make sure you put the clasp on the correct side. Most necklaces are made so that you use your right hand to open the clasp and put the necklace on. I used a giant jump ring to clasp onto because I hate fiddling around with necklaces trying to get the clasp onto a tiny little ring. This method works great.
I just love this necklace now, even more than I did before. A little more Halloween in my wardrobe.
– That Clever Chick
